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68-465: The naginata ( なぎなた , 薙刀 ) is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades ( nihontō ). Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha , a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception

136-455: A common medieval term or orthography for naginata , could also simply be referring to conventional swords; one source describes a naginata being drawn with the verb nuku ( 抜く ) , commonly associated with swords, rather than hazusu ( 外す ) , the verb otherwise used in medieval texts for unsheathing naginata . Some 11th and 12th century mentions of hoko may actually have been referring to naginata . The commonly assumed association of

204-440: A long blade used by both infantry and cavalry. Occasionally glaive blades were created with a small hook or spike on the reverse side. Such glaives are named glaive-guisarme . A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver ) is a curved blade attached to a pole by binding the lower two-thirds of the blade to the side of the pole, to form a sort of axe. Looks very similar to a glaive . A svärdstav (literally sword-staff )

272-412: A long pole on its tang, not unlike a naginata . A naginata (なぎなた or 薙刀) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. A naginata consists of a wood shaft with a curved blade on the end. Usually it also had a sword-like guard ( tsuba ) between the blade and shaft. It was mounted with a tang and held in place with a pin or pins, rather than going over the shaft using

340-768: A metal exterior with an inner padding of felt. The felt padding was particularly important because, without it, any blow would transfer directly from the metal plating to the shin. Bronze greaves were used in Bronze Age Europe by the Mycenaean Greeks and the Central European Urnfield culture , among others. The reference to greaves (Ancient Greek: κνημίδες) exists in various texts of classical antiquity, including The Shield of Heracles , The Iliad and The Odyssey , The Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus , and The Aeneid . In

408-491: A number of factors, including uncertainty in original descriptions, changes in weapons or nomenclature through time, mistranslation of terms, and the well-meaning inventiveness of later experts. For example, the word "halberd" is also used to translate the Chinese ji and also a range of medieval Scandinavian weapons as described in sagas , such as the atgeir . As well, all polearms developed from three early tools (the axe ,

476-434: A pointed metal counter weight used for striking and stabbing on the opposite end. The blade is very deep and curved on its face, resembling a Chinese saber, or dao . Variant designs include rings along the length of the straight back edge, as found in the nine-ring guandao. The "elephant" guandao's tip curls into a rounded spiral, while the dragon head guandao features a more ornate design. A podao , 'long-handled sabre',

544-461: A scythe-like blade. Other rarities include archaeology findings with two or sometimes three blades stacked in line on top of a pole, but were generally thought as ceremonial polearms. Though the weapon saw frequent use in ancient China, the use of the dagger-axe decreased dramatically after the Qin and Han dynasties. The ji combines the dagger axe with a spear. By the post-classical Chinese dynasties, with

612-461: A shorter katana or wakizashi due to changes in tactics is called suriage ( 磨上げ ) and was common in Japan at the time. In Japan there is a saying about swords: "No sword made by modifying a naginata or a nagamaki is dull in cutting" (薙刀（長巻）直しに鈍刀なし). The meaning of this saying is that naginata and nagamaki are equipment for actual combat, not works of art or offerings to

680-402: A single piece of wood, and may incorporate a disc-shaped guard ( tsuba ). It is called a kihon-yo . Naginata can be used to batter, stab, or hook an opponent, but due to their relatively balanced center of mass, are often spun and turned to proscribe a large radius of reach. The curved blade provides a long cutting surface without increasing the overall length of the weapon. Historically,

748-563: A socket. The naginata was developed based on the hoko yari from the 1st millennium AD or the tachi from the late Heian period (794ー1185). It was appreciated by samurai who fought on foot as a weapon to maintain optimal distance from the enemy in close combat, but after the Onin War in the 15th century, large groups of mobilized infantry called asigaru began to equip themselves with yari (spear) yumi (longbow) and tanegashima (gun), making naginata and tachi (long sword) obsolete on

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816-533: A spear-like polearm) in battle, not cutting them down with a curved blade. The guandao is also known as the chun qiu da dao ('spring autumn great knife'), again probably related to the depiction of Guan Yu in the Ming dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms , but possibly a Ming author's invention. It consists of a heavy blade mounted atop a 5-to-6-foot-long (1.5 to 1.8 m) wooden or metal pole with

