Ronin Miao Dao

The blade is nice and sharp and pretty much glided through the water bottles I put it up against. I'm definitely curious to see how it holds up against stronger targets, but I haven't tested that yet. The sword is quite well balanced and surprisingly light and agile for its size (as is typical with a miao dao). The blade fits securely into the scabbard but is not overly tight, making it easy and smooth to draw. Then we get to the fittings, where the problems start to show up. I'm not a fan of the very Japanese katate-maki style handle wrap, I wish they had either gone with a typical horizontal wrap (like what's in the middle of the handle, but on the whole grip) or tried the traditional chinese handle wrap style, which would fit a lot better thematically. Now to address the tassel: there's a reason that most antique two-handed dao didn't come equipped with them. It looks pretty on display, but if you actually want to cut and train with the thing you either have to hold the tassel against the handle with your hand (uncomfortable) or risk having it swing around, smacking you in the face while you do cuts. For this reason I'll probably remove the tassel from the handle in the future. If you just want this miao dao as a display sword however, it won't give you any problems. The major issue for this sword comes from the handguard, specifically the way it connects to the blade. Now, there's no habaki (or tunkou), which is absolutely typical for historical miao dao, however if you look at the guard on historical examples or high-end replicas the guard still fits securely against the blade. With this sword there are two noticeable gaps where the blade fits into the guard, so much so that a little bit of wood from the handle is visible. For this reason I wouldn't recommend using this sword in the rain or in any sort of environment where moisture might work its way in. It might seem like I'm being overly negative, but the problems I just listed are mainly just aesthetic nitpicks. (Aside from the handguard thing. Please fix that!) Overall this sword is quite good for the price and I could see it being good for someone who's never owned a miao dao before and is perhaps more used to katanas. The blade is the most important part of the sword. I was able to get this on sale, but I think it still merits its original price based on the balance and quality of the blade. I would love to buy an updated version in the future with improved fittings, maybe with different color options for the handle wrap and sheath.

An absolutely beautiful sword. The leather is really nice and the blade feels amazing in the hands, everything about it is gorgeous and the tassels are just the cherry on top.

Beautiful work, I particularly like the leather handle wrap. Blade is very straight for the size, all the fittings are right and tight. Notably there isn't any connection from the blade to the guard similar to a habaki, yet it fits very well into the scabbard. Getting this on sale was a steal, IMO.