Sorry if this comes off as a dumb question but there is something that doesn't quite make sense to me. I have seen some of these extended ricassos that have their own cross guards (albeit usually smaller than the main). My question is what would be the difference between having a setup such as "grip, cross guard, ricasso, second cross guard", or just extending the grip to the point where the ricasso ends. Or more simply, what advantage does a ricasso give over just a very long grip.

Leverage and controlability. You can stay at length with just the grip or drop into a well protected half-sword.

M.