884-404: A spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. Early forms are very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge , while 16th century and later forms are similar to the pollaxe . The Swiss were famous users of the halberd in the medieval and renaissance eras, with various cantons evolving regional variations of

952-477: A standard weapon, the woldo saw action on many fronts and was considered by many Korean troops to be a versatile weapon. Recently, a contemporary revival in various martial arts in Korea has brought interest into the application of the woldo and its history. A guandao or kwan tou is a type of Chinese polearm. In Chinese, it is properly called a yanyue dao (偃月刀), 'reclining moon blade'. Some believed it comes from

1020-450: Is a Chinese polearm, also known as the zhan ma dao ('horsecutter sabre'), which has a lighter blade and a ring at the end. A podao is an infantryman's weapon, mainly used for cutting the legs off oncoming charging horses to bring down the riders. In the Song dynasty , several weapons were referred to as ji , but they were developed from spears, not from ancient ji . One variety was called

1088-419: Is a Swedish medieval polearm that consists of a two-edged sword blade attached to a 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) staff. The illustrations often show the weapon being equipped with sword-like quillons . The illustrations sometimes show a socket mount and reinforcing langets being used, but sometimes they are missing; it is possible this weapon was sometimes manufactured by simply attaching an old sword blade onto

1156-418: Is a type of weapon that was in use from Shang dynasty until at least Han dynasty China. It consists of a dagger-shaped blade made of bronze (or later iron) mounted by the tang to a perpendicular wooden shaft: a common Bronze Age infantry weapon, also used by charioteers. Some dagger axes include a spear-point. There is a (rare) variant type with a divided two-part head, consisting of the usual straight blade and

1224-538: Is a weapon with a heavy crescent-shaped head mounted on a haft 4 to 6 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m) in length. Originally a Viking weapon, it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans in the 11th century, spreading through Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. Variants of this basic weapon continued in use in Scotland and Ireland into the 16th century. A form of 'long axe'. In the 13th century, variants on

1292-407: Is evidence that many wore just a single greave on the left or right leg. Many skeletons have been found buried with only a single greave, including gladiators and soldiers. People may have worn a single greave as a sign of status, as opposed to any practical use. Greaves were common until around the 9th century AD , when they largely disappeared from use. The first evidence of their reappearance

1360-419: Is forged in the same manner as traditional Japanese swords . The blade has a long tang ( nakago ) which is inserted in the shaft . The blade is removable and is secured by means of a wooden peg called mekugi (目釘) that passes through a hole ( mekugi-ana ) in both the tang and the shaft. The shaft ranges from 120 cm to 240 cm (47.2 inches to 94.5 inches) in length and is oval shaped. The area of

1428-513: Is in the 1230s or 1250s, most notably the depiction of Goliath in the Trinity College Apocalypse manuscript (c. 1230). The lack of other evidence suggests that they were uncommon at the time. Almost all greaves used at this time are known as schynbalds , or greaves that only protected the shin. Illustrations showing “closed greaves”, or greaves that protected the entire leg first appear around 1290 and become popular in

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1496-513: Is still used by practitioners of krabi krabong . Known in Malay as a dap , it consists of a wooden shaft with a curved blade fashioned onto the end, and is similar in design to the Korean woldo . Usually, it also had a hook (ขอ) between the blade and shaft used for commanding the elephant. The elephant warrior used the ngao like a blade from atop an elephant or horse during battle. The Dane axe

1564-555: Is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm. A naginata consists of a wooden or metal pole with a curved single-edged blade on the end; it is similar to the Chinese guan dao or the European glaive . Similar to the katana, naginata often have a round handguard ( tsuba ) between the blade and shaft, when mounted in a koshirae (furniture). The 30 cm to 60 cm (11.8 inches to 23.6 inches) naginata blade

1632-465: Is the chauve-souris . A halberd (or Swiss voulge ) is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries but has continued in use as a ceremonial weapon to the present day. First recorded as "hellembart" in 1279, the word halberd possibly comes from the German words Halm (staff) or Helm (helmet), and Barte (axe). The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with

