I (21f) am 5’5" and skinny. I recently attended a self-defense class, and there I was tought how to use a pocket knife. And as I have some male friends 6’5"+ tall, I thought that that height actually makes your belly particularly vulnerable in case of a fight (in comparisson with short people):
- a short person’s shoulder height is around the same level as your belly making it easier to stab/hit;
- your belly is proportionally a larger target.
And in general, if a 6’5"+ guy stands in front of me with his stomach released (even if he has just a bit of a belly) it feels like having an exposed, large and squishy punching/stabbing bag right in front of me, into which, if needed, I can easily harshly and deeply plunge anything straight away.
I also practice historical fencing (rapier) and most of the times I stab tall opponents into the belly - my favorite thrusts are ducking counterattacks when I duck while they attack, go low and impale a tall guy’s unprotected belly right onto my rapier.
What do you think about it?
The only real advantage being small has is that a larger opponent might underestimate you or just have no idea how to fight someone smaller. Otherwise, in any physical fight, they’re just going to have an advantage.
Why would they let you get to their belly with their superior reach? They can use their own knife/whatever to hit you first.
Obviously, for anything, they might also just not be as trained as you or have whatever other disadvantages, but in general, assuming equal skill and effort and no mental biases, i.e. everything else being equal, larger simply equals better in a physical fight.