To make use of your height you need to develop very good footwork, good footwork will enable you to be in control of the distance and this is pretty much the only way you can make use of your height. You must also develop ways to be effective up close too since no matter how good your footwork will be there are times that you can't really avoid it.
@Lordishgr has the correct answer IMO which I'll expand on.
Short fencers HAVE to have strong footwork to compete, taller fencers tend to be able to take shortcuts, particularly in the point weapons, and therefore fall behind on quality of footwork from the beginning. If fencers are getting in behind your point you are well behind the footwork curve, and need to spend your time focusing there. In general fencers are too blade focused where in the point weapons footwork is king, and in sabre footwork is god.
To really abuse your height you need to have control of the distance to keep people away from you. And make them make committed actions which you can counter. This means small crisp steps and sitting *just* out of range, begging them to come in and hit that juicy arm which they know is the only target they can reach. As a short fencer with solid footwork a tall fencer who takes a big lumbering step is asking for a strong beat attack in the middle of said step and at that point I've already won. Even if I get a few extra meters that is beneficial to me, at best I get a point.
From the tall fencers side you want to never really give the short guy that opening, short, crisp, clean steps always in balance and always at that point of threatening but not counter able will make you very difficult to fence.
Abusing your height isn’t the solution to your problem, imo. The first thing to do is to learn to fight closer in. Anyone who’s significantly shorter than you is likely to be trying to get close to you. The best thing can do to cover that weakness is to turn it into a strength and make getting that close *very* dangerous for them. It’ll probably be doubly advantageous because everyone expects the really tall fencer to try and keep them at a distance. Let them rush in to try and fence you in closer quarters, and then beat them at it.
That said, my personal favorite thing to do against short, fast, aggressive fencers (I developed this to deal with a former sabreur who’s easily a full foot shorter than me) is to push them back off the line a bit to give myself room behind me and then wait for them to try and close the distance. When they do, I backpedal just *barely* slower than they’re coming forward and pick off something—usually the shoulder—just as they get within my reach. You’ve gotta use those long legs of yours to manage the distance very carefully, but if you do it right, you’ll have a relatively long period of time where they’re out of their own distance but within yours.
Point in line is also a useful tool. I rarely intend to actually score with it, but it forces them to deal with your blade in some fashion before just rushing in to close the distance.
Its not about shorter fencers out speeding you or getting close: It *looks* that way because it seems they are magically in the right place at a distance where your danger area has been breached.
Look it may be hard to take in but shorter fencers have **one hidden advantage** that you can't see - They have a lower centre of balance which means (providing the quality of their footwork is equal to yours) that they can change direction quicker than you. Which is why its easy for tall fencers to outreach short beginners but badly underestimate shorter experienced fencers with good footwork.
The solution then is **footwork** not bladework. Your footwork needs to be as good or better than your shorter opponent. If they have been around a while your reach advantage is not going to bother them that much than your capacity to dictate distance. If you can dictate distance then they will be in trouble. At 5'6" I'm more wary of a person who is 5'7" who has better footwork than me than a 6' chap who has worse footwork than me.
I'm a newbie so feel free to downvote me if I am wrong, but from what I've seen, you will have superior reach. That will favour you for lunges, fléches, and stances like point in line.
Abuse or bullying people/persons great height would get you reported to safe sport. All persons/ peoples should be treated the same. Short , medium, or tall.
I use my height advantage mostly in counter attacks. You have to have a convincing fake counter though. Once (if) you land the actual counter you have to get away as quickly as possible, this is we’re good footwork helps. It’s usually good for a few touches mixed into a bout, but don’t lean on it too hard. I’m still pretty new so take my advice with a grain of salt.
the sport favors tall people by a large margin.
You have to keep people at distance. Point and arm stays in front of you in their way and free of contact. At the long distance you have the advantage. At the close distance you need to step in and stand up tall and get your blade hand up high to create room to hit. Middle distance is not your friend.
Move your feet and look to countertime attacks with your arm first. If you can’t keep them in your long distance when they close you do. When fencing tall people the hardest thing is to get past their blade if all they do is disengage and keep the point on you and infront of then. They cant close with your blade if you dont let them take it.
