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Podao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Podao
A photograph of a Chinese podao, with the handle wrapped in hemp rope.
Traditional Chinese朴刀
Simplified Chinese朴刀
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinpōdāo
Wade–Gilesp'o1 tao1
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationpok3 dou1

Podao or pudao (Chinese: 朴刀; pinyin: pōdāo) is a Chinese single-edged infantry weapon that is still used primarily for training in various Chinese martial arts. The blade of the weapon is shaped like a Chinese broadsword, but the weapon has a longer handle, usually around one to two meters (about three to six feet) which is circular in cross-section. It looks somewhat similar to the guandao.

The pudao is sometimes called a "horse-cutter sword" since it is speculated to have been used to slice the legs out from under a horse during battle (like the zhanmadao). It is somewhat analogous to the Japanese nagamaki, although the nagamaki sword may have been developed independently. The pudao also resembles the Korean hyeopdo.

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