I'm most comfortable grappling people my own height. I guess that's common. Oddly though, when it comes to size differences, I mostly see discussions on weight and not height.
Ever since the LadyFireFighter started coming, I've been really attuned to the effect pure differences in height make. We're both teetering around 200lbs (I'm heavier and maybe 7-8 inches taller), but I have proportionately long limbs while she seems to have proportionately short ones. What does that mean? Here's what I've noticed.
1) Prying her limbs away to get control is a total pain. My new love, triangle from mount, is close to useless on her. She has short, thick, strong muscles and once they're in tight, it's hard for me to get a grip on anything.
2) She can apply her weight more directly than I can. Her heavy shoulder from half is BRUTAL (heard my jaw crack last night...I tapped from the pressure alone). I know that that's partly because she's female and isn't as merciful on me as the guys are, but also because her weight is more concentrated, so once her center's on me, I get...let's say...80 percent of her weight. With me, I could likely do 60% in the same position.
3) Once my limbs are caught, I'm in trouble. I can't quite explain this one, but I just understand the mechanics of a long body better. Though I KNOW the concept of torque, I apply it more effectively on body types I understand.
4) Her handles are smaller: That means I have fewer corners to wriggle legs and arms into to get grips for sweeps and whatnot.
5) Her world is small. I think it comes from Salsa, but I'm generally pretty aware of how far a person's reach goes. I know when I reach in to her collar, she can't reach back. Sounds like a win-win, but that also means that once she's in my spacial world, she can maneuver limbs more completely than I can in turn. I hate fighting too close, because I tend to get limbs stuck in stupid positions.
I can't even explain how happy/relieved I am that she started training. It's nice to have a "go to" partner in the gym. She, Jo, one of the teens and I are hitting the gym at 8am to help her and Jo get ready to compete. I'm actually excited at the prospect of waking up at 7am on a Saturday to go train. Tee friggin' hee.
Ever since the LadyFireFighter started coming, I've been really attuned to the effect pure differences in height make. We're both teetering around 200lbs (I'm heavier and maybe 7-8 inches taller), but I have proportionately long limbs while she seems to have proportionately short ones. What does that mean? Here's what I've noticed.
1) Prying her limbs away to get control is a total pain. My new love, triangle from mount, is close to useless on her. She has short, thick, strong muscles and once they're in tight, it's hard for me to get a grip on anything.
2) She can apply her weight more directly than I can. Her heavy shoulder from half is BRUTAL (heard my jaw crack last night...I tapped from the pressure alone). I know that that's partly because she's female and isn't as merciful on me as the guys are, but also because her weight is more concentrated, so once her center's on me, I get...let's say...80 percent of her weight. With me, I could likely do 60% in the same position.
3) Once my limbs are caught, I'm in trouble. I can't quite explain this one, but I just understand the mechanics of a long body better. Though I KNOW the concept of torque, I apply it more effectively on body types I understand.
4) Her handles are smaller: That means I have fewer corners to wriggle legs and arms into to get grips for sweeps and whatnot.
5) Her world is small. I think it comes from Salsa, but I'm generally pretty aware of how far a person's reach goes. I know when I reach in to her collar, she can't reach back. Sounds like a win-win, but that also means that once she's in my spacial world, she can maneuver limbs more completely than I can in turn. I hate fighting too close, because I tend to get limbs stuck in stupid positions.
I can't even explain how happy/relieved I am that she started training. It's nice to have a "go to" partner in the gym. She, Jo, one of the teens and I are hitting the gym at 8am to help her and Jo get ready to compete. I'm actually excited at the prospect of waking up at 7am on a Saturday to go train. Tee friggin' hee.
I hate fighting too close, because I tend to get limbs stuck in stupid positions.
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Hee hee hee... that's why we little stubby people want to get in there RIGHT up in your grill!!! ;-) Otherwise you can reach us but we can't reach you, which is hardly fair.