There are several methods for holding the sword depending on its weight, curvature, grip space and your personal preference. In this illustration below you can see a grip style that we would call hammer grip (left). An instinctive way to grip a sword that has good grip retention, but it is not particularly versatile in its range of movement. On the right you can see how the grip is opened or loosened during some actions to allow for a greater range of movement.
The hammer grip is recommended for very heavy or very curved swords, or where the grip is too short for anything else. Additionally, we use three other grip variants. We will divide these from left to right in the image below – pinch grip, seen in the first two images, handshake, and thumbs up. Pinch grip is typical for smallsword users and can be useful for some actions with cut and thrust swords. Handshake is a good mixed grip that is a hybrid between hammer and thumbs up. Thumbs up was typical in later sabre styles and can be good for our system so long as you have the grip space and not too heavy a blade. You do not have to be limited to using only one of these grip types. You can use different grips depending on the sword you are using, and you can change grips during the fight and even during actions to best suit the technique you are using.
Control of the sword is primarily in the thumb and index finger. The remaining three fingers will need to be loosened or contracted as necessary. Stay supple in your grip to allow a wide range of movement and to avoid grip fatigue. Do not grip too tightly.
Here you can see the typical thumbs up position from a later sabre manual (Hutton). This can be very useful, especially on longer bladed bowl hilt type sabres.
There are also some extreme examples of the thumbs up grip that we might call the pistol grip. This was also sometimes practiced at the time of Roworth but was not the norm. This grip gives you additional reach, but compromises stability. Do not use it as your typical grip.