1700-1002: Is the main weapon used by women". In the Meiji era , it gained popularity along sword martial arts. From the Taisho era to the post-War era, the naginata became popular as a martial art for women, mainly due to the influence of government policies. Although associated with considerably smaller numbers of practitioners, a number of "koryu bujutsu" systems (traditional martial arts) which include older and more combative forms of naginatajutsu remain existent, including Suio Ryu, Araki Ryu, Tendo Ryu, Jikishinkage ryu, Higo Koryu, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, Toda-ha Buko Ryu, and Yoshin ryu, some of which have authorized representatives outside Japan. In contemporary naginatajutsu , two types of practice naginata are in common use. The naginata used in atarashii naginata (新しいなぎなた),

1768-409: The kami , and that the sharpness and durability of swords made from their modifications have been proven on the battlefield. In the peaceful Edo period, weapons' value as battlefield weapons became diminished and their value for martial arts and self-defense rose. The naginata was accepted as a status symbol and self-defense weapon for women of nobility, resulting in the image that "the Naginata

1836-486: The Bujinkan and in some koryū schools such as Suio Ryu and Tendō-ryū . Naginata practitioners wear an uwagi , obi , and hakama , similar to that worn by kendo practitioners, although the uwagi is generally white. For sparring, armor known as bōgu is worn. Bōgu for naginatajutsu adds shin guards ( 脛当 , sune-ate ) and the gloves ( 小手 , kote ) have a singulated index finger, unlike

1904-515: The Illiad , the Greek forces are commonly referred to as "well-greaved Acheans" ( euknēmidas Achaioi , ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί). The Iliad also mention the ἐπισφύρια which were either plates covering the ankle , attached to the lower edge of the greaves , or more probably a clasp fastening them round the ankle and were often silver. While these are primarily mythological texts, they still dealt with warfare and

1972-575: The Muromachi period (1334–1572), these took on the form of a splint mounted on a piece of fabric with mail in between the metal splint and fabric, not unlike European greaves. This is the most common form of suneate, termed shino-suneate, and saw continued use throughout the Momoyama period (1573–1602). Sometimes, cavalrymen used the older three-plate model, known as tsutsu-suneate. Like their European counterparts, most suneate contain leather padding on

2040-476: The Three Great Spears of Japan , Tonbokiri . The Korean woldo was a variation of the Chinese guan dao. It was originally used by the post-classical Shilla warriors. Wielding the woldo took time due to its weight, but in the hands of a trained soldier, the woldo was a fearsome, agile weapon famous for enabling a single soldier to cut down ranks of infantrymen. The woldo was continually in use for

2108-652: The halberd was used for pulling or grappling tactics, especially against horsemen. Because of their versatility, high effectiveness and low cost, there were many variants of polearm, which were much-used weapons on the battlefield. Bills , picks , dane axes , spears , glaives , guandaos , pudaos , pikes , poleaxes , halberds , harpoons , sovnyas , tridents , naginatas , bardiches , war scythes , and lances are all varieties of polearms. Polearms were common weapons on post-classical battlefields of Asia and Europe. Their range and impact force made them effective weapons against armoured warriors on horseback, unhorsing

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2176-400: The naginata and the sōhei is also unclear. Artwork from the late-13th and 14th centuries depict the sōhei with naginata but do not appear to place any special significance to it: the weapons appear as just one of a number of others carried by the monks, and are used by samurai and commoners as well. Depictions of naginata -armed sōhei in earlier periods were created centuries after

2244-540: The naginata was developed from an earlier weapon type of the later 1st millennium AD, the hoko yari . Another assumption is that the naginata was developed by lengthening the hilt of the tachi at the end of the Heian period, and it is not certain which theory is correct. It is generally believed that naginata first appeared in the Heian period (794–1185). The term naginata first appeared in historical documents in

2312-408: The naginata was often used by foot soldiers to create space on the battlefield. They have several situational advantages over a sword. Their reach is longer, allowing the wielder to keep out of the reach of opponents. The weight of the weapon gave power to strikes and cuts, even though the weight of the weapon is usually thought of as a disadvantage. The weight at the end of the shaft ( ishizuki ), and

