What's the best martial art/fighting style for fighting much larger opponents?

Question

I have practiced Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing and wrestling on and off for about 25 years now. While I feel confident in fighting someone that is about my same size, I would be very hesitant to fight someone significantly larger than me. Does anyone have any opinions about what styles of fighting are better for fighting opponents that are 50 to 100 lbs heavier than you?

All of these answers are very helpful...thank you all very much. I guess my biggest concern is a much larger opponent simply bum rushing you and taking you to the ground. If he out weighs you buy 100 lbs, you are pretty much SOL. So I was thinking Ju Jitsu might be the best in that situation. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Wing Chun is a very effective fighting style for larger opponents; it's primarily what it was designed for. A woman pioneered it as a style, so it's ideally suited for smaller, lighter opponents to fight successfully against larger and stronger ones.

Answer 2

Tae Kwon Do and Kickboxing can be very effective against bigger opponents. The thing about these styles is that they teach you to be fast, and they're stand up styles. If an opponent is bigger than you, then you wouldn't want to take them to the ground and grapple. They will be stronger than you and they WILL overpower you.

When your opponents are bigger, they have a larger space for you to hit. If you can kick and punch and move around them faster than them, then you won't have any problems. I only weigh about 135 so my opponents are always bigger than me and I hardly ever lose a fight. I'm very good at ground styles, and since I'm skinny, I can slime my way out of just about everything. However, I do struggle a lot against bigger opponents in ground fights.

I'd suggest sticking to stand up against bigger opponents and aim for sensitive areas like the solar plex and joints, eyes, neck, back. Don't be afraid to get behind a person to hit them.

Answer 3

The styles you've studied should be effective against bigger opponents. It seems like you're a well rounded fighter. And while those styles seem to focus on competitions, and competitions are often split into weight categories, so your practice is mostly with people your weight, the techniques themselves can be practiced on bigger opponents to varying levels of effectiveness. Get yourself a big practice partner, someone much bigger than you, and just try your stuff with them. You'll find it enlightening.

Answer 4

Aim for the knees. Big guys usually have bad knees. All that weight isn't easy to carry around everywhere. I wrestled and boxed from the time I was in diapers til I graduated high school. But when it comes to big fellas, I always try to get as much room between them and me as I can, then kick at their knees as many times as it takes.

Answer 5

This type of fight gets real nasty.
You have to be willing to "Dish it out" no mister "Nice guy"
I am about 140 lbs.,In a conflict with someone aprox my size and weight "one" well placed kick or punch to the mid section ends the conflict.
This does not work if applied to someone that weighs 240 lbs.
In this case it is best to break a leg,second best break an arm or take away his vision with a full power blow to the nose and get the hell out of there.
Any style that incorporates this thinking will work.

Answer 6

Are you sure you want a Martial Art? Surely the whole concept is a philosophy of self defence. Defence being the operative word

Answer 7

I prefer Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, or Colt .44 SPL.

If you aren't within contact range when I see you, you ain't gonna get close enough to use any of that stuff.

Doc

Answer 8

ask Royce Gracie or helio Gracie!! Gracie jiu jitsu in my opinion is more suitable for larger opponents, do know submissions??