Left-handed: switch hands?

[James Sterrett]

Rank beginners posting here... We've just gotten Ringeck and are looking at the techniques (haven't had a chance to try them yet!)

Both of us are left-handed. Ringeck shows the right hand above the left. Should we reverse this?

[KatherineJohnson]

Yes. Typically you want your strong hand directly behind the cross. Although i do know one lefty who practices right handed for the benefit of his training partners.

If your both left handed then you should be fine.

[David Kite]

If you're both lefties (like me, who practices "righty" for the benefit of training partners <img src="/forum/images/icons/cool.gif" alt="" /> ) then you'll be fine, just be sure to reverse the directions the strikes come from (as far as left and right are concerned).

All of the manuals (including Ringeck, who originally I don't believe was illustrated, but I could be wrong) show right-handed swordsmen because the majority of people are right handed (much to their own detriment I'm sure <img src="/forum/images/icons/shocked.gif" alt="" /> )

Again, if you're both lefties, you'll be fine, but only if you ever fight against other lefties. If you ever train with a right-handed person, you'll have the same disadvantages as a right-handed fighter who has never faced a leftie. My advice: train to be ambidexterous. This way you'll both have experience fighting both left- and right-handed fighters, and besides, when one arms gets tired, you can switch and it's like getting a second wind.

David Kite
ARMA in IN
"If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handed people are in their right minds."
--anonymous

[James Sterrett]

Thank you both!

David's comment on training both ways makes a lot of sense; we'll keep that in mind - no sense letting the righties get any advantages. <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />


Side note: I don't know if Ringeck was originally illustrated, but "Knightly Art of the Longsword" is.