The Ultimate Debunking of Reverse Grip for Swords!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 апр 2021
- Join us as we debunk reverse grip, once and for all! we go through each of the most popular defenses of reverse grip, and rip them apart!
if you like our stuff please support us at / sellswordarts
#sword #hema # martialarts
I’ve seen reverse grip work with a sword work in only one instance:
Against my 4 year old niece, with foamie swords and I was being lazy. then she told me don’t do that and fight her for real.
I got told off by a 4 year old.
Don’t reverse grip.
That’s must truly speak out how ineffective reverse grip works in almost any instance if a *4* year old kid knows it
I only see reverse grip working If the hilt is really long and if it's really long then it's no longer an easy weapon to use. Reverse grip should be something u use when releasing from a grab you can slam your weapon into their chest and slice. After got back to forward grip when they kneel and slice their back. This actually does work cause when. You slice someone's stomach they are more than likely to take a knee but you need to be Hella fast
No one :
4 yo : FITE ME YOU COWARD
@@kronoscamron7412 She’ll be a fine warrior one day. 😂
Same with soft foamie sword fighting with my GF's 8 year old son. I was just messing around.
I love how your partner said about 3 things the whole time and wore sunglasses
He's a cool cat
2 pairs no less
ngl I'd watch 10 minutes of just him standing silently holding swords.
2 pairs of sunglasses even
@@Jane-oz7pp they make me want to start working out, out of jealousy for the muscles.
“Actually, reverse gripping a lightsaber only leads to a burnt forearm... oh and the dark side will consume you” -Master Kenobi
"Luke, you have the Force with y... DON'T DO REVERSE GRIP, DAMN IT! Ok... You destroyed your own arm... Nice."
join the darkside , we got cookies -- darth sidious
@@kronoscamron7412 "We also are dumb like Jedi that think about reverse grip, because we have this nice project about a plasma longsword with an amazing burning guard that can kill the user!"
Even Jedi's didn't like reverse grip and it's only really used by practitioner of Form 5 like Ahsoka.
@@renascienza.bazarclub My favorite quote by Darth Fatherious.
Sword fighting has been reserved for fantasy settings for so long it’s gotten easy to lose touch with reality. Thanks for setting things straight.
Every bad guyz in movies use reverse grip with knife.
Yeah ive never seen reverse grip used in the things i play and watch unless it was for knives or daggers
@@sylvainh2o Because reverse grip with a knife/dagger is effective - the point being made in the OP video is that it doesn't work FOR SWORDS. Not all bladed weapons work the same way or are good at the same things.
It's the same with kitchen knives - we have different types of knives for cooking because different blade styles are good for different uses; a bread knife would be terrible for filleting a fish, for example.
I love how your partner looks like an actual NPC in a fantastic RPG
Fuck NPC. That man's the silent protagonist, helping video man on his quest.
@@privatepenguin8291 nah. He's the quiet friend who always has the hero's back.
He's the Lancer of the team
He's like the guy in the tutorial
I think it's more like he gonna betraid he's partner and keep the sword dojo for him. After a hard legal process, of course.
I've been studying martial arts for years. How often I've seen "masters" preach the reverse grip is embarrassing. You guys are the best
Preaching anything "reverse grip" is so cringe inducing. Whether for or against it, it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of martial arts and the terminology we use to communicate it.
@@hanumananky What do you mean? I think I agree, but if you could please clarify for me
@@hanumananky there’s at least one good scenario where the reverse grip is beneficial. . . . Giggidy
@Kable 117 What’s that?
Their sword work is not that good. It helps if you know how, why and when to use a reverse grip. None of that is demonstrated here.
Reversed sabre fights look cursed.
Yeah ._.
I was glad you hit on the one good use in knife fights. In medieval combat, the only time you really see reverse grip is in armored combat with a rondel dagger. The rondel dagger protects the openings of the gauntlet from strikes and then allows punches and spiking attacks while wrestling.
Otherwise, it wasn’t done for all the plethora of reasons you showed. People may have tried it, but they probably ended up cut, bruised, and dead shortly afterward, so all involved went “that was dumb. Don’t try that again.”
I will say Fiore does talk about using the rondel in daily situations. Both defending from and attacking with the dagger in reversed grip. It depends on how you count medieval clothing on the armor spectrum too.
reverse grip will give you more attack options in knife sparring as well(unarmored, compared to regular groip), this is only partly true.
Feels like reverse grip is useful only as salt to injury, a coup the grace, a move used when you have already won to assert dominance
I would love to test reverse grip in the hands of a pro against an amateur swordsman.
I'm betting that the handicap of reverse grip is enough to allow an amateur swordsman to take advantage of the openings it creates.
Channel your inner gamer and perform the 182 Shiki Ver. KOF 2000, the meanest left hook ever.
Reverse grip only works with backstabs and daggers i think
@@xylakeithlacaden3483 most defintely. If the reverse grip was ever a fighting style, it was never for head on confrontation. Unless the person who invented that was just a straight up beast that had the thought process of laplace
Asserting dominance when the fight is already won is as unnecessary as the entirety of the reverse grip itself. "Just use it normally, just use it NORMALLY!"
It's funny because a lot of lightsaber users end up flipping their lightsabers back to how it's normally used unless they have a unique handle.
Seeing someone attempt to use a sabre in reverse gave me extreme pain
Hahaha
@@linkfloyd1975 missed the point by over analyzing? the heck are you talking about? i did sabre hema for 4 years its a joke comment about seeing something so stupid with something i know fairly well
You seemed to have missed the point by over analyzing even with knowing it's a joke comment, it doesn't matter how smart you think you are it's still a joke comment...
it was a pretty obvious joke
Gave me nostalgia, as I remember doing Larp, and watching newbies who know nothing attempt reverse grip, because rule of cool. Those same newbies don't reverse grip for long, because of how infinitely better standard grip is.
this was one of the most hilarious sword fighting i have ever seen. in games and films everything is choreographed so it doesn't matter how inefficient something is, if the script says the other person is supposed to fall down in pain he will do that. against real opponent it's even worse than seeing beginners who have no feeling in how to swing a blade and also are most of the time super timid when attacking someone else even if it is just a bamboo sword as they don't want to hit even if that is the entire point of what they are learning.
