Для тех кто знает англицкий... статья кузнеца.
If one is used to handling accurate 16th and 17th century rapier reproductions, picking this sword up will be quite a surprise. It is very lightweight, and feels more like a long modern épeé, which in some respects, it is. In fact, an épeé fencing colleague of mine, who ordinarily dislikes the rapier due to the fact that it feels so foreign to what he is used to handling, picked this sword up and immediately responded, "Now THIS is a sword I can use to fence!"
The balance of this sword is superb. Tip control is excellent: I literally taped a marker to the tip of the sword wrote my name on a piece of paper on the wall with very little effort. This is an old sport fencer's trick to build tip control. While this is not at all difficult with most well-balanced swords and a little practice, it was the effortlessness with which I could do this, in comparison to heavier weapons, that stood out to me.
I have heard a number of people suggest that flambard blades were created to cause vibrations to an opponent's blade when it slid against it, which may unsettle someone who was not used to it. I was curious about this, and tried this out with a few fencers. The consensus is that, while it is possible to catch someone off guard with this if they are startled very easily, it really has almost no noticeable effect to someone determined to strike you. It is possible that a function of this type of blade, aside from aesthetics, would be to create a wider wound in the opponent, but this is just speculation on my part.
The blade is very flexible. Personally, I don't find fault in this, as many period rapier blades exhibit quite a large amount of flex and "whippiness". Many people, though, might prefer a stiffer blade, and this should be kept in mind before making a purchase.
It should be noted that this sword was created to be first and foremost a fencing weapon. High polish and perfect details were not the main intent. With that in mind, it is still a very attractive sword. The wavy blade, which required a lot of hand work in creating, is very even and polished to a satin finish.