The item description states that this is a "sturdy rubber knife." That is true that it is "sturdy." The knife bends as it should during practice to prevent injury; however, when it bends, the paint on the blade cracks and peals. It doesn't take long for this to happen....When I opened the package to look at the product, I bent the knife and the paint cracked right away. I am waiting to see how the knife will stand the test of time.
3 stars

As others have noticed the paint cracks and peels quickly so it gets ugly fast. Other then that it's perfect. I've had a couple dozen of these for training classes and they've held up perfectly for almost five years now. They bend but don't break, hit hard enough to tell you've been struck, but don't leave any lasting injury. I strongly suggest avoiding head shots or wear appropriate eye protection though. Great value-priced training tool. 5 stars

I bought this knife for a ninja costume, but I had done other martial arts before my ninja career took off on Halloween, and would think this an excellent practice knife for sparring... However, why let it end there...you could practice doing all types of things with this knife: practice cutting Turkey as Thanksgiving is coming up, practice carving wooden figures, practice opening mail, and pretty much practicing any other thing you can do with a knife. So good luck and remember practice makes perfect!

5 stars

The knife is fine, but do not order from Amazon. The entity that actually sells the product is Martial Arts Mart. They charged me $7 to ship this $3 rubber knife!! I don't know whether to laugh or cry! I will never order anything from Martial Arts Mart. 1 star

It bends, so it's save to use when practicing self defence f.i.
My kids use it also. Yet don't bend it too much, because it will tear and break. 4 stars