I think the only way you could do reverse grip with a sword is when your opponent is only trying to hit your sword and not your body.
Me playing swords with my brother be like
So in Chinese weapons arts, you do sometimes see a technique with a reverse gripped weapon. From what I can tell, this is because long two handed swords had to be drawn with a reverse grip, and this kind of persisted as a tradition even up until the Qing military adopted western style sabers. People were taught to draw the sword with a reverse grip before flipping it around, and some techniques were developed to take advantage of this, often in the context of having to draw your sword quickly in close quarters and using it to defend an attack before you flip it around.
That makes sense, since situations where you're too close to use the weapon normally seem like the only instances where the reverse grip kind of works.
If this helps - japanese swordsmanship has this feature where you unsheathe your sword with a reverse grip but then go normal with this. As far as I know this was descended from that tradition as well
Theres literally not a sheathed sword that would require you to draw one in a reverse grip, literally doesnt exist.
Check your study/resource material guys, theres alot of misinformation out there that could leave you dead on the draw. . .
@@linkfloyd1975 Swords probably not but for daggers and knives I do think it is very possible. Most people are right handed so it is probably tied to your left side. If your right hand is unavailable then you can only really pull out your weapon using your left hand in reverse grip cuz you're going to stab yourself if you pull it out in forward grip.
@@evollove3522 I unsheathe swords from either side of of my waist with either hand in normal grip. As a fighting style reverse grip is joke.
Theres only one move you can do in reverse grip and it's only in rare occurrences wich is stabbing the guy behind you but if he has a weapon theres a really high chance he kills you too. Even if you stab the guy in the heart people can live up to 15 seconds after taking fatal damage to the heart and if your back is turned to him for this move you are more than likely dead also.
There's a reason we naturally grab
sticks the way we do when playing knights as kids.
I naturally grab in reverse grip.
Not nearly defending reverse grip, but that could be explained as people having seen forward grip in knight movies
@@armadasinterceptor2955 🤣🤣
@@miningmavericks4725 I mean, it's also because that's how we hold anything. As he said in the video, sword were designed to work with your body. I think the best example is the thrust. The motions and muscles used are almost the exact same as a punch, (which we've evolved to be able to do) and the sword improves it.
In the middle of watching this video I suddenly got scared because I realized that in my drawing of my DND character I drew her using reverse grip. Then I realized she was wielding a dagger so it was actually ok lol
No it is not!!!
"But guys, my lightsaber looks so cool in a reverse grip!"
Exposing the true origin of the whole reverse grip cult. * thumbs up *
6:30 "One who often parries is often hit." -Meyer
"Guard yourself against parrying, if need befalls you it will tire you." -Liechtenauer
Do you guys plan to do more of these types of videos? I’d love to hear your guys’ take on stuff like the other grips (handshake, thumbs up, etc) or other things like that.
We do plan on exploring more topics like this. We just need to find them first 😁
@@SellswordArts Nice.
I just came here to say I love this video. I Found it originally on Instagram.
It makes me happy to see proper education being distributed.
I should do a video on how reverse grip IS used with knives.
+1 for all
Yes you should. There are lots of videos on swordplay, but not many on grappling. I'd love to watch some blade work for the specific situation where somebody has a hand on the opponent.
@@MrZaranthan Noted! For me the only hard part is finding a partner who has equal experience to me in knife training. It just doesn't the same if I make demonstrations with my practice knife on my Bob body bag.
@@MrZaranthan I'll let you in on a little known secret... In most FMA/Kali systems, the Karambit isn't just a weird looking knife. In fact, it's much less of a slicing/cutting tool than a knife (though it can do those too). It is instead meant to be a claw that grabs and controls the enemy's Skeletal structure directly. Like the claw of a hunting bird, functionally it grabs prey and controls their movement.
It's also the ULTIMATE anti-grappling tool.
I'll leave it at that and hope you enjoy the process of verifying or debunking my claims for yourself
@@AverageGabriel where you at? I've trained for decades and still love being Uke for good demonstrators
I'm likely never going to be in a situation to use this knowledge, but thanks.
Although I completely agree with what you said and your arguments. We do see dozens of manuscripts and images of reversed hands in the historical sources. Both top and bottom hand. They likely didn't see it as deciding french or reverse hand, but fluidity and freedom to always move how you need to. Always moving around the pommel in all the KDF sources, but also things like übergreifen in Meyer and Wallerstein, Fiore shows reversed top hand as well in sword vs dagger. And many more anonymous sources, as well as striking with the under side of poll weapons would count.
So good video, and I know you're talking to a specific audience. I'm just calling you out on going too far to one side. I have received a thrust, and done one with reversed top hand, mirroring historical sources. There's always a context or circumstance that you can find. But it's usually not choice and it's just what happened.
Agreed, it’s a tool in the tool box used in specific circumstances, like fighting against a pole arm. No fight books advocate exclusive use of the reverse grip. This is a rebuttal looking for an argument. 🙂
I did some training in close quarters knife combat, the only time you would want to reverse grip, and generally you want to be in grappling distance in order to reverse grip. Close enough that you can't thrust, essentially, because any attack with your knife won't have power behind it in that close of quarters. You therefore swap to reverse grip in order to cut and get less powerful stabs on your enemy, make distance, then swap back to forward grip and stab them. I had a LOT of people argue with me that it's better to stab with the knife in reverse grip, regardless of how far you are. They would always do the downward stabbing motion, while I argued that a thrust gives you more reach, and can do more damage. I'm glad to see a video that finally proves me right lol.
