flourintine sword size

[Cathán Neamhnaofa]

thnks haldor for you input. i was the one that said fiberglass. i meant to say grafite. i havent found any around the good wills i go to but still there is that chance.

[greybeardabbot]

Alric, sure there are shields... but an effective combo usually results in a good legging agaisnt the less experienced player, and I do like to pick them off. Double reds are a lark, not a prefrence. My only point is that longer swords are worth concidering. I like the 'one longish', 'one shortish', that beathor suggested. It has it's kin in the "dager and rapier" style popular in the renesance period.

[ken]

When I was more active, I started out florentine to get my weak arm a little more coordinated so I wouldn't "hide" behind a shield. I started out with two (heavy!) blues with ~32" blades. They were difficult to wield just because of the nature of the way the torques and momentums carry. I came down to 20 or 24" blades and oh my what a difference. A bigger weapon is inherently harder to wield -- it requires more force to swing and more force to control. I prefer CQC fighting so short blues were perfect for me. Not only could I strike faster but I could also get my extended arm back in close instead of leaving it out baited. Combining a faster arm motion with the faster footwork gave me an edge over more experienced fighters. (I recall Alric and Athron making analogies to a blender.. )

Bottom line: Many people recommend the "longest blue you can comfortably wield." While this is true, it's easy to overestimate what is "comfortable" and you end up with something big and slow. I would recommend (with my admittedly limited experience) a good hand-a-half grip (literally 1 and 1/2 fists long) and a blade in the 20" range...no longer than 24". The extra length of the grip gives you room to torque your wrist up and down for a little extra range on a wrap. The shortened blade length allows a faster swing and decreasing the arc length makes a wrap shot less awkward. Straight punch-shots will also become quicker.


The caveat here is that all of this comes from limited experience with an emphasis on speed, agility and CQC fighting. Ultimately you will tweak your weapons to best fit with your fighting style. One thing I liked about this style of florentine is that when I was beginning to learn sword and board, my shield hand was already trained at being an aggressive striker and I wasn't as inclined to use my shield passively.

[balkoth]

talk to Z and steal the the way he makes his swords..they are stupid light but strong

[Cathán Neamhnaofa]

yeah i know ive used them before.

[Frost]

I made my flourentine swords 33 inches, exact same weight, material, and style. The blades were roughly 25 inches.

One problem with using a longer sword and a short sword in florentine, is your reach is dependant upon the shorter weapon. Sure, one can hit you from two feet away with the longer, but when one tries to throw the shorter sword in there for a combo, it can come up a little short.

[Zaron]

I'm not much of a flourintiner, but I'd say the length you can comfortablely wield is more dependanct on your control, cooridination, footwork and the range you perfer to fight at than your actual strength. I for instance tend to use no more than 33" swords (I start with a 30" or so core). I have the strength to wield much longer weapons and have, even doing the Greybeard number of dueling reds once in a while, but I like to fight very close to my opponent and longer swords get in my way. My swords are easy to make, and I do use graphite golf clubs for them. Make sure you check the flex of the golf club shaft though. They come in several variations and you want stiff if you can get it, they are stronger and last much longer than the others.