Gripping a knife

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frank raud

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Thank you for posting this. I know a few things about grips, but not this detail. I learned hammer grip, being warned that saber grip is ineffective in sparring, and another instructor who pointed out this is best for pushing/pulling the blade though. I was told by an experienced student at my last class to use saber grip, because other grips cause slipping. I didn’t argue, focused on the drill.

This guide explains it all pretty well.
Hammer grip doesn't work well with Piper. The twirls, triggers and picks require a looser grip, switching between your first two fingers and ring and pinkie fingers for many of the techniques. You will end up in a hammer grip for the stabs, especially with a cheap okapi, but Piper is not grab and stab.
 

GreenieMeanie

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Hammer grip doesn't work well with Piper. The twirls, triggers and picks require a looser grip, switching between your first two fingers and ring and pinkie fingers for many of the techniques. You will end up in a hammer grip for the stabs, especially with a cheap okapi, but Piper is not grab and stab.
What I’ve seen of Piper, is that it relies heavily on concealing and manouevering the blade. It’s much easier to do so with reverse, so I’d be surprised if there were hammer moves in Piper. Thanks though, for the note about the fingers. Based on the footage, how the blade moves about the wrist, that makes perfect sense.
 
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frank raud

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What I’ve seen of Piper, is that it relies heavily on concealing and manouevering the blade. It’s much easier to do so with reverse, so I’d be surprised if there were hammer moves in Piper. Thanks though, for the note about the fingers. Based on the footage, how the blade moves about the wrist, that makes perfect sense.
Hammer grip in reverse is the ice pick grip, nothing changes in the mechanics, just the orientation of the blade. There plenty of transition to ice pick in Piper.
 

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