2380-431: The qinglong ji ( Chinese : 青龍戟 ; lit. 'cerulean dragon ji'), and had a spear tip with a crescent blade on one side. Another type was the fangtian ji ( Chinese : 方天戟 ; lit. 'square sky ji'), which had a spear tip with crescent blades on both sides. They had multiple means of attack: the side blade or blades, the spear tip, plus often a rear counterweight that could be used to strike

2448-546: The scythe , and the knife ) and one weapon, the spear . In the words of the arms expert Ewart Oakeshott , Staff-weapons in Medieval or Renaissance England were lumped together under the generic term "staves" but when dealing with them in detail we are faced with terminological difficulty. There never seems to have been a clear definition of what was what; there were apparently far fewer staff-weapons in use than there were names to call them by; and contemporary writers up to

2516-478: The shiai-yo , has an oak shaft and a bamboo "blade" ( habu ). It is used for practice, forms competitions, and sparring. It is between 210 cm (83 in) and 225 cm (89 in) in length and must weigh over 650 g (23 oz). The "blade" is replaceable. They are often broken or damaged during sparring and can be quickly replaced, being attached to the shaft with tape. The naginata used by koryū practitioners has an oak shaft and blade, carved from

2584-479: The 1320s. Closed greaves are made of two plates joined on the outside by hinges and fastening with buckles and straps on the inside. Japanese greaves, known as suneate , were first introduced during the eleventh century, during the late Heian period. The earliest form consisted of three plates of metal covering the shin. By the Kamakura period (1186–1333), greaves became a standard part of Japanese armor. Around

2652-503: The 14th centuries. The design consists of a curved blade put atop a 6-to-7-foot-long (1.8 to 2.1 m) pole. The blade bears a moderate to strong curve along its length; however, unlike a bill or guisarme , the cutting edge is on the convex side. A guisarme (sometimes gisarme , giserne or bisarme ) is a polearm used in Europe primarily between 1000 and 1400. It was used primarily to dismount knights and horsemen. Like most polearms it

2720-587: The 16th century and was popular weapon of choice in the Maratha Empire . Variations of the barcha is the hand-like Karpa Barcha and the serpent-like Nagni Barcha . Another variant included the Ballam , a javelin effective at bringing down infantry and cavalry at a distance. Nagni Barcha is identified as the weapon used by the Sikh warrior Bhai Bachittar Singh to kill a drunken Mughal war elephant at

2788-611: The Danish axe are seen. Described in English as a "sparth" (from the Old Norse sparðr ) or "pale-axe", the weapon featured a larger head with broader blade, the rearward part of the crescent sweeping up to contact (or even be attached to) the haft. In Ireland, this axe was known as a "sparr axe". Originating in either Western Scotland or Ireland, the sparr was widely used by the galloglass . Although sometimes said to derive from

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2856-564: The Genpei War, there are descriptions such as ō naginata (lit. big naginata ) and ko naginata (lit. little naginata ), which show that naginata of various lengths were used. The naginata proved excellent at dismounting cavalry and disabling riders. The widespread adoption of the naginata as a battlefield weapon forced the introduction of greaves as a part of Japanese armor . Ōyamazumi Shrine houses two naginata that are said to have been dedicated by Tomoe Gozen and Benkei at

2924-435: The Heian period. The earliest clear references to naginata date from 1146. In Honchō Seiki compiled from 1150 to 1159 in the late Heian period, it is recorded that Minamoto no Tsunemitsu mentioned that his weapon was a naginata . In the early Heian period, battles were mainly fought using yumi (longbow) on horseback, but in the late Heian period, battles on foot began to increase and naginata also came to be used on

2992-452: The Irish for a joist or beam, a more likely definition is as a variant of sparth. Although attempts have been made to suggest that the sparr had a distinctive shaped head, illustrations and surviving weapons show there was considerable variation and the distinctive feature of the weapon was its long haft. A fauchard is a type of polearm which was used in medieval Europe from the 11th through

3060-458: The Siege of Lohgarh . A corseque has a three-bladed head on a 6–8 ft (1.8–2.4 m) haft which, like the partisan , is similar to the winged spear or spetum in the later Middle Ages. It was popular in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Surviving examples have a variety of head forms but there are two main variants, one with the side blades (known as flukes or wings) branching from

