Use a Light Touch

Too tight of a grip on anything stifles movement, figuratively and literally

Photo by Kyle Ellefson on Unsplash

I have been teaching medieval rapier combat (fencing) for more than 20 years now. One thing I see again and again in new fencers is an urge to hold the sword with a death-grip.

There are multiple reasons why this is problematic. First, it interferes with your overall endurance because your forearm gets sore really fast. Second, it slows your reaction time because you take more “shock damage” of a sort when an opponent strikes your blade. Third, you open yourself up to allowing your opponent to predict your movement because of the over-tightness of your grip.

A light touch allows you to move with better flow, gives you more control rather than less, and doesn’t tire out your muscles. When your opponent strikes your blade you can make use of the energy to move to your advantage. A light touch is a total win-win.

This also applies to other sports. Archery, for example. Hold your bow too tight and grip the string when drawing and firing with your whole hand and see if you can shoot with any accuracy at all. Death-grip a golf club or baseball bat and see if you can get optimum distance from your swing.

Using a light touch is often counter-intuitive. But in reality, it’s the key to…