Great item to have. I've got a huge knife and sword collection and sometimes it's fun to have a buddy over to play with them. The great thing about this thing is that we can really go at it, have a blast, and get a realistic sword fight workout without having to worry about taking off a limb. It definitely hurts getting hit but that's just inspiration to get better and not get hit! A great, strong, durable weapon to have for everything from training to fun and games.