How does one hold a tulwar?

Timo Nieminen · 13th August 2015, 02:52 AM

Just hold it in a hammer-grip, keep your wrist fairly straight (so the blade is at 90 degree to the forearm), and slice away (i.e., draw cut).

The snug fit lets you securely hold the sword without having to hold it tightly. So you can easily stay relaxed and fluid, and not tire. It's important to have the correct size hilt. Too small, and your hand is squeezed, but too large and you lose that relaxed but secure grip. Worse, the sword doesn't easily stay at the correct angle with a too-large hilt, and the pommel can dig into the hand/wrist. So rather than large one-size-fits-all hilts, we see a range of sizes. If your hilt is too small or big, replace it with the right size (or just swap the whole sword for one with a right-size hilt). The disc pommel isn't just to keep your hand there; it's also a good lever for moving the sword around.

I find the same thing with Viking sword hilts, and some other European medieval-style hilts. Notably, traditionally used with shields.

I find that hilts which curve forward at the end, away from the heel of the hand, with pommels that project forward past the little finger (e.g., a barong grip, some kris grips, shamshir grips, and many more), give some of the advantages of tulwar/Viking hilts, while at the same time giving you some of the advantages of handshake grip (or sabre grip). A kukri grip gives a similar (but different) compromise.

(1) Confined grips: stay in hammer grip
(2) Long straight grips: stay in handshake grip (perhaps with two hands)
(3) Hooked-forward grip: a hammer/handshake hybrid
I don't know how universal (2) is for the type of grip. Specifically, I don't know enough about grips used for fighting with SE Asian dha.

13th August 2015, 02:52 AM	#20
Timo Nieminen Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 422	Just hold it in a hammer-grip, keep your wrist fairly straight (so the blade is at 90 degree to the forearm), and slice away (i.e., draw cut). The snug fit lets you securely hold the sword without having to hold it tightly. So you can easily stay relaxed and fluid, and not tire. It's important to have the correct size hilt. Too small, and your hand is squeezed, but too large and you lose that relaxed but secure grip. Worse, the sword doesn't easily stay at the correct angle with a too-large hilt, and the pommel can dig into the hand/wrist. So rather than large one-size-fits-all hilts, we see a range of sizes. If your hilt is too small or big, replace it with the right size (or just swap the whole sword for one with a right-size hilt). The disc pommel isn't just to keep your hand there; it's also a good lever for moving the sword around. I find the same thing with Viking sword hilts, and some other European medieval-style hilts. Notably, traditionally used with shields. I find that hilts which curve forward at the end, away from the heel of the hand, with pommels that project forward past the little finger (e.g., a barong grip, some kris grips, shamshir grips, and many more), give some of the advantages of tulwar/Viking hilts, while at the same time giving you some of the advantages of handshake grip (or sabre grip). A kukri grip gives a similar (but different) compromise. (1) Confined grips: stay in hammer grip (2) Long straight grips: stay in handshake grip (perhaps with two hands) (3) Hooked-forward grip: a hammer/handshake hybrid I don't know how universal (2) is for the type of grip. Specifically, I don't know enough about grips used for fighting with SE Asian dha.