what grip do you prefer?

[aussie]

Hi All,

just a general discussion point, what grip did you begin on and are you still using the same one?

i was trained in the french school of thought and only use french grips allowing the use of my fingers, yes i know the italians use a cross bar, im not trying to start a school discussion on whos better, but gain an idea what people think and use.

[Fencer X]

Hi;

I started on the italian grip, went to
french. These days, I use both. I don't fence
electric. (at least, not yet.)

Don't overlook the fact that not only are
there italian & french grips- Also definitive
styles of thier use. The italian school (ala
Luigi Barbasetti) Has a much lower, open
stance, than french. Guard position is always
3/4 extended. All parries made out front.
Beats & other attacks on the blade are more
powerful, using the italian grip.

My preference? I've been fencing classical
less than a year. I like the finnesse &
elegance of french foil. I like the power
& aggression of the italian. I like 'em both.

-Fencer X



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It is too bad that men
die in duels,For duelling
otherwise promotes politeness in society
-Napoleon Bonaparte

[swordsen]

I generaaly use a french grip, and Italian grip or a short belgium grip. Depends on how my hand is feeling and which weapon I am fencing.

[Christopher J Umbs]

For foil, I like the French grip even though my style is mixta (I've studied French and Italian foil). For smallsword and epee, Italian.

Chris

[ledgerto]

I love my French grip, but I practice with the pistol also. I like the look of the Italian, but none are currently avilable at my salle to try. I am considering ordering one. What do you think?

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Old dogs CAN learn new tricks!

[foodle]

In foil, my evolution was:

French --> German --> Visconti

It seems that the vast majority of high-level competitive foil fencers (at least in my club) use Visconti.

[Gajuith]

I generally practice with french and compete with visconti. But with foil I always use french because I only compete with epee

[Touche]

French grips, German pistol. At first I was uncomfortable using the pistol grips, but it really helps your hands from cramping up after hours of fencing. I tend to switch to those near the end of class.

[aussie]

Hi,

yes i see the value of the italian cross bar and also the pistol and orthopedic grips i have found for foil and epee that i cant go past the french. I base this on my coaches comments of that once you have trained your fingers you can use anything? it works for me .

My understanding would be for a beginner ( first 2 years of fencing) that a french foil is used, that also fits for epee, then they can make their own choice, as by then they have the foundations to build upon.

[Shadow Fencer]

I started out with French and would have continued with it (my weapon is foil) but my coach switched me to pistol - I use the a belgian. The reason he did this was for strength in parrying in the "modern game", which I am learning. I started out in the classical style.

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I live to fence and fence to live!!

[latenight]

French->German-->Viscounti

Asmy skill increased, I needed a more dynamic grip

[Swordsworn]

French-->German-->Zivkovic

I used the French for my first 3 years, at which point my coach switched me to German so that I could have more strength to my parries. 4 years ago I discovered the Zivkovic and fell in love with it! As I am a leftie it made my exaggerated enguarde in 6 much more comfortable. (Plus it is a lot of fun when you do prime )

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"The sword isn't our lives, it just keeps us alive for the really good parts" - Graham Ashe

[Miguelito]

Since moving on from French, Large Russian for me. I like that it's not so "form fitting" that it forces your fingers into a forced position. Also, because I have big hands I had trouble with some of the other German and visconti's being too small.

[Purple Fencer]

Like everyone who's ever taken up the sport, I started with a French, but switch to a pistol grip when I started competing in 1997. I use a Belgian because I like the fact that it feels like it's actually in my hand! When I briefly used a German grip, it always fely like I was about to lose it. Same with a Visconti or Russian grip.

Freewind used a Belgian for epee and a Russian for foil - primarily because his fingers are long and he kept jamming his right thumb into the back of his foil guard. The Russian's got a slightly longer guard-end to it.

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Sam Signorelli -- Boldly going forward...'cause I can't find reverse!

[foiled again]

French -> Visconti -> Visconti & Belgian (PBT Type K)

fa

[Jeff Harman]

I've got to agree with Miguelito on this one. The Russian seems to have the best of both worlds. Control with out being too confining. Although I still will use a modified Belgian (American?) grip for a change of pace. Sometimes for practice I'll just use the first thing that comes out of the bag... JAH

[Stryder]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes, but I must point out that the number of good fencers who use anything other than Visconti is small. The number of great fencers who use anything other than Visconti is even smaller. If your goal is to be one of these fencers then why use what is essentially a beginner's grip?

Don't choose French or Italian and wonder why you get screwed in electric tournaments. The game is to turn on lights, not to look like you could.

Zivkovic grips feel great until you get more strength, then you will find out that comfort and power are far from the same thing.

German also feels good but it is too constricting. Visconti allows you to relax your grip and let it roll around in your hand. This gives you the powerful yet quick prise d' fer actions.

I do like russian grips, but then they aren't too different from Visconti. They have just had the finger ridges ground off.


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www.geocities.com/strydermike

[aussie]

Hi all,

i find that the french allows me to win the bout and not restict my finger work and point control.

you will find that good fencers are common but great fencers are rare, this is the combination of ahtletic ability and proper foundation teaching which is very rare now adays as people are wanting to fence in comps as soon as possible and not build every aspect thats is needed to get you to the top.

you only find what you have missed in training and learning the basics from the beggining is when you are five years after starting and then its to late to retrain that aspect it has become a habit and a foible.

good foundation will see you through your whole fencing life, and will increase as the years spent fencing increase.

hops this helps

[Pommel]

Just to reply to Stryder's post, I'd like to point out that while his comment about the wide use of the visconti grip is true for foil, it is not the case in epee. A great number of great epee fencers utilize the french grip, particularly those of France, Italy, and Canada. My impression is that the reason we see pistols so much in this country is that a lot of our coaches come from eastern Europe, where the pistol grip is dominant. I attended the last World Cup in Montreal and of the French National team that was present I'd say at least one third if not half of them fenced with french grips. The same was very much true for the French Canadians. Not all "good" or "great" fencers fence visconti.

As for me I fenced french for my first week and have fenced pistol ever since then. I went from belgian to visconti to zivcovik to russian. Ironically I'm currently experimenting with the french grip again.

All this said I think we'd all agree that a good fencer should be able to fence with any grip, though he or she will defenitely prefer one over all others if for no other reason than that they're more familiar with it. There's a lot more to fencing than how you hold the sword.

[Stryder]

Yeah, I meant foil. Sometimes I forget about epee.

There aren't a lot of sabre fencers out there who use Visconti either.


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