3128-438: The basic form. In the 14th century, the basic long axe gained an armour-piercing spike on the back and another on the end of the haft for thrusting. This is similar to the pollaxe of 15th century. The poleaxe emerged in response to the need for a weapon that could penetrate plate armour and featured various combinations of an axe-blade, a back-spike and a hammer. It was the favoured weapon for men-at-arms fighting on foot into

3196-448: The battlefield and often replaced with nagamaki and katana . From the Edo period , naginata has been recognized as a martial art practiced by women in the samurai class. A yari (やり or 槍) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. There are various types of yari, which have different names depending on the shape of the blade attached to the end of

3264-627: The battlefield. The naginata was appreciated because it was a weapon that could maintain an optimum distance from the enemy in close combat. During the Genpei War (1180–1185), in which the Taira clan was pitted against the Minamoto clan , the naginata rose to a position of particularly high esteem, being regarded as an extremely effective weapon by warriors. The Tale of the Heike , which records

3332-420: The blade. Eventually weapon makers incorporated the usefulness of the hook in a variety of different polearms and guisarme became a catch-all for any weapon that included a hook on the blade. Ewart Oakeshott has proposed an alternative description of the weapon as a crescent shaped socketed axe. A glaive is a polearm consisting of a single-edged tapering blade similar in shape to a modern kitchen knife on

3400-509: The decline of chariot warfare, the use of the dagger-axe was almost nonexistent. The ji (Chinese: 戟) was created by combining the dagger-axe with a spear. It was used as a military weapon at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Northern and Southern dynasties . The ngao or ngau (ง้าว,ของ้าว) is a Thai polearm that was traditionally used by elephant-riding infantry and

3468-402: The end of a pole. The blade was around 18 inches (46 cm) long, on the end of a pole 6 or 7 feet (180 or 210 centimetres) long. However, instead of having a tang like a sword or naginata, the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head, both the blade and shaft varying in length. Illustrations in the 13th century Maciejowski Bible show a short staffed weapon with

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3536-480: The end of the Heian period and they are designated as Important Cultural Property . However, according to Karl Friday , there were various notations for naginata in the Heian period and the earliest physical evidence for naginata was in the middle of the Kamakura period, so there is a theory that says when they first appeared is unclear. Earlier 10th through 12th century sources refer to "long swords" that while

3604-490: The fact that greaves were mentioned is evidence that they were indeed in use. There are also non-fictional testimonies of their use among Roman light infantry (or hastati ) from Polybius up to Vegetius . These greaves are thought to have been mass-produced by the Romans using presses on sheets of metal and then attaching lining, usually leather or cloth. While it is generally assumed that greaves were always worn in pairs, there

3672-494: The fact, and are likely using the naginata as a symbol to distinguish the sōhei from other warriors, rather than giving an accurate portrayal of the events. After the Ōnin War (1467–1477) in the Muromachi period , large-scale group battles started in which mobilized ashigaru (foot soldiers) fought on foot and in close quarters, and yari (spear), yumi (longbow), and tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) became

3740-438: The late Han Era and was supposedly used by the late Eastern Han dynasty general Guan Yu , but archaeological findings have shown that Han dynasty armies generally used straight, single-edged blades, and curved blades came several centuries later. There is no reason to believe their polearms had curved blades on them. Besides, historical accounts of the Three Kingdoms era describe Guan Yu thrusting his opponents down (probably with

3808-444: The main weapons. This made naginata and tachi obsolete on the battlefield, and they were often replaced with the nagamaki and short, lightweight katana . In the Edo period (1603–1867), the hilts of naginata were often cut off and made into katana or wakizashi (short sword) . This practice of cutting off the hilt of an ōdachi , tachi , naginata , or nagamaki and remaking it into

3876-463: The military in Korea with various modifications made over the decades. Unlike the Chinese with the guan dao, the Koreans found the woldo unwieldy on horseback, and thus, it was specifically tailored to the needs of infantrymen. The Joseon government implemented rigorous training regimens requiring soldiers to be proficient with swordsmanship, and the use of the woldo. Though it was never widely used as

