Postby Randall Pleasant » Wed May 19, 2004 10:00 pm
Jaron
I not attempting to answer for Casper but it appears that he and I are talking about same thing. So yes, the sword may (or may not) be in the hand that is starting the roll. For example, if you are rolling from your right shoulder to your left hip then you will be starting the roll with the right arm. Your right arm will be aligned towards your left hip, which moves it out from under the bulk of your body and by relaxing your grip your sword should also lay flat during the roll. If you have the sword in you left hand, the sword is pointing to your right, and you are rolling across the right shoulder then just pull your left hand out from under you and try to get the blade flat to the ground to reduce the danger of the guards and the edges. As I said earlier, I also practice the Russian roll in case I might have my sword in my right hand with the sword pointing to my right and I need to roll across my right shoulder.
Ran Pleasant