In northern China, from the Qing dynasty onward, soldiers and militiamen trained many versions of the Sì Lù Miáodāo, the Four Roads Miaodao: long two-handed sabers, simple and practical, with nothing superfluous in them. The blade's advantage was obvious to anyone who faced it. Reach. Held in two hands it struck harder, deflected more strongly, and touched an opponent long before his weapon could answer.

In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Han Jingtan, who learned his miaodao from Guo Changshen at the Central Guoshu Academy in Nanjing, condensed an older, longer form into the Four Roads form taught in this course. It was created for one purpose, training soldiers, and it was still being taught to Chinese troops in the Second World War. That is why it retains its essential martial character, unlike the later performance versions built for acrobatics rather than combat.

Why the miaodao is so hard to learn

If you've tried to research this weapon, you already know the problem. The internet can't even agree on what a miaodao is. The name gets applied to half a dozen different long sabers, the histories contradict each other, the famous Qi Jiguang connection turns out not to survive scrutiny, and most of what's filmed under the name is performance wushu, built for judges, not opponents. For a weapon this admired, there is astonishingly little you can actually train from.

That's the gap this course closes. One documented system, from a named teacher in a named institution, taught complete: the real history separated from the myths, every cut for its function, and the form carried all the way to a partner's blade.