Miao Dao
The Miao Dao or (rice) grain leaf sabre…
… a twentieth century ‘pipe backed’ blade with a thin narrow edge. It is flexible for its (long!) length without being too wobbly. The current thinking is that the sword was influenced by the Japanese nodachi during the Ming Dynasty, leading to the development of the Chang Dao / Dan Dao swords, with a subsequent sprinkling of European influence (the pipe back), probably from the Prussians who were advising Chinese troops at the time, finally leading to the Miao Dao in the early 1900’s.
Swords
This article should really be titled ‘All the Gear, But no Idea’.
In the seven or so years I have been studying Taiji I have been taught forms using some of the various weapons to be found in the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts (TCMA), including the staff, the sabre, the straight sword and the broad sword. In reality, I have only dabbled, and sadly don’t know any of the forms well enough to teach them at this time. I am hoping to change that over the next few years.
In my typical enthusiasm, I rushed out and bought all the toys, which for the most part sit in my storage cupboard, unused.
The purpose of this article is to help the curious with the the types and names of some of the swords you might encounter in TCMA.