Miao broadsword. Miao Dao. 苗刀

PERFORMER: Wang Zhihai (王志海), gold medal winner of the traditional wushu competition. The miaodao (苗刀) is a Chinese two-handed dao or saber of the Ming Dynasty era, with a narrow blade with a length of 1.2 metres (47 in) or more and a long hilt. The name means “sprout saber“, presumably referring to a likeness between the weapon and a newly sprouted plant. Its origin is katana, presumably ōdachi, brought to China by the Japanese pirates. While the miaodao is a recent weapon, the name has come to be applied to a variety of earlier Chinese long sabers, such as the zhanmadao and changdao. Along with the dadao, miaodao were used by some Chinese troops during the Second Sino-Japanese War. While the miaodao is rarely practiced in modern Chinese martial arts, some schools of piguaquan and tongbeiquan (in the Guo Changsheng lineage) and xingyiquan train with the weapon. The miaodao is also often mistakenly claimed to have been one of the weapons taught at t