Edit: Oh hey, I just noticed at the very end you basically said exactly what I was talking about lol.
In kali or southeast Asian martial art, the reverse grip is used more of as a trap but you cut at the same time you trap the arm and make your way in, there are techniques for it but this only works with knives if you are trained in it, as for swords and stuff yeah it’s fucking useless and doesn’t close the gap at all, you are basically shortening the length of the sword that it actually is because you don’t have that reach as a normal grip, another purpose of the reverse grip for a knife makes it harder for a disarm compared to a standard grip, the reverse grip generates greater force at a close distance
@@Chris09978 Yeah I've seen knives that are designed entirely to be held in reverse grip, but that's the way they are. There's a very specific martial art around that. I never trained in that.
@@dakotakade3547 I’m looking forward to kali or silat, those techniques with the reversed grip is deadly, and just to cut someone does require a lot of force, yeah it’s a deadly highly effective self-defense martial art, this is not a competition or cage fighting art, this art is basically teaching you how to survive a knife fight without dying, of course wounds can occur but you won’t get yourself killed, it’s pretty interesting art, the karambit another deadly weapon that if someone is trained in you should run and not fight you will loose lol. But yeah with that said this martial teaches you how use the reverse and standard grip effectively, and on top of that this is what most special operations and special forces around the world are taught most are some aren’t cause they have their own but most NATO countries are taught this art
In my experience, reverse grip can be used even in longer distance; however, one should aim to close the distance as quickly as possible. Also using reverse grip puts you in defensive guard, making your forearms a very easy target (as seen in the video). One should compensate this by moving more.
@@MrAnTiTaLeNt None of that is practical or realistic at all. Just move faster is not a good tactic when you're deliberately nerfing yourself offensively and defensively.
Very cool video. Love this kind of format. Debunking myths
I’d argue that if I’m in the future-past with a magic laser stick that can deflect blasts of energy and cut through anything I would NEVER not point that weapon at anything but my opponent. But it is star wars and it doesn’t have to make sense
The magic laser sword is so good that you have to give yourself a handicap.
I would also just train with the force to be able to use my lightsaber without having to hold it entirely
@@TheRealProfDemocracy we see Ashoka canonically do this against maul and it makes me wonder why yoda doesn’t just do it all the time
Starwars has a BS in-world logic that does perfectly justify everything. The force has a pinch of precognition and perfect instinct built into it. That's why you can do ridiculous spins and flips and the occasional revers grip. If you could truly have perfect prediction and perfect mechanical skill, you can do anything in-between strikes. It's absolutely BS but the logic is sound
To be fair the Jedi are trained to sense attacks before they're made, so they can deflect attacks from any grip that they want because they have far more than enough time to intercept.
i love his HAHA whenever he tried to assassinate his partner it sounds soooo good
6:36 "be the hammer not the nail"
-my wrestling coach and every wrestling coach ever
Damn, this channel is awesome, u guys look like u have a lot of fun! Is there a place where you train this stuff at?
We are in the Kansas City area. We trained at a couple different spots
@@SellswordArts awesome. Do you know of any in South Florida?
@@laslurper9597 I'm not really familiar with that area. I know that the Hema alliance has a club finder, but I've never looked into it much. There's a stage combat Workshop in Florida called the tourist trap. Check out safd.org and look for regional workshops. Some of the people involved with that most likely also practice relationship
@@SellswordArts awesome man, thanks for the help, I’ll see what I can find🙏🏽
@@SellswordArts im in texas any choice i can come to your place im only 14 yrs old btw
I love that you switched swords, so there would be no bias through any difference in skill. :-)
I do think in some exceptional situations, it might make sense, but would require a) a different stance and b) a different technique. These would, however, be so rare as to be irrelevant. As you say, no good basing your fighting style on those.
Thanks you for the thorough break-down. Great for settling debates. :-)
i love seeing these breakdowns, but im seeing a lot of bad faith arguments for the reverse grip, that mostly end up dead on one single contention; theyve spent years learning a conventional grip, and minutes learning reverse. i think a more proper way to test this is either with at least substantial amounts of time practice r. grip, or with a complete amateur. anyway.
@@cherrybramble Let's say this: If reverse Grip was at all effective, it too would have history. The fact that there is no history of its use (except in very specific circumstances) we can easily deduce, reverse grip just isn't useful.
We then get fantasy worlds, where reverse grip is on par with standard grip, and we then get the disconnect between reality and fantasy; primarily because we, as a society, no longer have need of basic swordsmanship.
I used to do Larp, and even in a LARP setting, where the hand is magically immune from all attacks when gripping the handle of a weapon, Reverse Grip gets slaughtered by standard grip.
The only time, during my time doing larp, reverse grip has ever been effective, was when I grabbed the handle of a weapon, didn't care how it was orientated, and brought it in for a last minute block that would've ended me. And I used the time gained from the block, to finish backing away, changed to a standard grip, and was able to live to continue fighting.
Reverse grip, through my own experience, was a last ditch effort, even in a setting that is heavily fantasy inspired. ANY newbie to LARP, who knows nothing of basic sword skills (Even in larp we have basic sword skills. Whether those skills are realistic or not doesn't matter), who attempts to reverse grip, quickly abandoned it in favor of standard grip, because standard grip made them far more effective, even for beginners.
So this isn't an issue of "lack of training," because there is literally nothing to train. Standard Grip is infinitely better than reverse grip.
@@deathsheir2035 1. The argument that history is some sort of sacred sword-truth record or something is a little unreliable; while it by no means is inadmissable for evidence, and that point still carries weight, its important to distinguish history from efficacy, for our ancestors too enjoyed shiny poke sticks with funky shapes on them, and werent always focused on utility. 2. There is, in fact, history to the reverse grip. There are manuscripts, albeit sparse, that feature swords held point down, as well accounts in asian culture (not counting japanese assassinatiins here, but this will come up in point 3). 2.5 by equating history to efficacy, youre saying that silly stuff like dueling shields are peak combat and other suchas. 3. And you must always remember that different joba require different tools. Reverse grip found use in assassination techniques, although this is more forced as an adaptation than an evolution or preference, so I wouldnt count it. It was used on horseback, it was used in (specific) dueling manuevers, and quite honestly its one of those things that just has its time and place, and at the very least is valuable to learn, much like a parry.
