Prima Spada Small Sword Syllabus

In addition to the Renaissance Rapier/Sword syllabus and Modern Fencing, Prima Spada also offers Small Sword play, with the 18th century Small Sword.

An 8 week Beginner Course gives the student a working background in the basic concepts of fencing with French Small Sword, after Domenico Angelo, and utilising the concepts from his fencing manual, The School of Fencing - 1763.

Following the 8 week Beginner Course, students are encouraged to fence regularly, until becoming experienced at this beginner level. Coaching is then available to students in more advanced technique and application. Advancement is obtained by progressing to higher level grades.

The Small Sword

The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, or dress sword) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting. The smallsword evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The height of the smallsword's popularity was between mid 17th and late 18th century. It is thought to have appeared in France and spread quickly across the rest of Europe. The comparative lightness of the smallsword and the resulting ease of manipulation led to the development of the sophisticated handwork and the linear footwork of modern fencing, and it can be considered as the immediate predecessor of the modern foil and épée.

As a rule, the blade of a smallsword is comparatively short (about 60-85 centimetres, though some reach over 90 cm). It usually tapers to a sharp point but may lack a cutting edge. It is typically triangular in cross-section, although some of the early examples still have the rhombic and spindle-shaped cross-sections inherited from older weapons, like the rapier. This triangular cross-section may be hollow ground for additional lightness. Many small swords of the period between the 17th and 18th centuries were found with colichemarde blades.

The small sword guard is typically of the "shell" type, with two lobes that were decorated as clam shells. In some cases, the shells folded over to make the weapon more comfortable when slung at the hip. The shells were often replaced with a simple curved oval disk, which was still referred to as the coquille (shell). In later foils, the lobed type evolved into the "lunette" or figure-8 guard, and the disk became the modern foil "bell" guard, but the guards were still referred to as coquilles. Small swords with this type of guard normally included other features of the older rapier hilt, including quillons, ricasso, knuckle-bow, and a pas d'âne, although these were often atrophied beyond the point of usefulness, serving mainly as a decorative element. However, they were maintained in a usable state on some weapons, including the Italian foil, into the 20th Century.

Small Sword Weapons

Dueling Small Sword (Light-weight hollow blade for Thrusting)

Military Small Sword (Heavier Double-edged Flat Blade for Cutting)