A guan dao (Chinese: 關刀; Mandarin Pinyin: guān dāo; Cantonese IPA: /kwɑn₅₅ təʊ₅₅/, Jyutping: gwaan1 dou1) is a type of Chinese pole weapon that is currently used in some forms of Chinese Wushu. It is an ornate version of a plainer Chinese weapon known as a long handled sabre or horsecutter and consists of a heavy blade mounted atop a 5-6 foot long wooden pole with a pointed metal counter weight used to balance the heavy blade and for striking on the opposite end. The blade is very deep and curved on its face; this resembles a Chinese sabre or the 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 attached 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 guan dao), having the tip curl into a rounded spiral (elephant guan dao) or just being ornate in general (dragon head guan dao). This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Jyutping (Traditional Chinese: 粵拼; Simplified Chinese: 粤拼; pinyin: yuèpÄ«n; Yale: yuhtpÄ«ng; sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) in 1993. ... A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon with the main fighting part of the weapon placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood. ... WÇ”shù Wushu (Simplified Chinese: 武术; Traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: (  listen)) literally means martial art. It is the correct term for the more commonly known but misused term kung fu, which roughly translates to skill and refers specifically to the energy, feeling and effort expended in doing or making something. ... Chinese Saber Dao 刀 (Py dāo, Wade-Giles tao1) is a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping (sabers), often called broadswords in English because some varieties have wide blades. ... SABRE (Synergic Air BReathing Engine) is a proposal for a hydrogen-fuelled airbreathing rocket engine/jet engine for propelling launch vehicles into low earth orbit. ... Naginata of the Edo era A samurai wielding a naginata Naginata (なぎなた, 長刀 or 薙刀) is a pole weapon traditionally used by Japanese samurai. ... A Bisen-to is a kind of Japanese pole weapon which greatly resembles a naginata. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... A glaive is a polearm consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole. ... A voulge (rarely called a pole cleaver) is a type of polearm that existed along side the similar glaive in medieval Europe. ...

History

According to legend, the guan dao (or Guan's big knife/sword) is said to have been invented by the famous general Guan Yu during the early 3rd century AD. As befitting his supposedly large stature, he was able to wield such a large weapon and developed the guan dao into a versatile tool. Guan Yu (160 – 219) was a military general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. ... Guan Yu (160 – 219) was a military general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. ...

However, historically speaking Guan Yu used a lance or a dagger-axe (ji) halberd. The use of a Guan Dao, hereafter to be referred to by its proper name of Yanyue Dao (偃月刀), in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong was extremely anachronistic, as there is no proof that it was ever used prior to the Song Dynasty when it was first illustrated in the military manual Wujing Zongyao. The Yanyue Dao could not have been invented nor used by Guan Yunchang. Therefore, the name Guan Dao is somewhat of a misnomer brought on by pop culture. The dagger-axe (Traditional: 戈; Simplified: 戈; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: ko; sometimes confusingly translated halberd) is a type of weapon that was in use in Shang era China. ... Ji (姬 jī in Chinese) is the family name of the family in control of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 late 10th century BC to late 9th century - 256 BC) (Wade-Giles Chou Dynasty) followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ... Swedish halberds from 16th century Different sorts of halberds and halberd-like pole weapons in Switzerland A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. ... Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Simplified Chinese: 三国演义; Traditional Chinese: 三國演義, Pinyin: sān guó yÇŽn yì), written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel about the turbulent period often referred to as the Three Kingdoms (220-280). ...

While it could be used from horseback, the Guan Dao could also be used by infantry as an anti-personnel and anti-cavalry weapon. While in popular myth it is said that general Guan's original Yanyue Dao weighed between 100 and 200 lb (45 and 90 kg), the modern Guan Dao which has been adopted by martial artists today usually weighs between 5 and 20 lb (2 and 10 kg). Image File history File links KwanDao. ...

Combat Uses

Whether in reality or just as fictional content, the Kwan Dao is used quite frequently in the Xiaolin Style form of martial arts, though rather than used as an attack-related weapon, it was used more as an evasionary measure. A large veil cloth was attached to the end to dissuade and confuse opponents as the weapon was swung around, and the weapon itself was used as more to deflect and disarm an opponent. Common training with the weapon made the wielding of it look more like an intricate dance rather than any real combat use.

As for design, the weapon itself was made to disarm opponents, as there is a weapon-grasping notch on the back side of the blade used to hold an opponent's weapon. Also, the long range on the weapon allowed the wielder to keep his distance, and was very useful against sword-using opponents when the weapons were first used.