@@cherrybramble So your argument for why my argument isn't that great, is because "specific circumstances the reverse grip is most useful," which is covered in my argument, inside of parantheses "except in very specific circumstances."
On top of that: "There are manuscripts, albeit sparse, that feature swords held point down, as well accounts in asian culture (not counting japanese assassinatiins here, but this will come up in point 3)" evidence for such claims? Because any time I look for reverse grip, I get those specific circumstances I mentioned, such as assassination, and coup de grace... you know, positions in which the one perform the act has essentially already won... So if there was history of Reverse Grip being effectively used outside of those specific scenarios, it would be far easier to find. The fact such evidence is not easy to find, further proves that reverse grip isn't as effective as you are trying to claim it is.
"by equating history to efficacy, youre saying that silly stuff like dueling shields are peak combat and other suchas."
I made no such claim, so it disingenious of you to word that statement, as if I did make such a claim.
All I said, was that if reverse grip was effective, there would be history to its use (outside of specific circumstances).
BUT, to make the argument proper: There is history of shields being used in combat; THEREFORE, shields are effective. There is history of armor being used; Therefore Armor is effective.
There is evidence that firearms saw the drop in use of armor. Which means armor at the time of firearms' rise, was ineffective. We now have body armor that protects against firearms (not all firearms)... The Defensive technology just took a little longer to catch up to the offensive technology... and we now have EFFECTIVE ARMOR once more.
We have history of Catapults and battering rams, and trebuchets... guess what: THOSE WERE EFFECTIVE TOO!
It's not that history proves efficacy... It's the opposite: Efficacy is WHY there is history. If it wasn't effective, it would be a footnote, or never mentioned. Reverse Grip, is a footnote in history.
The only time this isn't true, is when records are destroyed, whether on accident (say building caught fire because someone knocked over an oil lamp), or on purpose to specifically keep the secrets.
@@deathsheir2035 1. Ah, youve misunderstood my comment on the dueling sheild. Look it up, its a lot of good fun.
2. Theres a difference between seeing specific exceptions (i.e. "you can only use this technique at dawn with 2mph windpseeds against the red ninja") vs situational use ("i used a parry 1 to protect my flank because going to aprry 3 wpuldve endangered my wrist and been too slow"), and Id interpret reverse grip for general combat as the latter; it sees that use when one intends.
3. Achille morazzo, iirc, used reverse grip in manuscripts. This is a nice little wellspring where dueling techniques developed from his, which were originally against spears. Reverse grip sees semi-frequent use in longsword- two handed, if youre unfamiliar- fighting. Chinese accounts of sai, nutterfly swords, hook swords, *swords*, and other sword-like sword style sword weapons regularly saw reverse grip in mention and instruction. Also spend some time on topics stemming from rondel dagger, as variety of adaptations were made, in history, to shortswords and the like from rondel dagger grips.
Imagine each time he gets hurt in his hand, in real combat using reverse grip would have lost his fingers or hand
Or be so badly lacerated that he’d have to give up on the fight.
Thank you for all your hard work and Dedication in perfecting your Swordsmanship!
It is Inspiring to see you all Learn and Grow your Passion!!
Thank you for sharing your Knowledge and Experience with us, I Hope to see more of your Journey and will continue to support you in all your future Endeavors!!!
The only effective use for Reverse Grip is to look like a badass while wielding a Lightsaber!! May the Force be with you Always!
This channel is a great find. New subscription.
I felt your pain in the 21:48 "stop it! Please!" Thanks for the effort. I always have to debunk this sh*t when new people come to train. Now I can just give them a short explanation and this link... and go on with whatever is planned.
This was absolutely great to learn from, would 100% love more videos like this
It's pretty interesting seeing you guys switching and seeing your guy's (possibly) preferred fighting styles
Sorry I'm only just discovering your channel now! As someone who collects and trains with swords, your knowledge is much appreciated!
13:08 Dude; even putting down the sword, sunglasses guy keeps his eyes on his opponent the whole time.
as it should be, battle is not over till guts spill on the floor. the japanese call it zanshin.
21:27 sums up the entire video,in case you want to save time.
It's over.
I've watched at least, like, 4 Sellsword Arts videos.
I am a master of all martial arts, and will fell you with extraordinary ease.
Very well explained! Great video.
The utility of reverse grip (or icepick grip) with dagger in the midrange is misrepresented here. You touched on the way of using the dagger in this way, which relies on counterstriking to exposed limbs, trapping, hooking, and grappling, but this is also useful in the midrange. It is worth the note that due to the short range of dagger fighting, dagger fights often end up very quickly in a grapple, and it is useful to have your weapon ready to engage in the grapple right away than lose time transitioning to the reverse grip when the range closes (or risk fumbling your dagger in the melee).
This method is widely shown in manuscripts and is also seen in various other martial arts around the world that use knives. I have used it myself in sparring with a lot of success against opponents using the forward grip, and I've had it used effectively against me. The shorter range of the dagger negates a lot of the disadvantages in using this grip that are present when trying it with longer weapons, so it isn't so clear cut. Really they are both useful grips that have their own strengths and weaknesses and the best approach is to alternate between the two as needed rather than outright preferring one over the other as a default grip.
