French grip VS Pistol Grip

[nahouw]

I agree with Paolo. If you pommel with a french grip, you just have to be more acutely aware of your distance and leverage. Of course, if you are pommelling, you are already acutely aware of your distance and timing, because the main reason to pommel is for the stop hits.

If you're not, then you're pommelling for the wrong reasons, and would be better off with a pistol grip.

Paolo, next time I see you, I want to hear you sing it......<g>

p.s. tell Jason I will send his regards to the other Paolo when I see him this weekend (and I will also tell Paolo how well the president of his NJ fan club has been fencing lately!!)

Originally posted by damianip
1. Not true. Depends on who's doing the beating. I've disarmed plenty of pistol opponents with a quick, sharp beat.

It's a matter of technique. Strong beats are easier than strong binds which require more precision and better technique than when executed with a pistol. Or rather, there is less room for error with a French. Blade actions should always be executed precisely.

2. Yes, but as with binds, they must be executed correctly. Disengages work also, just be ready to consider the extra reach when performing the disengage.

3. Yes, one can flick when posting a freedom grip.

As an aside, yes, Eric Dew doesn't suffer fools gladly, but, looking at the big picture, he has been a great fencing info resource for me and many others for many years, both here and in RSF. Let us also not forget his annual gargantuan effort (with Peter G.) to get WCh/Olympic tapes out to the NA fencing community who otherwise be left in the dark.

He can seem edgy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Eric, you P.I.T.A , "don't go changin' to try and please us" (not that he ever would).


Paolo

[edew]

Originally posted by damianip
[...]

As an aside, yes, Eric Dew doesn't suffer fools gladly, but, looking at the big picture, he has been a great fencing info resource for me and many others for many years, both here and in RSF. Let us also not forget his annual gargantuan effort (with Peter G.) to get WCh/Olympic tapes out to the NA fencing community who otherwise be left in the dark.

He can seem edgy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Eric, you P.I.T.A , "don't go changin' to try and please us" (not that he ever would).


Paolo

I maintain the PITA persona for my EDEW moniker so I can differentiate myself from my other monikers: 1357911, mangrove, lava, sonnet, and the_craw (as in, "I'm not the CRAW, I'm the CRAW!").

[earlie]

it a good idea using a frencher grip? No way they are a grip for a coach and beginner but why whats the point, try them if you can, then developing some good techniques by going over to a like pistol grip. Manatee tools. You might see so many top class fencer they is using that pistol grip, and well, and so well. In our club there is only a occasional epee on a frencher grip, and perhaps like a foil or too. Sabers?? well you now what they say about a sabureure wiyh a french grip.... it is a not too be trusted. Good like luck.

[d0gz|song]

This is kinda off topic, but I'm just wondering what type of pistol grip promotes finger control. I've used one type of grip before (viscontti), and I've been having trouble using my fingers. Thanks in advance!

[edew]

Different pistolgrips require different fingers for control. The belgian pistolgrip requires a lot of first two fingers (and the thumb) control, and in a different way. The visconti emphasizes the last three fingers, and the middle and ring fingers in particular. My fingers are so strong, I can type 200 words a minute nowadays. Only if the words are made up of letters on the left hand side of the keyboard.

BTW, the german visconti (or german grip, according to some vendors' naming conventions) don't seem, to me, to allow for any finger control. Maybe I'm always holding a supersized one and my hand doesn't fit it, but whenever I wield a german grip, the fingers kind of sinks into the grooves like a person sitting into a bean bag chair: you're comfortably ensconced, but you can't move about. I have zero control with the german grip.

Then again, since they're very seldom used in foil, I would imagine that most other fencers are also similarly disenchanted with the german grip for foil.