Hello all,
I recently discovered this web group, and let me say that reading
some of your posts have at the very least widen my horizons, in
regards to classical fencing, and the number and variations of
fencing that can be studied.
I'm a student in the Milwaukee Branch of the Classical Fencing
Society, based in Saint Louis under Maestro Evangilista, Provost
David Achillius, and the instructor in Milwaukee, Alexis Lajoie.
In our salle, the view seems to be that the epee, the smallsword,
and to a certain extent, the italian/pronated guards are all, to a
degree, related. The assumption being that as the smallsword has
quillons and archete (sp?), it is held with an italian type grip.
Reading back over the archives, I came across a very convincing
arguement that the smallsword was actually held with a grip more
similar to that of a saber. That is, with the thumb on the quillon
block, and the fingers around the grip. Now, the instructors have
had to revise thier idea of smallsword fencing once already, and to
do so again would probably be irritating, but it would be best to do
it right. So, my question is, does the fact that the small sword is
NOT held with an italian grip mean we have to change our ideas of
the smallsword, and epee, and italian all being related? Is it a
false comparison, and we should actually being studying the
smallsword in a different manner? I am admittedly a new fencer, and
I don't know even a little bit of all there is to know about
classical fencing, but it seems that a change in the grip translates
to a large change in the style of fencing. Or am I making too much
of it? And thoughts/references/advice would be welcome.

Sean Newton