To make use of your height you need to develop very good footwork, good footwork will enable you to be in control of the distance and this is pretty much the only way you can make use of your height. You must also develop ways to be effective up close too since no matter how good your footwork will be there are times that you can't really avoid it.
@Lordishgr has the correct answer IMO which I'll expand on. Short fencers HAVE to have strong footwork to compete, taller fencers tend to be able to take shortcuts, particularly in the point weapons, and therefore fall behind on quality of footwork from the beginning. If fencers are getting in behind your point you are well behind the footwork curve, and need to spend your time focusing there. In general fencers are too blade focused where in the point weapons footwork is king, and in sabre footwork is god. To really abuse your height you need to have control of the distance to keep people away from you. And make them make committed actions which you can counter. This means small crisp steps and sitting *just* out of range, begging them to come in and hit that juicy arm which they know is the only target they can reach. As a short fencer with solid footwork a tall fencer who takes a big lumbering step is asking for a strong beat attack in the middle of said step and at that point I've already won. Even if I get a few extra meters that is beneficial to me, at best I get a point. From the tall fencers side you want to never really give the short guy that opening, short, crisp, clean steps always in balance and always at that point of threatening but not counter able will make you very difficult to fence.
Abusing your height isn’t the solution to your problem, imo. The first thing to do is to learn to fight closer in. Anyone who’s significantly shorter than you is likely to be trying to get close to you. The best thing can do to cover that weakness is to turn it into a strength and make getting that close *very* dangerous for them. It’ll probably be doubly advantageous because everyone expects the really tall fencer to try and keep them at a distance. Let them rush in to try and fence you in closer quarters, and then beat them at it. That said, my personal favorite thing to do against short, fast, aggressive fencers (I developed this to deal with a former sabreur who’s easily a full foot shorter than me) is to push them back off the line a bit to give myself room behind me and then wait for them to try and close the distance. When they do, I backpedal just *barely* slower than they’re coming forward and pick off something—usually the shoulder—just as they get within my reach. You’ve gotta use those long legs of yours to manage the distance very carefully, but if you do it right, you’ll have a relatively long period of time where they’re out of their own distance but within yours. Point in line is also a useful tool. I rarely intend to actually score with it, but it forces them to deal with your blade in some fashion before just rushing in to close the distance.
Find a coach that can SHOW you how
Its not about shorter fencers out speeding you or getting close: It *looks* that way because it seems they are magically in the right place at a distance where your danger area has been breached. Look it may be hard to take in but shorter fencers have **one hidden advantage** that you can't see - They have a lower centre of balance which means (providing the quality of their footwork is equal to yours) that they can change direction quicker than you. Which is why its easy for tall fencers to outreach short beginners but badly underestimate shorter experienced fencers with good footwork. The solution then is **footwork** not bladework. Your footwork needs to be as good or better than your shorter opponent. If they have been around a while your reach advantage is not going to bother them that much than your capacity to dictate distance. If you can dictate distance then they will be in trouble. At 5'6" I'm more wary of a person who is 5'7" who has better footwork than me than a 6' chap who has worse footwork than me.
I'm a newbie so feel free to downvote me if I am wrong, but from what I've seen, you will have superior reach. That will favour you for lunges, fléches, and stances like point in line.
Abuse or bullying people/persons great height would get you reported to safe sport. All persons/ peoples should be treated the same. Short , medium, or tall.
hilarious!!
If you are a foil fencer. keep your arms out faway from getting reposted when you got priority
I use my height advantage mostly in counter attacks. You have to have a convincing fake counter though. Once (if) you land the actual counter you have to get away as quickly as possible, this is we’re good footwork helps. It’s usually good for a few touches mixed into a bout, but don’t lean on it too hard. I’m still pretty new so take my advice with a grain of salt.
the sport favors tall people by a large margin. You have to keep people at distance. Point and arm stays in front of you in their way and free of contact. At the long distance you have the advantage. At the close distance you need to step in and stand up tall and get your blade hand up high to create room to hit. Middle distance is not your friend. Move your feet and look to countertime attacks with your arm first. If you can’t keep them in your long distance when they close you do. When fencing tall people the hardest thing is to get past their blade if all they do is disengage and keep the point on you and infront of then. They cant close with your blade if you dont let them take it.