There's also a context point that the paradigm changes drastically between armoured and unarmoured dagger fighting. Icepick grip becomes the only grip worth using in armoured fighting since normal cuts and thrusts cannot offend an armoured opponent anyway and the fight then must invariably be decided in the grapple. When the default changes to almost every fight will be decided in the grapple, naturally the grip which favours grappling will be better. In unarmoured fighting the forward grip can be more useful as those strikes will actually be able to offend the opponent, but even in unarmoured dagger often the fight will go to the grapple, as a big part of dagger is trying to trap the other's dagger arm and warding off strikes with the offhand.
Of course if you just fence normally with the dagger in reverse against an opponent in forward then you will lose to the opponents slightly longer range, which is why this wasn't done. I trust that the people who did this stuff for real knew what they were doing.
Also on the parry at the 13:35 mark, you were in a perfect spot to stab from the inside of the guard rather than going for a wide cut, js. But I agree, in almost every case involving a weapon longer than a knife, reach is your friend, and reverse grip is silly and unhelpful.
Bro go sign up for his 1v1 then since you're such a professional- I swore he made a whole video about allowing anyone to fight him to show him that the reverse grip is effective
I recall seeing a video saying if you were fighting with a dagger and shield (I believe it was a dirk and targe and the video was by fandabi dozi) that a reverse grip in the main hand was sometimes used to get around the shield. I've tested it with someone younger and shorter than me and had some success but I'd like to hear the opinions of someone more skilled.
Try to use reverse grip with a sword to simulate an axe over a shield have a main issue: isn't an axe.
An axe have a long wood handle. In your reverse grip, the "handle" is your arm. Just a hit with the border of the shield against your arm (faster and easier than you are doing) will jam your arm and sword together.
Even if you have success to surpass the shield, you hand is exposed to opponent's blade like a shining target.
This arrangement doesn't have the power of an axe. Can work on sparring, but the real damage you can deliver if your sword successfully pass the shield, is weaker by far.
This was a very awesome video. Honestly other than the CQB example you showed, the ONLY other reason to do reverse grip that I can think of is, if you're being surprised from behind, whilst being threatened from the front. Flip reversed, thrust back, flip forward to honor the attack from the front. But honestly, even then it's still a bad situation, and there's almost certainly a lot more options that are much better.
I really enjoyed your video, it was very well explained well done.
I would like to know your thoughts on the Kerambit knife
Try reverse gripping a blade. It works in situations where you're about to die. I had a machete and the blade is thin but wide and can cover a part of the body. With a reverse blade you can manipulate your body with your blade. For starters it's a defensive/countering technique used if your opponent swings wide. You don't want to be hitting your reverse sword against someone holding it straight, instead think of reverse sword technique as shield that you can cut someone after they hit you. So someone comes with a strike. His blade hits yours the difference is that your body is acting as a shock absorbant instead of when holding the sword traditionally the only thing that acts as a shock absorbant is your wrist. It's not ideal against spears but swords already loses to spears. You'd have to use your body to avoid that but once you get close a simple forearm swipe with your reverse blade across the neck can be lethal.
This demonstration only makes sense when you have a wide open space, and plenty of room to range your adversary. In a closer quarters or areas where you dont have a lot of room to swing, a reverse grip is better suited.
*sigh* it's funny how some people cant tell how dumb they actually sound. . . xD
@@linkfloyd1975 what's funny is that you act like there's an actual expert when swordfighting is obsolete. I think the real fighters were alive when it wasn't. That's a reasonable take. Like if I brought an AR to some knights. They wouldn't be even close to a navy seal in terms of effectiveness. If you give a navy seal a sword the logic will just apply vice versa. So you're just watching nerds saying what you can't and can't do with a sword.
@@maagastaalimo1442 lol my previous comment applies here also, too funny. . .xD
I could of addressed your previous comment with solid data(from professionals wich do exist btw, and a little common sense) confirming why that idea/strategy is absolute rubbish and why youd retrospectively just be hurting yourself or flat out die but I'm pretty sure you live in fantasy land and anything I'd say would just be met with hostility or poor logic from flawed thinking.
Be safe my guy, and may you never engage in bladed combat.
I did larp for several years. Foam swords, magically protected hands so long as they are gripping a weapon, which resulted in a lot of these weapons not having guards (amazing the weapons that are designed when hand protection isn't on the mind). I remember watching newbies do the reverse grip, because rule of cool. "It works because it looks cool" kind of mentality. The speed in which they transfer to standard grip, is astounding.
I have only seen Reverse Grip work under very specific circumstances. A sudden strike, usually a thrust, to someone behind, and a last ditch effort block, because you grabbed a weapon not caring about weapon orientation.
This is genuinely one of the coolest videos I’ve ever watched
Remember Darth maul’s duel blade?
Technically, you’re always reverse gripping and normal gripping at the same time
The double bladed lightsaber can be used somewhat like a spear, allowing for extended reach and incredibly quick reverse strikes.
Y'all did a good job on this. I included my version of this in a presentation at a virtual convention I was recently a guest on. I do feel there are a FEW historical exceptions when it comes to knife work and a few selected scenarios with longsword thrusting. But this was really well put together. Keep preaching! :)
Rondels are a great example of an exception as well! From my personal experience I’ve found some examples with long sword (of which only one was part of a what I would call good) what have you seen historically?
@@0Bonaparte Yes rondels and daggers as a whole have some reverse grip tactics. But they are all for stabbing and not slashing. Longsword does have a few but again, they’re all for stabbing- not slashing. They are typically seen in an overhand thrust as you would with a spear, or a hard downward thrust that you’d use to finish an opponent on the ground.
What do you mean by "a few selected scenarios with longsword thrusting"?
