Dual Weapons Continued: Deer Horn Knives

Deer Horn Knives or Lù Jiǎo Dāo (鹿角刀), which more closely translates as Deer Antler Knives, are rare weapons of Chinese martial arts. They are also known as Mandarin Duck Blades Yuān Yāng Yuè (鴛鴦鉞 ).  They are used, almost exclusively by the soft, internal style, known as Baguazhang.

Deer Horn Knives

Deer horn knives are short, but fast weapons, designed for piercing, hooking and trapping. A deer horn knife refers to the shape of knife, not the material used to make the handle, like some western hunting knives have also been called. It consists of two crescent shaped blades facing opposite directions. Most are symmetrical with four distinct points and nine sharpened edges. Others were asymmetrical with only three points

Asymmetrical Deer Horn Knives

Like the Chinese ring weapons, only the outside edges are sharpened, leaving the hands relatively safe to grip the weapon. Likewise the handle construction is usually very simple, utilizing only a grip wrap. Versions with wooden handle scales do exist, but they are far less common than their wrapped counterparts.

Length and size varied depending on the design of the knives. However, they generally fit into these size parameters. Upper points were around four to six inches in length. Lower points were around were two to four inches in length. Handle length was around seven inches. Each knife typically weighed one pound, or only a few ounces shy of one pound.

Deer Horn Knives are very exotic, and as far as I know, no antiques exist from earlier than the late nineteenth century. It is likely they were exclusively the weapons of  martial artists, and never saw combat beyond the personal duel or street brawl.

The next post will be the last in this series, the Butterfly Swords.