The method I described in post #5 assumed that the sword is a prop, I don't know if it will work when the sword is a figure. You say "...whether the sword is parented to the figure BODY or UNIVERSE, they [the hands] won't go there." This type of parenting, "inkyParent" is not like a "smartparent" which positions the child, "inkyParent" should attach the hands to the sword, but not position them. The position of the hands must be implimented like a normal pose by setting the joint rotations. As I said in post #5 ". However if you only used that code [in step #13] the arms would probably fly into some strange contortion".