In a regular type of fight how much of an advantage is height?
What are the pros/cons of being tall or short?
If two people in a fight are different heights, but weigh the same and both are lean I suspect the shorter opponent might have more muscle and would therefore win.
What about the difference in height 3 inches, 6inches, a foot?
Also what type of advantages/disadvantages does height have in a boxing match?
In a boxing match or martial arts competition height usually translates to reach, which can be very helpful. I have a lot of fun tagging people befor they can ever hit me. For a street fight, the few I have seen tend to close and turn to groundfighting pretty quick so it didn’t make much difference.
Oh, in some martial arts where you are very concerned with the other person’s balance (judo, or even sumo) height matters less as lower centers of gravity can be a good thing.
As a former wrestler and practicioner of Jiu-Jitsu I can safely say: depends. (Hope that’s the sage advice you’re looking for.)
If the fight is headed for the ground, the shorter man can have an advantage, although it won’t be much of an advantage if the shorter man is also weak and inexperienced.
If the shorter man is a sturdy, muscular brute, as short men involved in contact sports frequently decide to turn themselves into, and as I was during my martial-arts career (and still am,) and if he has some experience, and he is fighting a taller, lankier guy even with equal experience, he probably has an advantage.
Particularly if that guy has the type of long, thin, tall-guy legs that can easily be sweeped, buckled, and twisted into various uncomfortable holds.
Long, lean, tall-guy arms are easier to put into chickenwings, twist behind the back, and put into locks and holds. They also tend to have thinner wrists. Wrist-locks are a fun and easy way to make your opponent tap you.
If you are fighting a tall guy in a combination style like Thai Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, or just a street fight, get him on the ground fast to avoid the longer reach of his arms and his punches which he may well be able to put more swing into due to his build. A tall guy on the ground can be easy pickings.
I’m a tall guy… with lanky legs… and thin wrists.
Quite sad to see how easily I could be taken down.
Keep a low stance and rely on your reach. Your opponent won’t take you down if he’s been knocked out 
If you’re boxing height, ie reach makes a big difference. But as the shortest kid in school I never boxed, I brawled, and put the mighty smackdown on anyone who thought I was an easy target.
The way I see it, a tall guy gets a chance to punch you once before you get in range-- unless you can break his arm as he tries to hit you.
[sub]yeah, I was a nasty child. I’m better now.[/sub]
In my MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) experience, it is quite a lot easier to shoot (read: tackle) a tall opponent, since their centre of gravity is relatievly high compared to yours.
My personal all time most feared MMA/brawling opponent is not the 6’4 180lb Karate Black Belt, but the archetypal 5’10 280lb rugby prop (Merkins read: Offensive Tackle) without any ‘proper’ martial arts experience. The shorter heavier opponent is a nightmare to take down, will have experience of infighting and will be comfortable getting up close and personal.
There is no Devil, just God when he’s drunk.
Judo concentrates on standing throws, and there are throws that are better for some body types than others. Being tall doesn’t make it a done deal one way or the other.
AFAIK, there are a lot of ground moves that are better for some heights than others as well. If I want to do a triangle choke from the scarf hold, I have to abandon the traditional technique and to a modified version with less control and sturdiness because I can almost never get my arms in position. I’m not short, 5’9½" when I was last officially measured, but my arms just won’t do it for some reason. A tall guy with lanky arms will be able to snake them around and effectively choke a person out. That’s just one example.
This is not to contradict previous posters. Rather, taking time to become a skilled grappler will teach you ways to maximize your natural advantages. A short guy has a shorter lever arm when you are trying to get an elbow lock; but a tall guy can be more sturdy when mounted on an opponent because his long legs allow the opponent to bridge more without losing his base. A shot guy can use o soto gari effectively; but a tall guy has harai goshi.
Now I’m curious if anyone has collected the data on wins & heights for grappling sports to see if there is a correlation.
Hence the user name.
Level of training has a lot more to do with it than height, especially if you’ve trained to fight people who aren’t the same height. People who have done weight-class oriented fighting probably haven’t fought people more than a few inches taller or shorter than they are; people who have trained in a variety of styles probably have fought people of widely differing heights. Most of the dojos I trained at, they’d actually try to pair people up so they were fighting somebody the same height.
My sensei’s 5’6" and has no problems with tall guys. They get one shot at him as he closes, then their legs stop obeying commands… he’s also really, really fast…
I saw a boxing match (golden gloves prelims) where two boxers in the same weight class had a huge difference in height. It was funny to watch. The tall guy hit shorty over and over again. Shorty could not get a punch in unless it was below the tall guy’s belt.
After two or three warnings for below the belt blows, the fight was stopped. This was near the end of round one, and shorties face was pretty bloodied already.
Speaking from someone that got into too many fights when younger and being somewhat on the shorter side…
Being shorter than your opponent sucks unless you are significantly faster (which, thankfully, was many times the case for me) or stronger. If you are not faster or stronger then you must take the fight to the ground.
The problem with taking the fight to the ground is that your opponent being taller means he most likely weighs more and this is an advantage on the ground for him. You have to expend more energy than him and can leave you sapped quickly.
Fighting someone significantly taller than you is a larger disadvantage than you might think.
Of course this is all IMO and IME. Other people might disagree.
If you’re willing to throw the book on gentlemanly combat out the window, your opponent’s height advantage may be nullified. Height has no bearing on how much it will hurt if you put him in a fingerlock. Tall guys often have longer, thinner necks; try a chokehold if you’re behind him, or push his head down and give him a knee in the face if you’re face to face. And if you’re prepared to kick him in the balls, he’ll double over in agony and be right on your level.
Thanks for the replies guys…some genuinely interesting perspectives…keep them coming if you want.
Does anyone remember how “Two Tall Jones” (defensive tackle on Dallas Cowboys) thought he was going to become a heavy-weight champion? He was back playing tackle the next year.