Podao (Chinese Polearm)

The podao is a Chinese polearm carrying a single-edged blade shaped like a Chinese broadsword on a long haft, typically one to two meters, distinguishing it from a hand-held dao. It resembles the Japanese nagamaki and the Korean hyeopdo and is related to the Chinese guandao, and it is thought to have been used by Song dynasty infantry to cut the legs from under cavalry horses in battle. Today the weapon survives mainly as a training form within Chinese martial arts, and its precise early history is less well documented than that of other Chinese polearms.