Fluid Grip / Alternating Short Edge

[David_Knight]

I've noticed that some ARMA members use training weapons with color-coded blades/crossguards to distinguish between the long/short edge. This is obviously useful for teaching basic concepts in a classroom setting, but to some extent it also implies that your edges should never switch.

I've become accustomed to shifting my right hand's grip for certain techniques in such a way that my long edge becomes my short and vice versa (such as thrusting from Right Schlüßel; I prefer to shift my right hand to the outside and thrust straight into Langeort instead of cork-screwing the blade). This seems intuitive on a bisymmetrical weapon, but it was a little problematic for me during Jake's Meyer class at the Provo event when I instinctively switched my edges.

Does it matter? Do the masters ever address this?

[Casper Bradak]

On the contrary, part of the teaching application is to assist in showing just when the edges switch. Use whatever works best for you.

[Jake_Norwood]

Well, um...

Even I can't agree with myself on this. Functionally, and in sparring, I find that I switch edges ocassionaly, yes. Sometimes as a sort of nervous twitch, sometimes right after a short edge cut that just seems to recover more naturally to the "wrong" side.

Although one could make an argument that Meyer, for example, changes edges from time to time, I've found that my best and most seemingly accurate interpretations come when I avoid that short-cut and try to keep the long edge long and the short edge short.

Some standard caveats, however:

1. The "Thumb" grip. This puts the long edge to the left, when in pflug. I try to recover to my original grip, keeping the long edge long. But if the edge turns in the fight...I adapt.

2. The "Perpendicular grip." This is the opposite of the thumb grip. The forearm is perpendicular to the flat of the blade on the outside, meaning that if you held the sword in pflug in this position (you wouldn't...but hey) the long edge would be on the right.

The main reason that I generally lean toward saying "not usually" on the switching-the-edge issue is that just about every longsword technique shows up in the messer (where I'm pretty sure the terms "long edge" and "short edge" come from), and it is done obviously without switching the edges--only with the occasional use of the "thumb" grip.

Make sense?