Back to basics

Its time to take things back to basics folks. A time to consider what we know, what needs work and what must yet be explored.

For the moment let's begin with how we hold a longsword (or any sword really). Recently I have noticed a tendency to grip far too tightly...we must loosen our grip, we need to relax.

First of all we must stop holding our swords in a “fist” grip. It is inelegant, overly tiring, leads to poor responses and reduces the effectiveness of your cut. A proper grip goes a long way to vastly improve your offensive and defensive skills. What we are looking for here is a kind of “handshake” grip with the top right hand, with bottom left hand mostly on the pommel. This allows the bottom hand to move as needed depending on position, allowing the pommel to rotate around yet stays mostly on the pommel.