As far as the holding the shield thing is concerned... he's basically saying holding a magic shield in your hands is no different than putting a Ring of Protection on your finger. You're getting a bonus to your AC through whatever goofy-ass magical force field surrounds you when you have one of those defensive objects on your person.
Honestly, I can kinda understand it when looked at in that way. If a little ring of metal on one of your fingers can protect you from attacks for some reason... there's no reason why holding a big disc of metal couldn't do the same thing.
Honestly, I can kinda understand it when looked at in that way. If a little ring of metal on one of your fingers can protect you from attacks for some reason... there's no reason why holding a big disc of metal couldn't do the same thing.