Does Reverse Grip Sword SUCK?

Is using a sword in the reverse grip the best for every situation?
No.
Is there a dedicated style to just using reverse grip for swords?
I really hope not.
Did a large number of people who used swords seriously in history see a use for some reverse grip techniques?
Yes.

#sword #history #nerd

[MarcusVance]

Trying to fancy up my thumbnails. What do you think?

[no.notfromRDR]

Reverse grip can be useful sometimes for stabbing but i think it Losts too much power on slashing to use on sword that are not made for stabbing (I'm looking at you katana)

[jenovacide]

I think I know what channel you're talking about, and I had to do the whole "do not recommend" thing because it became tiresome.

I don't know the history, but I'm thinking reverse grip - like most hand to hand combat - was situational too?

But I'm loving the videos either way. I'm learning, and it's helping me write better swordsmen in my fantasy settings

[nathanschultz]

Reverse gripping your sword is sometimes very useful, however, I feel like the traditional forward grip is overall more versatile, which is very important in a fight

[blazinkid]

It really is refreshing to hear an opinion that summarises to "it depends" and yet still has a historical basis.

But anime tropes besides, zatoichi made reverse grip cool first xD

[anthonytonythegeek]

It also depends on the make and model of the sword, an example that came to mind for me was Ventus in kingdom hearts all the keyblades he used were held in a reverse grip.

[Z.U]

What if reverse grip is used while dual wielding. In the sense that the sword held reversed grip is used specifically for defense. Idk if it will work or not..?

[hrgamingplebs]

I think it should be useful for stabbing motion and somewhat for parrying, would be stupid for slashing for sure.

[billeternal]

There are tons of historical myths using a single edged sword in a reverse grip as a good makeshift bracer for your arm. Only problem with that is your arm would still need to be at least lightly armored (that now sliding sword has to go somewhere)

[llemonshop]

I really can’t see a reverse grip being used practically for anything other than stabbing unless:
A - you created more leverage by using a second hand to apply more pressure in the opposite direction of your cut
B - you somehow used the reverse grip in a drawing cut, slashing across the length of your target

[Wirrn]

Wall of text incoming, TL:DR in comments.

You're not *wrong* the problem is the specific depictions. The issue is that reverse gripping swords CAN work, but the way it is depicted in media is basically trash 99% of the time. (I actually don't know about anime, but its become a big thing everyones doing in western live action stuff in the last decade and I hate it). It can be good for (especially downward) thrusts, especially two handed, because you can get a lot of power in it. It can be good defensively as an offhand tool, especially when flatter against the arm and you have good technique. So you will see it in depictions and treatises and so on as a specific niche thing (which requires particular instruction, hence why it has an image). And its really effective in knife or shortsword fighting in general.

What becomes unwieldy as all fuck is trying to *cut* at your enemy with a longsword held in a reverse grip because the human arm simply isn't built that way. The reason you can cut with a knife in reverse grip is because...well its *still* not a very powerful cut but with putting the waist into it it can be powerful enough to work - and the advantages in getting in really *really* close are very useful when working with short blades - you're already wanting to be as close as possible. But with a longer blade you're not going to be strong enough to extract that blade even if you do close in, you've sacrificed all the advantages of the longer blade, AND you can't easily thrust at that ultra close measure. AND lever action is working against you here, so it can be powerful close in to your hand but the further you get from it the weaker the cut and the weaker your tip control is. So you want to do it close in near the forte, which means the rest of your blade is just getting in the way. And thats just talking about a nice optimum belly slice, actually having an extended engagement with a reverse longsword is just *awkward*. Which is what we see in media - directors have this obsession in recent years that flipping the blade back and continuing to use it the same way shows that you are somehow a skilled badass, when all you actually see is actors struggling to control the things or make their movements look good. Henry Cavill can just about get away with it because the choreography there is very good and he constantly flips back and forth rather than hanging out in that guard, but Rey and Kylo Ren for example look *terrible* with it. (Animated Ahsoka got away with it because animation means you have complete body control)

If we look at the examples you posted:
-Meyer is dodging and ready to do a thrust into his overextended opponent's exposed gut (or come up defensively as he steps in and closes). *Relatively* shorter weapons. (Also unarmoured fighting). This is basically what modern media stuff *should* be showing if they want to be doing this.

