Hence, I purchased a fine 17th C. swept hilt rapier, made by Del Tin Armi Antiche. This advice proved excellent, because I now knew how to hold the real thing. My year's worth of training with the modern fencing foil at the university helped me to adjust to the point orientation quickly. My substantial experience with full-contact stickfighting helped me most with the other weapons, but it also proved useful for speed, timing, distance, closing, and other martial skills necessary for effective combat. I know that thrusting has more stopping power than cutting.
Laws of physics dictate that a sword thrust is faster to execute than a cut, ceteris parabis.
On average, puncture wounds from thrusts are generally more likely than cuts to damage internal organs vital to human function and also cause delayed death from infection. The rapier is made for thrusting. Sparring with John, the timing of the hits and exchanges got more interesting, as I later played the rapier against a cut and thrust sword. Their practice cut and thrust sword is weighted like a real cut and thrust weapon. I could see how thrusts disrupted the timing of cuts.