Now enough about wrestling and BJJ, let’s get to the top martial arts for smaller guys. Well, it doesn’t matter what size you are. Everyone wants to defend their loved ones from violence. However, if you’re a smaller man, what kind of martial art would suit you the best?
Don’t worry. In this section, you’re going to learn about the best martial arts for small guys, and in the end, you would be able to choose from one of them easily.
Let’s take a look at some of the most effective martial arts that a smaller guy can choose. Since there are many amazing martial arts for self-defense, I opted to keep the list brief. Let’s get this party started!
There are five top martial arts for smaller folks which are as follow:
- Muay Thai
- Judo
- Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)
- Krav Maga
- MMA
So these are the five top martial arts for smaller folks. Now let’s take a look at each type in detail.
1. Muay Thai
Muay Thai is one of the best martial arts for smaller guys. Kicks, elbows, knees, punches, and the clinch are used in this combat technique. Clinching entails grabbing the opponent’s head with your arms and then attacking with knees or other attacks.
When practicing in close quarters with your opponent, Muay Thai allows you to use elbows as hits, which could be one of the best destructive strikes in the sport. You don’t need a large wind up with elbows like you would with a punch or kick. Learning to just use elbows successfully against a larger opponent can be incredibly beneficial.
The kicks are another excellent feature of Muay Thai. Low kicks could be extremely beneficial for chopping anyone of any size. Teep kicks, on the other hand, are excellent at pushing the attacker away and making space.
Conditioning is among the most challenging aspects of combat art, such as Muay Thai. Thai fighters practice practically every day, so you won’t be practicing nearly as much unless you’re a proper athlete.
As a result, it’s critical to maintain your general fitness and conditioning when you’re not in the gym. In the long run, small adjustments in your everyday routine may pay off.
Is Muay Thai an appropriate sport for you? To summarize, Muay Thai is a hitting martial art that emphasizes clinching. When confronted with an opponent, you will use a combination of boxing and kicking. Would you be at ease in this circumstance, and would it fit your body size and type? Well, let’s look at other martial arts before making a decision.
2. Judo
Judo is a grappling strategy that applies throws and sweeps to beat an opponent, as well as extensive joint locks. It is based on your power to throw someone utilizing leverage, their entire body mass, and momentum over them rather than strikes.
One of the most powerful characteristics of Judo is that a shorter person may sneak up on a taller rival and push them to the ground with their hips. There are a variety of non-lethal methods and submissions accessible once on the ground.
Suppose you can dominate someone who is substantially bigger than you and standing once you’re on the ground. Much of your height benefit has vanished now that you’re on the ground. You can either pacify or choke out your opponent with the use of joint locks and chokes, allowing you to flee and fight there again.
Judo, like many combat martial arts, requires years of practice to master. I believe that submissions and grappling are more difficult to master than hitting.
Is Judo good for you? Well, It’s truly up to you to figure out what works best for you and what you’d feel most prepared for. I can only provide you with some options.
Also read: Best Headgear for BJJ
3. Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)
Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a grappling martial art that emphasizes ground fighting and opponent manipulation through different postures and techniques. The guard is one such position. The guard was a type of self-defense devised to allow a person to protect himself while lying down. Jiu-Jitsu’s goal is to force the opposing player into submission by forcing a grip, severing a limb, or choking them unconscious.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) was developed to help smaller people to defend themselves from larger opponents. When it comes to self-defense and combat, size no longer mattered because of an awareness of one’s own weight, technique, and leverage.
BJJ is a physically demanding sport. At the very least, hitting allows you to create room and recover your breath. However, it is also a good martial art for smaller guys. You should give it a try once.
BJJ is a good martial art for beginners as there is no need for any previous experience in martial arts. It is an effective martial art that can be used for your self-defense. Everyone can learn BJJ martial arts regardless of their body size.
4. Krav Maga
Krav Maga is usually a self-defense system developed by Israel’s Military. Emrich Lichtenfeld developed this method. He created this method in need of defending himself and many others like him (Jews).
Lichtenfeld was a gifted martial artist, and he was most likely among the first to fight in a style that is now known as MMA. He was a wrestler and a boxer as a child, and he eventually learned to integrate various combat styles into a single, highly successful one.
One of the biggest advantages of Krav Maga is how quickly it can be learned. The hand-to-hand combat method was created with the goal of being taught swiftly to new military recruits. It has basic and repeated hits, as well as fairly simple throws. It wasn’t intended to be overly complicated or take years to master.
If you are looking for an art that will help you to learn how to kill or stop someone, Krav Maga will allow you to do both. So it’s upon you to figure out whatever you need and make a decision based on it.
5. MMA
Krav Maga covers practically every component of mixed martial arts. In a relatively short period of time, it has become one of the world’s biggest and most recognized sports. Boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, and BJJ are all used in MMA. MMA is largely considered to be the best all-around combat method.
Where one art lacks in a particular area, such as Muay Thai’s lack of groundwork or Judo’s lack of strikes, MMA tries to combine all of the finest aspects of different sports into a specific category.
Since it includes so many distinct aspects of fighting, mastering any one of them can be challenging. However, MMA fighters will typically thrive in certain parts of the sport more than most.
The most significant difference is that MMA is a sport, whereas Krav Maga is not. The fact that boxing is a sport, on the other hand, allows us to examine what works and what doesn’t in a public conflict.
Since MMA is a sport, fighters are free to experiment with different approaches, with only the most efficient fighting styles becoming victorious. Choose a competent MMA fighter and copy their style of fighting to learn how to protect yourself.
As MMA has fewer restrictions than other combat sports, it is the best alternative to a true fight that you can watch on television practically every weekend. Almost each martial art that makes up Krav Maga is also used in mixed martial arts.
MMA is the game for you if you are ready to mix it up a bit, stand and also put it to the ground if required. Bringing together the best features of the best martial systems into one system. It is, in my opinion, the most outstanding discipline in which to train.
