Postby Jonathan Hill » Thu May 19, 2011 11:12 am
Stacy is correct that real Rapiers were much stiffer than what we use to train and spar with. We (using the term loosely) are willing to accept a level of ‘whip’ in the ‘wide’ plane of the rapier to allow for bend of the blade when I hit you with it, otherwise there is undue injury or a tendency to pull the hits. The ‘edge’ plane of most rapier blades are stiff as ever and allow for accurate edge on edge or edge to flat play. This is a tradeoff that in one aspect allows more accurate sparing as the blade would actually go into your target, as represented by a bending of the blade, thus requiring your distance to be accurate, and allowing you to not have to bend the arm to lessen the pain your partner feels. Yet on the other side you can end up with floppiness of the blade if you have an older hanwei or your blade needs to be replaced. Current Hanwei blades and even better the Darkwood blades, are made nicely to minimize any whip during use, unless your thrust hits home.
I have handled a sharp of the Taza which is very stiff, too stiff for any play, thus more accurate to a real one. The question is what do you want it for? If you wish to train with a partner you must use a practical blade which by necessity has built in whip. The newer Hanwei practical blades are better at keeping true until the thrusting pressure is applied. If you plan to train with it I also do not recommend a decorated one, I’d get a plan looking one as it will get scratched, notched etc. and the pretty look will be gone. The Taza also has a very ‘sharp’ edge where the blade extends out of the grip about at the quillions, it’s right where your first finger lays in the grip. It’s very uncomfortable and if I had to use it regularly I would file it down.