3944-453: The mitten-style gloves used for kendo . Polearm Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those designed for extended reach and thrusting tactics used in pike square or phalanx combat; those designed to increase leverage (due to hands moving freely on a pole) to maximize angular force (swinging tactics) against cavalry ; and those designed for throwing tactics used in skirmish line combat. The hook on weapons such as

4012-486: The neck of the central blade at 45 degrees, the other with hooked blades curving back towards the haft. The corseque is usually associated with the rawcon , ranseur and runka . Another possible association is with the "three-grayned staff" listed as being in the armoury of Henry VIII in 1547 (though the same list also features 84 rawcons, suggesting the weapons were not identical in 16th century English eyes). Another modern term used for particularly ornate-bladed corseques

4080-626: The opponent and to some extent effective to penetrate armour. The Renaissance saw a plethora of varieties. Polearms in modern times are largely constrained to ceremonial military units such as the Papal Swiss Guard or Yeomen of the Guard , or traditional martial arts . Chinese martial arts in particular have preserved a wide variety of weapons and techniques. The classification of polearms can be difficult, and European weapon classifications in particular can be confusing. This can be due to

4148-495: The opponent. The way the side blades were fixed to the shaft differs, but usually there were empty spaces between the pole and the side blade. The wielder could strike with the shaft, with the option of then pulling the weapon back to hook with a side blade; or, he could slap his opponent with the flat side of the blade to knock him off his horse. The Barcha is a type of lance with a wooden handle, once common in South Asia in

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4216-427: The seventeenth century use these names with abandon, calling different weapons by the same name and similar weapons by different names. To add to this, we have various nineteenth century terminologies used by scholars. We must remember too that any particular weapon ... had everywhere a different name. While men-at-arms may have been armed with custom designed military weapons, militias were often armed with whatever

4284-419: The shaft itself ( ebu ) can be used offensively and defensively. The martial art of wielding the naginata is known as naginatajutsu . Most naginata practice today is in a modernised form, a gendai budō called atarashii Naginata ("new Naginata"), which is organized into regional, national, and international federations, who hold competitions and award ranks. Use of the naginata is also taught within

4352-403: The shaft where the tang sits is the tachiuchi or tachiuke . The tachiuchi/tachiuke would be reinforced with metal rings ( naginata dogane or semegane ), and/or metal sleeves ( sakawa ) and wrapped with cord ( san-dan maki ). The end of the shaft has a heavy metal end cap ( ishizuki or hirumaki ). When not in use the blade would be covered with a wooden sheath . It is assumed that

4420-626: The sixteenth century. Greave A greave (from the Old French greve "shin, shin armor") or jambeau is a piece of armor that protects the leg . The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to the skin, and is therefore extremely vulnerable to just about any kind of attack. Furthermore, a successful attack on the shin results in that leg being rendered useless, greatly hampering one's ability to maneuver in any way. Greaves were used to counteract this. They usually consisted of

4488-471: The wooden shaft. For example, 'Jumonji yari' refers to a yari with a cross-shaped blade, and 'Sasaho yari' refers to a yari with a blade shaped like a sasa leaf. During the Sengoku period , a large group of ashigaru in a formation used yari as one of their main weapons and exerted tremendous power on the battlefield. Honda Tadakatsu a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu , had gained a reputation as a master of one of

4556-705: Was available. These may or may not have been mounted on poles and described by one of more names. The problems with precise definitions can be inferred by a contemporary description of Royalist infantry which were engaged in the Battle of Birmingham (1643) during the first year of English Civil War (in the early modern period). The infantry regiment that accompanied Prince Rupert's cavalry were armed: with pikes , half-pikes , halberds , hedge-bills , Welsh hooks , clubs, pitchforks, with chopping-knives, and pieces of scythes. The dagger-axe (Chinese: 戈; pinyin: gē; Wade–Giles: ko; sometimes confusingly translated "halberd")

4624-406: Was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles, in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a spear shaft. While hooks are fine for dismounting horsemen from mounts, they lack the stopping power of a spear especially when dealing with static opponents. While early designs were simply a hook on the end of a long pole, later designs implemented a small reverse spike on the back of

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