Kwan dao Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A
Kwan dao (also
Guan Dao and
Kuan do) is a type of
Chinese pole weapon that is currently used in some Chinese wu shu. It consists of a heavy blade mounted atop a 5-6 foot long wooden pole with a pointed metal counter weight on the opposite end. The blade is very deep and curved on its face; this resembles a
Japanese naginata and
bisento, or the
European glaive and
voulge. Often times it will have the edge come to a point on the top for thrusting. The reverse has a spike used for hooking and dismounting victims. In addition there are sometimes irregular serrations that lead the back edge of the blade to the spike. Usually a red sash or tassel is attacked at the joint of the pole and blade. Variations of the theme include having rings along the length of the straight back edge (
9 ring Kwan dao), having the tip curl into a rounded spiral (
elephant Kwan dao) or just being ornate in general (
dragon head Kwan dao).
History
The Kwan dao (or Kwan's big knife/sword) is said to have been invented by the famous general Kwan Yu during the early 3rd century AD. As he was a large man, he could wield a very large weapon and developed the Kwan dao to be a versatile tool. While it could be used from horseback, it could be used by infantry as anti-personnel and anti-cavalry. While it was said that general Kwan's original Kwan dao weighed between 100 and 200lbs, modern Kwan dao which have been adopted by the martial artists usually weigh between 5 and 20lbs.
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