Simple Martial Machine Body Types

It's been a few days since my last post. I've been training for the Pan Ams and not done a whole lot of teaching, so nothing too exciting to post. Last week I did a lot of gi wrestling and did some MMA timing Wednesday through Friday. Saturday we reviewed passing from the half-guard and Sunday we held our muay thai smoker that was cancelled halfway though due to extreme weather.
I've been ruminating on the concept of leverage in martial arts. Leverage by definition is the ease of work accomplished by moving a load around a pivot using a force. There are three components of a lever system: the lever itself, the pivot or fulcrum, and the applied force. Body position typically enhances or decreases the attainable leverage, why else would a lightweight person feel so heavy on the ground or a lengthy person feel so hard to sweep? Body position is a function of body dimensions. General body types have been ascribed to the humanoid form, such as endomorph, ectomorph, and mesomorph. An endomorph is short and stocky while an ectomorph is tall and lanky. Mesomorphs fall somewhere in between. Based on the leverage concepts in combat sports and self-defense and that we do have different shaped people, I propose the Simple Martial Machine Body Types:

Fulcrum Body Type

The fulcrum body type is the smaller, more compact fighter. Their advantage comes in being the pivot point for their taller opponents and having a rapid, tight turning radius. A shorter fighter needs to be closer to their opponent than a tall one and has a distinct advantage when applying their lower center of mass (COM) against their partner's higher COM. Consider for example, pummeling for underhooks the shorter fighter wants and can achieve that position more readily and if their taller opponent's COM becomes slightly displace over their own they can be easily controlled or thrown. On the ground it is sometimes more difficult for the fulcrum-type to pin or sweep, although they can fit in more spaces along their taller opponent's anatomy.

Lever Body Type

The lever body type is the tall, more lanky fighter. Their advantage comes in the extension of their body, making it difficult for shorter people to move them or prevent from being moved. A tall fighter can work devastatingly from the outside, applying increased torque due to their lengthy limbs. However they need a minimum range to work at, if that is too greatly shortened they cannot bring their extended weapons into play. For example, in knee play a taller fighter can drag the shorter fighter's head and body down simply by pulling and stepping simultaneously using their length. On the ground the taller fighter can pin and sweep with greater ease by spreading their body to the mat or getting their legs underneath their partners. However, the lever-type has problems being unable to fit in the same black holes as a smaller competitor.

This is an argument that body types effect fighting style and possibly why you may be very good or have problems with certain people, your body type induced style may work well or poorly with theirs. However you must be able to work both as fulcrum and lever. That is, maximizing both your natural morphology but also adapting to achieve attributes of the converse body type. Leverage requires three components and being naturally capable of one does not mean forgoing practice of the other two.