@@sparrowhawk81 There are a handful of techniques - especially with armored longsword - where we see thrusting in a "reverse grip". However, most of the time the sword is held over the shoulder, more like a spear. In this image we see the fighter on the left has trapped his opponent's spear. He holding his sword in a reverse grip and is preparing to give an overhand thrust: wiktenauer.com/wiki/Gladiatoria_(MS_Germ.Quart.16)#/media/File:MS_Germ.Quart.16_03r.jpg
Here we see the fighter on the left using a reverse grip to deflect a spear thrust. It's obvious that he's not intending to follow up with it offensively, as he already is drawing his dagger to close in and thrust: wiktenauer.com/wiki/Gladiatoria_(MS_Germ.Quart.16)#/media/File:MS_Germ.Quart.16_02r.jpg
A reverse grip thrust while mounted- again, very spear-like: manuscriptminiatures.com/4743/9721
The other scenario is a hard downward thrust to a downed opponent. This is not really a "technique" more than just a really hard stab to finish the kill: manuscriptminiatures.com/4481/11997
Hope this helps! :)
@@sparrowhawk81 There is a play or two with a reversed grip thrust with a longsword in Meyer's 1570 treatise in the 1.42r.4 play from Wecksel, while interesting and different, the exact part of the sequence where the grip is reversed could be substituted with a normal zwerhau or rising cut without sacrificing the integrity of the play, and probably being able to do it quicker too. My thought is this play exists either to show off in friendly fencing as fencing was fun then as it is now, it has always been sport as well as combat, OR as a trick to catch someone off guard with a technique they're very unlikely to expect. Here's a video describing the play ruclips.net/video/odbG9B7mxm0/видео.html&ab_channel=DanielPope
My dudes so cool he has two pairs of sunglasses on
When he talked about reverse grip only working in Star Wars (which, truthfully, is the only place I've seen it), for some reason, I thought "We are but mere humans. Leave the magic to the space wizards." My brain is weird.
Speaking from experience, you can actually injure the tendons between the thumb and index finger if you're using a blade heavy sword. Never went for that after that.
I would only use reverse grip with a dagger and shield, stabbing only.
Former infantry officer here. Impressed this guy is familiar with Army's 9 principles of war.
The first is offense: imposing your will on the enemy.
The US Army does not recognize defense as a principle of war.
Nietzsche may have said it best: I love he who attacks, because in every attack is sound of victory.
So basically f*** reverse grip.
never mind just seen the end of your demonstration; you covered all the bases
Great video. Even the sai gets flipped to forward grip when striking.
There is only two strikes i know with a "reverse grip" Cause i literally just call it knife grip, because its good for hiding a weapon from someones eyes, but a trained eye will notice the stance and think you look SUS. Its basically an upper cut, seen it a few times in stick fighting, can rattle the chin pretty hard, but it comes from a neutral position, that an old man would take while "leaning on his cane" You would only reverse grip if you grabbed the blade the wrong way and was forced into action before the ability to correct, so unless you are tricking, learn proper swordsmanship...hopefully y'all internet samurai's take a note that zaitoichi wasn't blind, but just really good with a blade, so good he could kill people with a reverse grip, and make them look like clowns while he did it, it theatrics, its fake.
Great video. So many good points. I had never been a fan of the reverse grip, even with a knife, but I hadn't given it as much thought as you clearly have.
One issue I have with is (for empty hands) the overhead descending strike. In Karate, an Oroshi strike is very useful and powerful (when used appropriately). A straight line thrust is much harder to see coming (because our eyes can track x & y axis movement much easier than z axis) and can be extremely powerful and fast when done with good body dynamics. The descending strike is good for when you're in close striking collar bones or when the opponent is on the ground for a finishing strike. As we do it, you drop your entire body weight into the strike, but I will agree that it has less of the postural chain to attach it to that weight.
So I'm not saying you're wrong per say. Just that there can be tremendous power generation in the descending strike when done right, in the right situation. Look up Mastatsu Oyama and what he did to bulls with his bare hands for an example. Lol
Good work there, thank you
ZAMN WHEN THEY TOOK OFF THE FENCING GEAR 😳😳😳 AND THE HEBREW TAT//??? very informative video, genuinely enjoyed it, thinking about supporting when I have some money :)
I always though of the reverse grip as a defense stance, like how someone would a stick. Though there is already other and better sword defense postures.
It is a defensive stance, you're not supposed to use it in the way they are trying to use it here. They are trying to mantain a neutral position and attack with it, that's precisely why it never worked. Reverse grips is made for you to rush in and remove some reach from your enemy, it is only to be used as a counter move as there are only 3 possible ways to attack with it without losing cutting power with a sword.
I was honestly not impressed with this video. They never tried to understand how it works, they used it as if it were just a normal sword stance.
@@bloody4558 "but but but reverse grip only work with small blade!! reverse grip bad!! there's no such thing as using a different stance youve gotta use the normal stance" thanks for this, im seeing a massive amount of bias on the way this is tested and it makes me happy to see somebody with a more objective viewpoint
You did it wrong, youre meant to teleport through the other person
teleports behind you ...
NOTHING PERSONNEL KID.
Subbed. This is real practical knowledge
by practical I assume you mean being intellectually dishonest that you fight like a puppy on acid just to prove a point.
Great video! Although wouldn't it be fun to enter a tournament and go up against a new school who teaches reverse grip and just pulverize them? Theyd probably also teach "anakin vs obi-wan mid battle close range flourishing" and that would really be a treat.
I studied korean martial arts for many years and we learned a reverse grip sword form. the technique is for close quarters only, like being inside a building where you can't swing a long weapon effectively. the form was mostly just a muscle builder for your forearms as holding a sword with a reverse grip tires you out. personally I've sparred with the techniques in the form and found them ridiculous. I stopped teaching it to others but still practice the form myself cause it's an arm exercise that tears you up. I wouldn't recommend anyone to hold a sword with a reverse grip. the best thing I have found to do with a sword and a reverse grip is to throw it like a spear...which is also kinda stupid.
Yeah true, to be fair i have only ever seen reverse grip in kali knife training and thats prob it.
And that's exactly where it belongs.
With a short enough blade, suddenly the articulation becomes a selling point instead of a liability.
For learning Dagger work, Kali/FMA/Escrima is the place to go.
