Near perfect. Price, balance, long lasting, and overall weight are fantastic. My 15 year old female student got one of these, and she loves it. Overall, this vague oxtail design balances like my Willow leaf saber, and is excellent in handling. As a beginners tool, practice tool for younger students, and an overall less threatening training weapon, these work great. Better than whippy sabers, poorly made wooden sabers, and cheaper than most steel training weapons, this saber is worth buying for drills, forms, two person forms and drills, and even sparring. Reducing the wear on spear shafts is well worth it here. Lastly, the one star I took away is simply for the warping that is fairly common. I clamp the blade straight, heat it up with a blow dryer or carefully with a heat gun, let cool, and check it. Sometimes its worse than usual, so I simply clamp the blade with shims in the opposite direction of the bend.