I lent a blade to a student today. About one minute later it was broken. FIE Leon Paul, down the drain. How could this happen? It was few years old, between three and six, not a bad run for a weapon I guess. What happened when I handed her the weapon, and she naturally bent the weapon lightly on the ground or her foot to gauge the resistance. It's a fairly natural response for a fencer if they've been handed a weapon; "hmm, I wonder how much resistance I get out of this." I bring this up not because I'm upset at the girl, it's not like she was fencing stupidly, got angry and smashed it on the ground, or anything like that. What concerned me was that it broke into a sharp end, and under such little stress.
FIE blades are designed so that when they break, they do so cleanly, and with no sharp edges. However many years ago it was, I purchased two FIE Leon Paul blades. I had heard so many things about them, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I really don't like them. Yes, I know there are people who swear by them, but I just can't stand them. The blade is too thick at the end, which throws off the balance for me. They're too flimsy, I find that on occasion my takes will not work properly, and to compensate I was making bigger actions to ensure I used the thicker part of the blade. You get the idea, all around not what I want from a blade. To continue my story, one of them broke shortly thereafter, and was broken fairly sharply as well. Has anyone else found that their leon paul epee blades break improperly?
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