But for longer Swords and/or tools meant to pass through heavy armor, ask the Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Greeks, and various organized militaries of the ancient Imperial epoch
Amazing channel!
Here for the insanely sick tattoos. Vid was also pretty cool ig
Well, in some situations against lower attacks at mid-close range I used reverse grip, but I think in my case it's just because distance/chance/quarter battle came in good results, like planets lining. So even I can use it sometimes, I believe the biomechanics on my arms (being 1'80cm tall and 95kg) can give me depends the situation lesser comfort by wielding or a long slash/stab. Obviously, the amount of control you can gain over the blade is not the same of the standard ones.
Thanks for the video! Greetings from Spain!
That's was Lot of fancy talk just to say "I dont know what I'm doing"
Lol
@@linkfloyd1975 Nope. I said in some situations and biomechanics are "aligned" for. That's sometimes the thing for us to be alive in situation scenario.
Thanks for the "fancy" word thing. I can't remember a lot of english from my 3° of E.G.B 😂
I believe there is a handful of historical small knife or spike type weapons that were created for that grip, but those would be for when you’re very close to someone anyway, so a secondary or even tertiary weapon...
I’ve never understood the argument to use the reverse grip for anything other than a knife or other similar sized weapon, but I’m glad you’re doing the video to show idiots that what works in Hollywood doesn’t work in reality.
Kerambit comes to mind. It's designed to be used in a reverse grip.
@@weylins yes, there is weapons made to be used reverse grip, and I’m assuming there is probably a specific fighting style used with that weapon?
@@luggy9256 absolutely. Right weapon for the style and right style for the weapon. Regardless of reverse grip or anything else.
Even in a helmet the man wears sunglasses
The dedication
I love your videos!
Best instructors I ever had with unharmed training always said the same, the best defense is avoiding the conflict as a whole.
If u run you die tired. If your game plan is based around sprinting away I hope u regularly train to sprint. And hope you are warmed up and ready to sprint and in the right attire to run when it happens, otherwise your going down tired. Anyone in combat sports biggest fear is getting out of breath and tired. And anybody in law/military biggest fear is being alone, you try to run and it fails, you are now tired AND alone. The best defence is not running.
@@atlanticsquib7232 thats implying your attacker won't also get tired and somehow has an infinite well of stamina.
@@lovereno5958 if I wanted to mug somebody I think I’d be prepared enough to chase em too.
Overall this is an excellent vid series, well argued and demonstrated.
I appreciate your up-front inclusion of the caveat *for swords*
You are absolutely correct that reverse grip is only viable for Dagger-sized (or smaller) bladed weapons.
But don't make the mistake of discounting how dangerous a good Knife fighter can be.
I submit the Dog Bros and Pekiti Tirsia Kali camps as two top tier schools of thought capable of producing very dangerous Cutters using short tools, including reverse grips where appropriate.
I wouldn't judge the full usefulness of HEMA based on how well a Kali guy could use a Longsword, so I also would counsel against thinking that your own use of unfamiliar weapons/systems is always going to provide you with an accurate demonstration of their full potential.
All that is just to say that using a reverse grip with an appropriate tool isn't automatically a sign of dubious martial arts. But if they're trying to use it on a Sword, dubious is a perfect description, maybe even too generous.
Oh my GOD! The dude with the glasses on must be named Morpheus because he has FREED MY MINDI Movies and cartoons and anime had convinced me that that style existed and i just didn’t know how to use it. At the beginning I was the exact dude you are trying to convince in your videos. I had a strong belief in reverse grip swords. But the dude talking must have been president of the debate team when he was in high school because that thorough argument along with examples and real life sword play just completely convinced me. Every time he would be like “another thing people believe” and it would immediately be something. I believed still. And I was like, there’s no way I’m wrong. But then you quickly with pure logic and truth convince me that I am completely wrong. Right now you have succeeded with this one person. I now believe, because of your well structured and well demonstrated argument that reverse holding swords is not for real life. Big i ever havre a discussion with someone about reverse grip sword style or see someone doing it i will tell them it doesn’t work and use some of the logic I got from this video. And if that doesn’t work i will force them to watch all 23 minutes of this video and their mind will be freed. I am bookmarking or adding it to one of my playlists so that I can share this with the world and free the minds of all my community members. Liked. Commented. Subscribed.
Great video I've not practiced any physical martial art with melee weapons (just boxing) and even then the only practical application I can even imagine for ice pick grip is if you're in intensely close quarters and your whole goal is to slam into your opponent and stab them on the way down after an incredibly tiring fight where the muscular advantage of a thrust is lost. Or where your weapon hands in said close quarters are being manipulated and that's your only viable angle.
In the military they said that the only reason why you're using ice pick grip is when you deployed it and need to attack immediately if the knife was sheathed on the chest area of your vest so you always ended up with the ice pick grip when you draw it. If you strap the sheath on the waist or the thigh, just use it like a normal human being
This is a great break down of so many of the myths around this subject.
Reverse grip works well when using a knife in your off-hand. My tacticool setup generally involves a knife on my belt behind my sidearm, but also a dagger or bayonet on the left side of my rig. This is mainly so that if my firearm or weapon hand is grabbed or pinned, I can just gross motor skill a bunch of hammer strikes with my off hand.
Yes, and he explained in the video that hammer strikes with a reverse-grip knife are good in extremely close quarters situations.
@@Interestking I was mainly expressing it's utility as an off-hand weapon alongside a firearm. But honestly a good push dagger is probably better in that application.
So with karambits, is that considered reverse grip? As that’s one of its intended grips? Which I know is a whole different thing and probably wouldn’t want to use it if given the option of a short sword. But I’m curious.
I really feel that heavy breathing when sparing
This is gonna be a great help for writing descriptive fight scenes.
May binge your content several times over the next few months 👀
Could you guys maybe do a video on common myths about gear maintenance? I'd really like to be able to add realism to my stories, and you're really easy to listen to.