-Armoured guy is dual wielding and his longsword is practically a poleaxe, and I think is using at such: giving him options to strike with the axehead quillon, the spike, or lift up and stab. Its not amazingly powerful a move but a metal spike in the face is a metal spike in the face. (also on a fun note, he looks hilarious :D )

-Fiore is doing a two handed thrust to the face with a lot of strength, basically spear using it

-Armoured dude doing a low parry against a spear - I'll grant you this one, good point well made. This is the closest to modern media uses for it. Low parries are the most difficult to do IME and this will deflect a spear decently so you can step in and stab him with your dagger. In essence this person seems to be abandoning their sword *as a sword* and turning it into a shield. I wouldn't be surprised if they flat out dropped the sword when they stepped in for the grapple, but I'm not an expert. Of course flipping into the reverse grip in the moment of thrust is difficult, and if you hang out like that your oponent will just stab high. so it has its drawbacks.

-knife fighting, very valid, as discussed.
-First spear guy is two handing it, overarm like that gives you a very powerful thrust and opposing hands can give good control over the weapon
-The second greek one showing overhand one handed is....more debated. The depictions are artistic not necessarily accurate treatises and while overarming it can give a more powerful thrust you have fuckall tip control by comparison. You can learn to control the tip decently, but that same amount of practice could be spend on getting the power in a high underarm grip. Not saying it was never done, ust that I hate it and think its trash. Overarm is required if you're going to throw it though, or you are using a casting method to thrust.

Conclusion:

Spears, swords, and knives are all different things with crossover, you could even call it a spectrum of pointy long things. At either ends of the spectrum there are times you may want to be hanging out in reverse grip as your main thing. In the middle of the spectrum however, its use is much more niche and for quite specific things. It can demonstrate a lot of skill if you're doing it correctly, but the choreographers don't have that skill so they do it blindly wrong and make it the primary mark of the character's fighting style - either because they're trying to fore knife fighting techniques onto an unsuitable weapon, or because they don't know anything and just think they're being cool and unique while just trend chasing.

[chopstick]

While I don’t claim to be an expert on these matters, I tend to disagree with your logic here.

My reason for that is just personal experience within HEMA. But that aside, the examples you put up on screen are very very contextual.
- The first dussack play doesn’t seem to be in reverse grip judging from the image. I might be wrong as there is definitely some error in the picture Id guess as the blade is curved behind the body, where if it was reverse grip it would have been infront of the body.
- The second is an armoured fighting situation where it seems they are using the sword more like a parrying stick/short spear than as a sword. It is being used on the side of another sword tho, which is notable.
- The fiore (if I recognize the art style correctly) example is a good solid example, it seems this is essentially like ubergreifen, but I don’t study italian treatises so I might be mistaken. Contextually Id still say this has a sort of halfswording going on, so not the reverse grip people tend to mean, which is two hands on the handle in reverse, or holding with one hand on the handle reverse.
- This one is essentially like the second play where it seems to be held more like a parrying stick.

Those are just my opinions on the pictures in particular; but I can definitely be wrong. I do think something which is very notable is that people in the pictures (except for the first if thats actually meant to be a reverse grip) hold it different than what people argue for when talking about ‘reverse grip’.

As a sidenote on the spear thing; that’s something people tend to only do when they have a big shield or something to defend themselves with, because of all the downsides, and even then I don’t see it having much benefits other than being able to strike closer in formation possibly(?).

I hope this clutter of words makes sense haha, Im tired but just felt like throwing something out there

[pinkyless]

The only way I could see people saying it’s not useful compared to knife/spear fighting is that swords also are used for slashing. I know you addressed this in another comment however, just felt like saying my piece.

[Built_Mago]

You'll have a better chance of injuring yourself with a reverse grip on sword, but less so with a spear. Only since the spear has a small sharp point which spends most of its time far and away from the user. On the other hand swords, especially double edge swords can be more easily parried back to the user or accidentally cause injury to the user by mishandling it in the heat of battle with a reverse grip when compared to a traditional grip at least that my opinion.

[CB]

I personally think that in fiction the only swords that can be OK to use in the reverse grip is the lightsaber from star wars because no matter what angle you have the blade of the lightsaber it'll always be a dangerous and effective weapon to use at least that's my opinion on reverse grip in fiction.

[donchon]

So it depends? Way to break my understanding of history of martial arts