What is the best martial art for short and stocky individuals?
Looking into getting into martial arts, but not really sure which one would be best suited for me. I am 5′4″ and I weigh 160 lbs, so I have a short and stocky build. Which martial art would be best for my build? Any honest opinion would be greatly appreciated.
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Here is the list of martial arts I’ve seen short/stocky people doing to great success. There may be more, but these are the ones I’ve personally seen.
Chinese: Wing Chun, Hung Gar.
Okinawan: Uechi-ryu, Goju-ryu, Isshinryu.
Japanese: Judo.
Kodokan Judo is absolutely perfect for those with a low center of gravity (shorter and stockier than me).
I’m 5′6″ 215 So I can relate. I train in Hapkido for 10 yrs now. In OUR Hapkido school we do alot of throwing and grappling probably more than most traditional hapkido schools. But if I was going to train in anything else I would do Judo or jujitsu. Grappling arts seems to favor the shorter guys because of our natural low center of gravity. But with Hapkido training most people dont realize I can easily kick someone in the head. They tend to assume because of my build that I can’t do it. Which for me is an advantage. It just give me more tools to work with.
Western boxing for your strikes and head/body movement to get you inside to your range. Then you can use the judo or jujitsu that most people have rightly recommended to you.
NOTE: Western boxing is a martial art – martial arts are not exclusively asian…
You should find it relatively easy to do the standing throws in Judo on people taller than you, because you won’t have to squat as much (because you’re already down there).
But don’t think you have to limit yourself just because of your physical build. You can become proficient in any art if you put enough training into it.
Well, I’m 5′5 190 lbs, so i can relate my friend.
We have the perfect body for a grappler, short limbs that are hard to grab and lock, and a low center of gravity that makes us hard to throw.
Some grappling martial arts: judo, brazilian jiujitsu, japanese (or traditional) jiujutsu, wrestling, and there are other grappling arts that include striking as well, like shidokan karate, kajukembo and combat sambo.
Ironically even though I have a good body to be a grappler, I’m a striker, I’ve trained karate, kickboxing and muay thai.
Being shorter when striking only means you have to be quick and fight on the inside, you can fight effectively even if you are short.
Some striking martial arts:
muay thai, boxing, sanshou, kyokushin karate.
So it’s up to you my friend, you’d do well in grappling arts, but can still do well in striking arts, nowadays it’s good to know a bit of both.
good luck!
I dont think it really makes a difference.
sure it affects how you deliver techniques and train, but usually most styles are valuable regardless of build. ive seen pretty high up people where i train, they utilize the style differently but its still the same style.
the goal is to use and train with what works, not try to fit something that doesnt work.
i would do kung fu or muay thai. mainly for the hard training and physical conditioning.
Good Luck : )
Hmmmm… tough one… The greeks for the most part were short and stocky. The Chinese were short and a few were stocky. The Japanese…. well you get my point…I hope.
I have a similar build. I am stocky. Being as such, I have a body type well-suited for southern methods of Chinese Boxing. I study Hung Gar and Lau Gar extensively along with Taijiquan and Five Animal/Five Family. Southern methods tend to emphasize deep-rooted, strong stances. This is due to the physique of people in that particular region. Considering that my body type is similar, this comes naturally and feels natural very quickly.
Also, as others have mentioned, Judo would also be well-suited. Having a lower center of gravity would be advantageous. Bear in mind that many methods of southern Chinese Boxing incorporate chin-na, which is grappling in itself and likely the root to Judo.
Good luck in your training.
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Judo comes to mind.