- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
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Here is a sword I'm calling a miao dao, the type I had in mind when it was being made. The miao dao was made in China in response to Japanese pirate squads who were raiding an area of the coastline, so I read. The miao dao, or "sprout sword" was a large katana-like object with a bit of an up-kick toward the tip, like a sprout. I mean what better to combat raiding Japanese pirates with katanas, than with a bigger katana thing, right? Makes sense to me. 
This one is quite small for a miao dao, with 26.5" of stiff blade protruding from the habaki. It is mounted in Japanese style. The mount was made for the blade by a professional of the Japanese sword arts, and the titanium alloy handguard was a gift from Dan Keffeler that complimented the blade well, I thought.
The narrow blade is forged from Titanium-Niobium alloy bar stock, still my favorite alloy to use for a sword. The bare blade weighs 12.6 ounces, and has a steep distal thickness taper, and does get narrower as it approaches the tip, although it doesn't look like it. It's too light and skinny to be tackling large mats, but does well on stiffer, narrower targets. It's extremely quick in the hand. The scabbard mounter, who tested it, even commented that it handles like a Chinese sword.
The mount is meant to be a combo of a resting mount and a battle mount. It's a "reinforced resting mount on steroids" that can be used to cut. Parts are wood and copper, and the saya includes a horn kurigata.
Here is a short vid clip of cutting a cardboard tube with the sword:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Z8lJnHwRw/
And without further ado, some pics!
This one is quite small for a miao dao, with 26.5" of stiff blade protruding from the habaki. It is mounted in Japanese style. The mount was made for the blade by a professional of the Japanese sword arts, and the titanium alloy handguard was a gift from Dan Keffeler that complimented the blade well, I thought.
The narrow blade is forged from Titanium-Niobium alloy bar stock, still my favorite alloy to use for a sword. The bare blade weighs 12.6 ounces, and has a steep distal thickness taper, and does get narrower as it approaches the tip, although it doesn't look like it. It's too light and skinny to be tackling large mats, but does well on stiffer, narrower targets. It's extremely quick in the hand. The scabbard mounter, who tested it, even commented that it handles like a Chinese sword.
The mount is meant to be a combo of a resting mount and a battle mount. It's a "reinforced resting mount on steroids" that can be used to cut. Parts are wood and copper, and the saya includes a horn kurigata.
Here is a short vid clip of cutting a cardboard tube with the sword:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Z8lJnHwRw/
And without further ado, some pics!
