A question on the martingale...

[RITFencing]

You may also want to see about finding a vendor, or just seeing if there's a box of different grips in your club, and taking some time trying different ones for the feel of it.

[Seraph]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

You might want to look at different belgian grips, try to find one brand and size that you like. I really can't recommend the french for competitive foil; it just doesn't give you the control of an orthopedic and there's really no upside to compensate for it.

Thanks- actually, I've fallen in love with the miniture Belgium grip that LP sells (Golubitsky-Pro Ultra Grip Insulated Foil handle). I don't use french outside my club, but its still my favorite for friendly assaults (What can I say, I'm a romanticist at heart )

[RITFencing]

Originally Posted by Seraph

Thanks- actually, I've fallen in love with the miniture Belgium grip that LP sells (Golubitsky-Pro Ultra Grip Insulated Foil handle). I don't use french outside my club, but its still my favorite for friendly assaults (What can I say, I'm a romanticist at heart )

Nothing wrong with being romantic, but if you train to compete, you have to realize that your job is to win; to put on your light while you have right of way. If the best way for you to do that is to fence with a french foil, then go with it. If the best way for you to do that is with a pistol grip, do that. I'm sure a classicist is going to yell at me. My preemptive rebuttal: When blades were sharp and people were really trying to kill and cripple each other with them, I can guarantee you that they worried a hell of a lot more about winning, or at least not losing, than they did about looking nice, having proper form, or doing it the old way, and I feel that frame of mind is something worth preserving.

Besides, there's nothing really that romantic about an activity centered around killing and maiming others while you try to prevent them from doing it to you.

[fatfencer]

Martingales are the fingerloops attached between the bell and the french handle so as to prevent being disarmed. This has always been the case but misuse of this term has gone on for quite some time by the looks of it.

The wrist strap is like a watch band. It allows the weight of the weapon to be carried by the arm while the fingers work their magic.

They are NOT one and the same.


Both are reasonably effective ways of affixing one's hand to the grip and there isn't anything in the rules, near as I can tell, which would prevent one from using either with an orthopedic grip of any kind including the 2 prong italian.

FF

[forethought]

Originally Posted by Seraph

Alright... about the wrist strap...
The general idea I've seen around the forums is that the wrist strap, which is legal on all orpho handles, is used to lock the hand and wrist in place while fencing. In fact, it even prevents pommeling on the Italian grip, which can also be used with the wrist strap.

...

A wrist strap does not lock the hand and wrist in place, it simply, as FF said, transfers (some of) the weight of the weapon to the arm so as to let the fingers work on point control instead of trying to hold onto the weapon so much.

Also, pommelling with an Italian would not be the best idea, in that Italian grips are generally heavier, and if someone does a hard controlled circle-four parry, that blade is going right out of your hand.

Edit: Actually, strike that comment about Italian grips being heavier, I just recieved my Italian foil from Negrini, and man is this thing light! However, I do still stand behind my advice that pommelling with the Italian foil would be asking to be disarmed, unless you hold it like a baseball bat, but at that point, what the hell are you doing?