Dominating a Taller Opponent in Taekwondo Sparring

The question is, how do you win when your opponent’s legs are too long? Well, I’m actually 6’3″ and I can tell you firsthand what ticks me off and what doesn’t. Most of my Taekwondo fights have been against opponents my size or shorter. Even at nationals, the Taekwondo division heavyweight has several 6 foot guys that weigh around 200.

Whenever I attended smaller tournaments, it was when I was paired with the 5’8″ or 5’10” guys. She hated him. In fact, I shouldn’t be too quick to say that I hated it. I hated when they knew what they were doing.

First, let’s talk about what doesn’t work…

Going face to face with me. Let’s hope that’s obvious. You never want to trade kick for kick with someone who is 4-6 inches taller than you. There is an area that everyone has. I call it your red zone, red which symbolizes “warning”. Everyone’s red zone is different and its size is determined by the range of your kick.

Since I’m 6’3″, I have a bigger red zone than most. This also means that if you’re shorter than me, you enter my red zone before I enter yours. In other words, while you’re trying to Get close enough to kick, I’m already scoring you.

Next you might want to try to overwhelm me with speed. Not a bad idea, but not the best either. Every time I get in the ring with someone shorter than me, I assume they are going to be very fast. The first thing I do is create some distance, then I go out for a while. I study how fast they can actually move. I notice how quickly they can close the gap between us. After seeing how fast they really are, I just adjust my gap so I can start scoring.

The bottom line is that speed is good, but when dealing with a taller opponent, they will just make up for it with distance. Against a taller opponent, too much distance is your enemy. Your opponent has a stride that is probably 1 ½ times yours. After taking 2 steps forward, your opponent is already 3 steps away, so WHAM… they’ll roundhouse kick you.

So what is the best strategy? If you want to dominate your taller opponent in Taekwondo, you have to use a method called BTC. This stands for Bait, Trap, Counter. Pay attention, because this is the best Taekwondo scoring method against taller opponents, and I hate it! Of course, only when used against me.

Is that how it works…

When your Taekwondo match starts against a taller opponent, YOU WAIT. In fact, you wait in a high defensive mode. Be ready to whojin (slide backwards) and unleash a spinning hook kick or back kick if your opponent is too aggressive. Otherwise, please wait a moment, then we start the BTC strategy

We will slowly sneak up on our opponent, making sure not to engage too soon. This technique is known as baiting. We’re basically making ourselves susceptible to an attack with the primary goal of countering before they have a chance to score.

The best time to counter is during the trap. The fraction of a second that your opponent misses you is known as the trap. As a side note, this is why it’s super important to kick that leg down to the ground immediately, so you don’t get caught in the trap. The taller the opponent is, the longer it takes to lower the leg. This makes it an easier trap. During this trap, this is when you unleash your counterattack.

If your strong point is a back kick, then bait into an open stance (belly is facing the same direction) and you’ll try to take out your opponent’s roundhouse kick. If your strong point is a spinning hook kick, bait into a close stance and try to take out your opponent’s fast kick (skipping the front leg roundhouse kick). If you’re really one of those shorter, faster fighters, then you can sidestep and do whatever kind of counter you want, right after the Bait.

Well, what happens when your opponent finds out what you’re doing? Well, you draw in even more, at least to the point where you still succeed on the counter.

When that has run its course, it disguises the BTC by moving aggressively around the ring. He moves aggressively, then quickly baits, causing his opponent to panic and hopefully attack.

Good luck with your training!