Doubyl rowndys stondÿg borne on ye hed

[Robert Blackmann]

I take these to be what some refer to as the zwer. Been practicing on the pell admittedly with a feather sword but experiencing some problems. I assume the bounce against the pell is due to the thin whippy blunt blade, the hits are accurate and land solidly and I'm using body and legwork quite well for my level of ability.
Hand placement seems to the main issue. I am mostly right handed, handwriting, bum wiping, drinking tea ect ect but with the sword I feel more prominently left handed (have to keep switching at times) Either way the leading hand is up below the guard and the other hand where to the pommel starts to flair. I get the blade moving with both hands then let the sword do the work and guide it onto the pell where I want it. She hits home hard but should I keep the power on the strike all the way to the pell? I build up the speed and use the top 1/3 of the blade for the strike basically the bottom half of the weak and about 1/2 intent/power as I don't want to snap the blade off.
Any advice about rowndys/zwer training would be greatly accepted.

[David Kite]

Fencing is a very tactile and experiential pursuit, so explaining things over text necessarily loses a lot in translation, but here goes.

Your sword actually bounces? What kind of sword do you have (make/model)? Are you striking with the edge?

When cutting with a sword, remember swords are for cutting, so don't bludgeon the pell. You should be able to strike hard without relying on brute strength. It would be helpful if we could see what you were doing. On the flip side, you may get some input by watching videos, either here or on YouTube.

David Kite
ARMA in IN