Non-French Grips

[Chancellor]

I haven't been fencing for something around two years now and I've always used a french grip. I have recently been considering switching to something other than a french grip and was wondering what all the different types mean, and basically general information on different grips. I should probably mention that i fence foil. Any help would be apreciated, so thanks.

[larkmaj]

The best advice would be to ask you coach as he/she should know what is best for you. The second best piece of advice would be to try out the different grips and see what fits best. As far as the different pistol grips go it's mostly what feels comfortable for you.

[JackOfHearts]

It's alright to stick with a french if it's what's comfortable for you, though a different grip can improve your game somewhat. There's this one guy in my club that had medical problems that had his hand aching after a few minutes of fencing with a french, but he switched to a visconti (I think) and it fits him much more comfortably. I have a belgian gripped foil, though I primarily use an italian grip.

[Phaeton]

Italian? Why?

I'd second that, just try different things out and see what's comfortable for you. I know people that can't hold a french grip without locking up their hands, and people that can't hold an orthepedic grip without doing the same.

Does anyone have any idea what percentage of fencers use italian grips? I wasn't aware there were more than seven of them.

[forethought]

After a year and a half on French I moved to an Italian grip, and I love it. I really want to get one from Negrini and try it out, but alas, none of their US distributors stocks their Italian foils, so I'm stuck until I have enough spare money to do an overseas order.

Of all of the orthapedic grips, I find the Belgian fits my hand the best, however, I'd be more likely to go back to French than an orthapedic grip. To find the grip that's right for you, you should probably go to a good sized tournament with a vendor present and ask to sample their variety of grips and find the one that feels best in your hand for the style of fencing you do.

[JackOfHearts]

After a year and a half on French I moved to an Italian grip, and I love it. I really want to get one from Negrini and try it out, but alas, none of their US distributors stocks their Italian foils, so I'm stuck until I have enough spare money to do an overseas order.

The fencing post is where I got my foil from. Been saving up for an epee as well. As of now, it's the only local supplier I know that carries italians, and they use Uhlmann parts. Oddly enough, i also use a belgian as a backup weapon.

As to why I use an italian, it just feels more comfortable in my hand. I've tried the different pistol grips we have at my club and the belgian and russian come close, but still feel a bit akward.

[mrbiggs]

Don't use italian. It's like commuting with a horse.

[bigdawg2121]

Hey, some people are still Amish even today. As long as he's happy with what he's getting and how his grips are working let him do his thing. If he ever complains about not being competitive or at least not a good competitor then you should let him have it.

[rcmatthews]

Yeah, but I bet being Amish sucks. It's a lot easier to just use cars.

[farginStinkinBastage]

I'm not trying to criticize anyone's personal style ... but the differences in execution of actions between the Italian and French grips are considerable. Unless you have studied neither the French or Italian method, I don't see how you can easily switch.

Of course, one may argue that fencing has become more or less homogenized in the past few decades, and it doesn't really matter what grip you choose

[RebelFencer]

Unless you're fencing Epee', there is really no reason to use a french grip. Italian grips are just completely worthless.

[Mergs]

If the French grip is so great, then why doesn't the French team use them? Hmmmmmmm?

[VERITAS]

Its not all that hard to switch between french & italian grips -- if you know what you're doing. There are huge differences, but not impossible ones, in my experience.

Obviously pistol grips work extremely well for most (all?) sport competitors, and if they were to switch grips but not switch techniques, french/italian grips would be inferior.

The reverse is also true. If one learns traditional french or italian, it is harder to adapt to a pistol. Even the modern posting french grip for epee is quite different from using a pistol.

One thing that I find very appealing about the traditional Italian system is the degree to which the basic movements apply to all the weapons. Much more interesting to me than learning specialized, contradictory styles in each weapon. It certainly isn't the first choice of a single-minded competitor.

Regarding the acquisition of italian grip weapons: Tom Rockwell custom-machines beautiful italian parts at decent prices. American Fencers Supply is now his distributor.

[riceboy]

The fencing post is where I got my foil from. Been saving up for an epee as well. As of now, it's the only local supplier I know that carries italians, and they use Uhlmann parts. Oddly enough, i also use a belgian as a backup weapon.

Just a note, Fencing Post doesn't have any true ricasso italian epee blades anymore. They'll sell you all the parts, but no blades. You'll have to make do with a false ricasso and a good FIE blade.

[JackOfHearts]

Just a note, Fencing Post doesn't have any true ricasso italian epee blades anymore. They'll sell you all the parts, but no blades. You'll have to make do with a false ricasso and a good FIE blade.

Damn! Ah, well... Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I'll have to stick with a belgian for epee. I use a false ricasso on my practice foil, and it's been giving me some trouble as of late.

[bigdawg2121]

If the French grip is so great, then why doesn't the French team use them? Hmmmmmmm?

Don't they? Certainly enough of the rest of the competitive epee world uses them to lend credence to their "greatness" as a grip, but I could have sworn that most of the french I see fencing epee use them.

[Mergs]

Don't they? Certainly enough of the rest of the competitive epee world uses them to lend credence to their "greatness" as a grip, but I could have sworn that most of the french I see fencing epee use them.

But what about foil???

[forethought]

Don't use italian. It's like commuting with a horse.

That entirely depends on what you want to get out of fencing.

[forethought]

The fencing post is where I got my foil from. Been saving up for an epee as well. As of now, it's the only local supplier I know that carries italians, and they use Uhlmann parts.

Triplette is where I got mine, they just assemble theirs from their TCA blades, 120mm bellguards and the E3 grip they sell on their zenarmory website:

http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/04_SCAgrips.htm

The false ricasso they use is nothing more than a semi-flattened piece of copper tubing, which is alright I guess, but on the one I bought, the hole that was drilled through the grip wasn't drilled straight, so the ricasso and grip are off-center from each other and it looks weird. My coach bought one because another student of hers wanted to try an Italian, but abandoned it because he couldn't adapt, and she had no use for it so she gave it to me, and it's now my backup weapon The ricasso and grip are much better aligned on that one too, but I guess I'm just faithful to my weapon.

Do you use a wrist strap with yours when you fence? If you don't and can't find one, what I did was buy some of those wrist bands that people wear all the time these days (the ones that come in all sorts of colors to represent different causes/sports teams/etc) and use it, and it helps a whole lot; takes some strain off the fingers so you can use them for finer point control instead of having to manage the weight of the weapon.

[RebelFencer]

From the zenwarriorarmory website:

"Deerskin Gloves. Yes, we murdered an innocent little Bambi to make these gloves for you. Instead of frolicking in the woods with his little friends, the poor little critter has been slaughtered just so hedonists can enjoy the feel of the most supple fighting glove available at any price.

Actually, a semi crunched him on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and we didn't want him to go to waste, so don't feel bad."

You all are monsters.