Edit for clarity, I’m talking about when someone holds their sword in the grip where the blade is pointed along the forearm, instead of the usually grip, where it’s an extension of your arm. I clearly don’t know how much general knowledge people have about swords.
Bit of a rant here. It’s like the smallest of nitpicks. It’s not a big deal. But I also wish people in charge of how swords in media are handled had to just hold a sword for an hour, because it’s immediately obvious how impractical that technique is.
I’ve had a medium amount of sword handling in my life which is probably why it bothers me so much. Minor amount of 16th century swordplay, 4 years of fencing, half a year with Kung Fu sword form. Not an expert, but enough to know how the muscles work. Holding it backwards puts a huge amount of strain on the wrong part of the forearm, forget blocking or deflecting, shorten your effective range by almost the entire of the sword. You might as well just be punching the dude.
Technically you could argue for some amount of reverse grip. Could potentially catch someone off guard, but also they could just stab you. With a short blade an icepick grip is entirely viable. That’s not generally how it’s presented, it’s depicted as a main character style that implies more skill than the usual plebeians.
It just bothers the fuck out of me. I know nobody cares, and I feel like guns are misused much worse in media. But fuck me it’s so annoying every time it comes up.
What about knives tho?
Knives are fine, blade is small enough to not put excess stress on your wrist or arm, you aren’t blocking with a knife, helps get in close to be behind the enemy guard or attack from unusual angles.
you aren’t blocking with a knife
Unless it’s a parrying dagger
Are those the ninja turtle styles ones with the two extra bits on the side?
That’s called a sai, which can be used as a parry dagger
Usually parry daggers see thick, 6 inch blades meant to be used to basically slap a weapon away from you in a fight, and some (like the sai) have ornamentation to help grab and steal a blade off your opponent
What I like about weapon portrayal in Vinland Saga is that it actually shows how silly is it to try to unsheath a sword from behind your back.
Makes a lot more sense with knives. It can actually hide them from your opponent fairly effectively, and you can still stab with that grip since the blade isn’t too long for that.
Oh boy! My wheelhouse!
Like you said, with most swords, and any of the ones you’ll actually see in movies or media, it really isn’t good. I won’t say it’s utterly useless, but it’s super niche, and won’t be useful often enough to merit training that way except for some kind of mandated testing in some specific style. And, imo, if the style is insisting you spend time on it, you’re at a shitty school.
In any kind of sparring, the only application would be when after being disarmed and regaining the weapon as fast as possible, and using the position to shift to another while defending. In other words, when you have absolutely no other options. Happily, I’ve never had to fight with a sword, or against one, because damn. Very few people have, so anything else is armchair hypothesis.
It isn’t something that bothers me, as I can head canon a reason that will let me keep watching whatever it is, but it is bullshit. I care too, just not as much :)
Now, knives? A reverse grip has a ton of potential. It isn’t the default that movies and TV make it seem, but it has solid applications, particularly with knives that can take advantage of the position. If nothing else, it allows the possibility of a non-apparent stance, and that’s a big advantage if you’re hoping to avoid any kind of conflict (which is goal #1), but face the reality that you only have 50% of the say in that.
But knives are not just really short swords. There’s a totally different set of body mechanics involved, and different tactics needed to be effective. There’s some overlap, particularly when you factor in the similarities between fencing and knife training, but there’s a lot you just can’t do with most swords that you can with knives, and vice versa.
I have no idea what you’re talking about without a diagram or an example photo.
But I’m also not smart. Maybe other people do.
I’m a mediocre person who finally understood what OP meant about ⅔ of the way through. A picture would have been very helpful.
Yeah that’s on me, I’ll chuck an explanation in the post.
You hold it with the blade running along your forearm, as opposed to the usual grip where it’s more of an extension of your arm.
Thanks for the description. Now it’s clear.
blade running along your forearm
extension of your arm
I’m confused. So is it like holding the sword as if doing a thumbs-up, so the blade is perpendicular to the forearm? Or the wrist is bent, so the blade is parallel to the forearm? I know jack squat about swords.
Shit now I’m confused. Wherever one wouldn’t let you point the pointy end at your enemy without twisting your entire body.
How would you hold an ice pick if you wanted to stab some ice really hard? Yeah, that’s how some movie protagonists hold swords in a sword fight. Good for stabbing, bad for defending and pretty useless for defeating your opponent.
How would you hold an axe when copping wood? Yeah, that’s the normal way to hold a sword. That’s how you don’t die within the first 2 seconds.
If you’re holding the sword while doing a thumbs up, the blade is pointing down instead of up. The bottom of the pommel is between your thumb and forefinger and the cross guard is next to your pinky.
Still need a picture.
Is this a good example or bad example?
It is both a bad example of swordsmanship and a good example of OP’s description.
yes
I can’t imagine more than 2 ways to hold it. Hold a sword (or baseball bat, etc), now turn the handle around in your hand so the long end is toward you. That’s it. That’s what OP is referring to.
I just wanted to let you know I got it right away without trying, but I’m also a highly exceptional person, so there’s still no telling. I have nothing more to add.
It’s the rule of cool, and yes, it is annoying. It manifests in all sorts of ways, and in sword fighting, there are some other cliches as well, such as having a very long fight, very short distance, spinning, sounds etc.
Just like with guns and explosions you have all sorts of weird reality defying things. Like, when was the last time you saw someone shooting and throwing grenadines in a mine or a tunnel? The sound and pressure damage is incredibly harmful in a closed environment like that, but that’s not cool, so the directors don’t care.
Realistically though, sword fights would be over in a few swings, and the reverse gripper would be bleeding on the ground. Throwing a grenade in a mine would end the shootout for everyone involved. Conmando style machine gun firing is just fantasy in every level, but oh boy, is it cool to watch.
This made me think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAzY28C8Syc
Exactly. Better watch your distance, or you get stabbed in the chest. If you’re using a reverse grip, you’re basically begging for the other person to exploit the reach of their weapon.
Although, it can be cool to see dumb tricks fail spectacularly. Actually, that would be a really cool idea for a movie. The protagonist is the only one who takes it seriously, while everyone else is just trying to look cool. No plot armor is needed, because the protagonist can just exploit all the mistakes, and massacre everyone.
Although, it can be cool to see dumb tricks fail spectacularly.
🤣 Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. The look on Indy’s face says it all. He must have been thinking like: “Seriously? I don’t have the time or energy for this nonsense. I’m so done with this.”
Reverse grip only works for weapons designed for it like rondel daggers
It reminds me of when someone with a gun just stands up, out of cover, to shoot the bad guys.
You play an online fps for 15 minutes and you learn very quickly that if you step out of cover in a shoot out you will get shot, very fast.
Himura Battousai has entered the chat.
Not like that. OP means holding the sword downward in your hand, so the blade is going along your forearm/behind you.
Like this:
I always viewed it as the anime equivalent of someone holding a gun sideways.
Wtf, that’s terrible! Everyone knows that’s not how you hold a gun. Here’s a pic of the proper way to hold a gun:
I vaguely remember seeing a clip of some anime where someone was holding 2 guns upside down in their hands so they were pulling the triggers with their pinkies, and shooting sideways so they basically had the guns held magazine-to-magazine
I can only assume that it was done to intentionally troll gun people
Exactly, thank you. Also I stole that pic for the op.
It’s forgivable when the character has superhuman strength. If a long sword is as heavy as a knife for them, maybe they could use reverse grip and not immediately die.
For sure, I like berserk FFS, dude holds his greatsword in his mouth like a dog sometimes.
It’s like one handing a pistol
