Greetings from an ARMA member hopeful!

[Joseph Marzola]

Hi everyone!

I train with Gable out here at the ARMA OC meetup, and I finally submitted my application for membership to ARMA two or three weeks ago and am eagerly waiting to hear back.

Anyway, I'd like to re-post a question I posted on the OC Meetup message board, having to do with what truly constitutes a Longsword with specific focus on the grip length, and if "Hand and a Half" is accurate terminology for what should technically be a two-handed weapon. Thanks in advance to any insight into the matter!

Here's the original question I posed to my fellow Meetup members:

"I finally started an after-dinner drilling/conditioning session/routine last night, and, as some of you know and also own, I have a Hanwei Practical Hand and a Half sword to train with. Although I love having steel to train with I'm curious as to the aspects of the grip/hilt/pommel.

After a lot of perusing since coming to the meetups, I've noticed that there seem to be an odd difference between many swords labeled "hand and a half." The Hanwei that Michael, Gable and I have has a 6.5 or 7 inch grip, and to get proper leverage, I have my left hand almost fully on the pommel so there is an inch or two in between my hands. If I put both hands both on the grip, touching each other, I feel I lose a lot of leverage, and it turns into more of a "club," where I'm "chopping" more than "hewing." Now Brad's beautiful Albion Lichtenauer and Albion's Meyer sword both have 9-10.5 inch grips which allow you to spread your hands apart farther and felt much more natural that one time at the meetup where Brad was kind enough to let us check out the feel of his sword during floryshes. Now, because I'm not a rich man, I'm going to be using my Hanwei for quite a while, and I'm sure I'll get some nice calluses and be able to grip the pommel no problem, but having the longer grip felt more natural.

Anyway, my point is: Are Brad's sword and other models with the 9 or 10 inch grips still considered "hand and a half?" They don't say "zwei-hander" or anything, and I know that term really doesn't mean what everyone thinks it means, but they also don't say "hand and a half," so I'm just confused. Plus, when I look at sword reviews, many people call blades with those nice long grips hand and a half swords, when you can very easily place both hands on it with a lot of space in between. I understand single handed swords made for specifically one handed use, and I'd understand if the longer gripped longswords were called "double handers" or "two handers," but again, most people lump them into "hand and a half." So I'm just confused. I also see John Clements and his students/associates using the longer gripped longswords in all their videos, and I'm sure its because that's the preferred grip for leverage, comfort, and mobility, but, if that's the case, why make "hand and a half" length grips on swords? It seems kind've redundant to make a grip that's just barely two short to jamb your hands together. Why not just make single hand grips for single hand swords, and longer double hand grips for two handed longswords? Gable, or anyone, if you could give me any insight, it'd be much appreciated, just something that's been bugging me for a while. Thanks in advance, hope everyone is having a great week!"

[Andrew F Ulrich]

If you haven't already seen it, here's a good description of both two-handed and h+h swords (see Bastard Swords):
http://www.thearma.org/terms4.htm

Personally, I like the two-handers 'cause they're definitely more comfortable and longer, which is nice for a taller guy like me, and they seem easier to handle when using two hands. In my opinion, the bastard swords are nice when you want to switch from two- to one-handed strikes 'cause they're a little less clunky-feeling when used with one hand, from what I've seen (granted I've only compared one-handed stuff with wasters and an old hand-and-half hanwei). When you close in from winding, sometimes it's nice to be able to easily switch from two- to one-handed stuff, as you can use the off-hand to control your opponent.

[Joseph Marzola]

Thanks for the link and info Andrew! Man, I thought I'd been to every single page on this website, and it seems I somehow missed one of the most important ones! Haha!

This really clears things up for me, and it's fascinating to see the evolution of these weapons. I definitely prefer the longer handled longswords like the Albion Lichtenauer steel blunt from their Maestro line. The one time I've used it, it was awesome: comfortable, balanced, and felt powerful despite feeling light as a feather.

Anyway, thanks again for the reply!