Podao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chinese weapon known as the podao (Chinese: 朴刀) was originally an edged infantry weapon which is still used for training in many Chinese martial arts. The blade of a podao is shaped like a Chinese broadsword, but the weapon has a longer handle usually around one and a half to two meters (about four to six feet) which is circular in cross section. It looks somewhat similar to the guandao.
The podao is also known as the horse-cutter sword since it was used to slice the legs out from under a horse during battle. It is somewhat analogous to the Japanese nagamaki, although the latter was probably developed independently.