The only time I think you would ever use a reverse grip for a sword would potentially be half-swording with a reverse grip in the very specific context of thrusting downswards into attackers on ladders during a siege or possibly to finish a downed opponent. Although it's debatable whether either of these 2 niche scenarios even count as combat because they're more or less scenarios where the opponent can't offend you.
Great analysis.
Now, on the concealment- you can hide a bigger sword held reverse grip, than forward grip, behind your back.
I only learned to do it because it's amusing when people see my 5'4" self prestidigitate a sword that comes up to my shoulder out of seemingly nowhere, and I actually have to hold it by 2 fingers hooked over the guard rather than an actual grip to pull it off. It was pretty funny the couple times I've done it successfully
My manz is hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 YES I will subscribe to this 🤣🤣🤣 magical space wizards 🧙♂️ so stop it! 😂
The literally ONLY time backhand grip works is if it's a dagger/knife, and in the right situation. Like if they're reeling back, lunge and punch at their jugular to get a slice in if they're unarmed. of if they cleave at your upper body, duck and move forward to get a good thrust at their hamstrings. Even used like this, you have to be insanely fast with no hesitation. 6/10 useful in unarmed fights, 3/10 in weapon fights
How do you get past their arms with reverse grip. They talked about this already... you have bypassed all your range and advantage for no purpose
@@baddawg123451 he’s probably talking about reversing grip mid fight
Tonfa are cool weapons
where can you get those black short swords with the purple wrap? They're sick (seen close up from 20:00 to 21:50)
*You're clearly not used to the grip and this grip is meant to be used situationally not as a full fledged stance!*
Reverse grip shows up a lot in video games, movies, and other visual media.
Ashoka Tano, Netflix’s Geralt sword fight in the first episode of The Witcher, Brad Pitt’s Achilles, etc. Not to mention countless anime series.
Because people believe what they see in entertainment (despite being repeatedly told not to), experts make videos like this to show why exactly using reverse grip as a full-on stance is a bad idea.
It’s a commentary on pop culture more than anything else.
They even state that it has situational uses in the video.
Wow fighting a trained swordsman using a style that you've never practiced before didn't end well? Can't believe it
The thing is, there are basically no reverse grip sword styles (that i know of) because it fundamentally doesn't work. Controlling distance is key in sword fighting, and using a reverse grip cuts your reach significantly. So it kinda makes sense why it doesn't work.
Edit: also watch 20:00 my g
@@lluxid6029There is, alot, just not with the right hand and how Hollywood portraited it. There's no name for it in German Longsword, just description but in Italian Longsword it's called Posta di Bicorno. You basically reverse the left hand to create more stable structure for the thrust
I'm interested in seeing these styles. I definitely have my doubts.
A super quick internet search calls Posta di Bicorno 'sword in 2 hands'.
A posta/guardia is the equivalent of kamae in japanese or basically means guards. Posta di Bicorno is a position where you reverse the left hand for better point control while thrusting and it belongs to the sword in 2 hands chapter in the book Flower of Battle written by master Fiore Dei Liberi in 14th century ruclips.net/video/wZOXhmBGv74/видео.html
Ventus and Starkiller : *punching the air furiously *
Excellent breakdown.
Personally, I've only come across 1 style that even really mentions reverse sword grip, and that was for shorter blades in tight spaces (eg tight caves). I think 1 of the Florentine fencing schools might have mentioned a main-gauche style "shield dagger" being used in such a fashion, but that may have been a marketing gimmick.
Interesting thing is that there are Samurai techniques that use reverse grip. However it's something like a quick draw stab to an opponent behind you, speed being the name of the game. In other words you wouldn't normally use reverse grip, but situationally it works well enough.
For fighting? I agree, it's useless. With all respect, your demonstration amounted to showing us that a hammer cannot be used as a screw driver. Of course it isn't going to work. There are right tools for every job, and there's a right way to use every tool. For stealth drawing/assassination use in close quarters---either in close proximity to your foe, or in constricted spaces--one can train to use it very effectively. But your larger point is exactly right: the reverse grip long sword techniques seen on TV are pure fantasy. And to my point, few of us are sufficiently dedicated to perfect our sword drawing for such a limited/specialized application. Buying a cheap Zatoichi-style cane sword (with its smooth grip and lack of tsuba) and monkeying around with a reverse grip is a quick way to lose fingers, or worse. That doesn't disprove the idea that a dedicated swordsman couldn't become proficient enough to use that technique effectively, given the proper circumstance for its use.
Tell me you didnt watch the video without telling me you didnt watch the video
It's kind of interesting that reverse grip kind of telegraphs how you're going to attack.
the only time ive seen reverse grip is with scottish basket-hilt sword and targe combinations, where you hold a dirk in your targe hand so it sticks out from the bottom of it of the targe.
I have no idea how youtube metrics brought me to you, I watch car, motorcycle and conservative comedy. But man I’m glad I found this.
One supposed defense for reverse grip is that it would be best used with lightsabers because it keeps the lightsaber away from the body.
Edit: the following is actually covered in the video. I am impressed at how utterly thorough this debunking is.
About 2 seconds of rotating the wrist the wrong way while holding a fake sword demonstrates how that claim is hollow and without merit.
Personally, even though I have seen claims that some samurai would hold their walkazashi, their offhand short sword, in reverse grip, I have my doubts if that actually happened and if it was effective when it did.
Just a couple sword guy's talkin swords in a Sword Dojo! Hell yeah!!
Reverse gripping a sword is like Reverse gripping a gun lol
To the common filmgoer, it looks cool -- but even then it's generally done for a flurry of attacks at close range against an opponent who's basically doing nothing. As you've shown, it's trivial for a trained swordsman to score hits against an opponent using a reverse grip.
Weebs crying right now
Name one anime with a character using reverse grip with a sword. I have never seen one and I am a hardcore anime watcher