From what I can tell, Nodachi are slightly longer and less wieldy in comparison

@@ColinYeo123 That depending about which version of the Nodachi we are talking about that is true ! The smallest were pretty much just longer Katana and were used as such ! Nodachi in the middle of the scale were for open battlefield work like cutting down horses (cavalry)! The at the top of the scale you have Nodachi that were more artwork than weapons , those were too unwieldy and were used for ceremonial dutys in shrines and so on!

There's a long and intriguing history of inspiration and descent from each other. Key notes for this sword, from what I've heard, when Japanese pirates (actually mostly Chinese, but many based in Japan and inspired by Japan) ravaged the Chinese coastline during the Ming dynasty, the Ming court sent general Qi Jiguang to deal with it. Some of these pirates came with katana and nodachi, which impressed him. At that time, China had lost most of its native tradition of two-handed swordsmanship thanks to prior centuries of Mongol oppression, so he found a Japanese slave with a Japanese sword manual willing to teach his troops how to fight in that style, and basically commissioned nodachi but even longer - the Ming era Changdao. With these weapons, his troops pushed back and defeated the wokou. The Miao Dao itself descends from the Ming Changdao, having become a bit shorter and less curved, and following primarily a civilian lineage as opposed to the military lineage of the Changdao.

Miao Dao is bigger and less curvy than samurai swords because it is like a curvy spear.

Miao dao are an evolution of Ming dynasty two-handed dao which feature some European features in their design, most notably a pipe-back which provides stiffness to the blade while enabling the blade itself to be thinner and therefore lighter and more agile.

I don't know, chief. It looks all real to me!

​​@@christianmoralesortiz4688 it looks fake like most of the floppy half pound swords they use. Not saying she not great but i dont think they are allowed real swords . Thats why they use the light and floppy. Which is unforchunate

@@PsyKotyK huh, I suppose that makes sense. Then again, this is a demonstration of the peculiarly martial arts that involves a miao dao sword and not actual combat. So I guess it's similar to how they use a dull edged dao sword in another demonstration of a form of martial arts.