Is being left-handed an advantage in sword fighting #history #selfdefense #martialarts

[hades]

My boxing teacher once told us that the worst nightmare of a left handed is to fight another left handed

[-VINihilist-]

Imagine being in a fencing match and the other guy just shouts "fuck you, im left handed" and starts doing some anime bullshit that youve never seen before

[TheSpeep]

Medieval castles were also often designed with the fight against righthanded soldiers in mind, so spiral staircases would spiral to the right, leaving less space to swing with the right hand for anyone trying to scale it, while leaving plenty of space for any defenders descending it, giving them a distinct advantage.
So left handedness was also an advantage on the attack, while when on the defense you could just choose not to put your left handed guys on the staircases of your castle.

[Doctor_Hazard]

As a southpaw swordsman who trains mainly in Fiore, I will say that it is a great advantage over right-handed people. However, the downside is that you can't use a lot of the techniques written down in the manuscripts, namely grappling, as they don't translate and have to come up with your own.

[bigmike]

Sounds like us right-handed folk need to learn how to fight southpaw for a tactical advantage.

[stuffedsomething]

As an ambidextrous person, I was "fun" in Fencing.

[divineterabyte]

Also, another advantage:

In certain longsword schools (ie japanese swordfighting), everyone uses a right-handed position for their sword, regardless of their dominant hand. However, this is a secret buff for ambidextrous and left handed folk: the left hand controls the speed and power of a cut when using a 2 handed sword, meaning they'll have the advantage of strength compared to their rightie contemporaries

[blazejuanico]

Being ambidextrous helps. Had an uncle who was left handed and he bullied me as a kid. Granted, my right handed brother also bullied me, so learning to use both hands in close quarters help me with the advantage.

[GravitWry]

Reminds me of a story an old friend from high school told me.

He does fencing and often attends to fencing tournaments and he just so happen to be left handed, got to the semifinals and lost against to another left handed fencer.

[Gargboss]

As a left-handed person, who trained HEMA, my experience is: Yes, for certain weapons this can make a positive difference, especially two-handed weapons or 1.5 handed ones. How much, I am reluctant to determine. For me personally, it often came down to the experience of your opponent.
But most importantly: It's a pain when using sword and shield! You still want your shield on the left, but attacking with your off-hand... It's terrible.

[usel]

When I use to do HEMA with Viking weapons, the first time I fought a left handed sword and shield fighter I got COVERED in bruises from them gently tapping me on my right side. It really makes a drastic difference.

[myrdelgonway]

As a left-handed fencer I can honestly say it feels like a disadvantage and I really wish I’d just learned to be right handed with a blade.

[cameronhumphreys]

Medieval left handed swordsman also had the advantage in castle sieges. As the stairwells up towers were designed to constrict the sword arms movement when coming up the tower while leaving plenty of open space for the defenders sword arm going down the tower. Left handed swordsmen got to avoid that and instead the central column that would inhibit a right handed swordsman’s sword instead became a left handed swordsman’s shield and offered extra protection to them.

[masterkenobi]

I would say that being ambidextrous would probably be even greater of an advantage

[jacobc]

An ambidextrous fighter could switch between two handed, left, and right, starting with left. If they sensed experience against left handed fighters, they could start switching hands to distract their opponent. Training against their own tactics would let them have an advantage even against another ambidextrous fighter.

[zwenkwiel]

there's something I ought to tell you
I'm not left handed either.

[TaliLovesFrogs]

As someone who is ambidextrous, I will hold the top part of the sword with my right hand and use my left hand to give more force.

[pikasonic]

"If both opponents are at a disadvantage, is it really a disadvantage?" Woah...

[gregtso]

Reminds me of a friend of mine. He learned to fence with both hands. He would constantly fuck with people.

[dereinzigwahreRichi]

In Escrima (Kali/Arnis) training we used to train single stick techniques with both hands equally. Because what do you do if your (dominant) right hand is injured during a fight or if you have two weapons but your right hand gets disarmed and the fight goes on and you need to react? Correct, you'll be fighting with your left hand! So better get used to it and train both sides evenly from the beginning, it surely isn't a waste of time though it takes double the time (or more) to learn new techniques in the beginning. Your brain gets way more flexible from it and it gets easier over time.
A nice side effect: you'll be able to switch between fighting right and left handed in a fight which confuses the hell out of an opponent not used to this...