Do you believe that especially in the Western besides talent, size and raw strength alone are the key elements to being a great fighter and being able to protect yourself? I feel that while these two are certainly big contributing factors, they are not the number one as there are many other important factors can determine the outcome of a life and death battle. These factors are skill, courage, stamina, speed, and most important of all: wisdom, and to keep your emotions under control and properly harnessed. Size and raw upper body muscle are in my opinion WAY overrated and over emphasized around the world. Sure two fighter with equal or similar skill the one with more meat on him would normally have the advantage primarily in a slugging match or a wrestling match. Karate wasn’t initially a sport, but an art for real combat developed by people in Okinawa where they weren’t allowed to have firearms or any weapons at all. Let’s face it, there is much more to being a great martial artists than size or raw brute strength alone. There’s always someone stronger, and to beat him, you need more than strength and talent. You need to demonstrate that the assailant lacks: wisdom as he most likely will be overconfident, and you can use the advantages you have and fight only your own fight to use his arrogance, and make his strength and aggression work against him.
And when you lose a sparing match to a person smaller, or weaker than yourself, don’t make excuses about how you should’ve won so easily. That person might just a little bit better of a fighter than you, and had his/her emotions under control. There is much you can learn from other martial artists whether they are big, small, bulky, or slender.