Grips. Which ones are illegal?

[o4aversob]

Can anyone help tell me what grips are legal/illegal?
I've been wonder about the legality of rambeau and schermasport in particular. I'm referring to foil if it makes a difference.

[damianip]

Originally posted by o4aversob
Can anyone help tell me what grips are legal/illegal?
I've been wonder about the legality of rambeau and schermasport in particular. I'm referring to foil if it makes a difference.

They are both accepted to be legal, assuming you grip them correctly.

The key here is to read the ruling for grips and see if yours complies. This is the only reliable way of making a determination. There are discrepancies in how a grip may be named.

m4.6. If the grip (or glove) includes any device or attachment or has a special shape (orthopaedic) which fixes the position of the hand on the grip, the grip must conform to the following conditions.
(a) It must determine and fix one position only for the hand on the grip.
(b) When the hand occupies this one position on the grip, the extremity of the thumb when completely extended must not be more than 2 cm from the inner surface of the guard.

Paolo

[neevel]

The executive summary for how the FIE (and hence the USFA, CFF, BFA, etc.) interprets the rule Paolo quoted basically comes down to this: if it has a French grip style pommel, but also has any mouldings to fit between the fingers, it is not legal. Gardere, Dos Santos, and "Spanish traditional" (but not "Spanish offset" or Centrulo) are names for some grips that aren't kosher.

The Italian grip IS legal, albeit rare in competitive fencing (there is the technicality that nobody makes an FIE homologated Italian style blade, so anybody wanting to fence at a tournament requiring FIE blades with an Italian would need to use a false ricasso).

-Dave

[angriff]

Near the pommel of my French epee, I tie a rubber strap (those that are used on badminton rackets) such that it's shaped like a ball, giving me a better grip when I pommel with it. Does that make my epee illegal?

[swordsen]

Off hand I would say yes.

[fencinman89]

Whats the Differance Betweenn false Ricasso and umm Non-ricasso if that what its called? As stated by Neevel.

[neevel]

The ricasso is the wide, flat portion of the blade itself that runs between the inside of the guard and the crossbar and is gripped by the thumb and forefinger. If you want to use a french-style blade in an italian hilt, you need to have a hollow piece that simulates the ricasso (a false ricasso) to fit in where the ricasso would be. Otherwise, you'd only have the bare tang to grip.

-Dave