Despite what others might claim, there are no historical examples of hook swords, dated before the Qing dynasty. They also were never officially used by soldiers, but possibly by local militias, and primarily by martial artists from this period.
Hook swords are almost always seen in pairs. They were not very long, with each blade around twenty inches in length, ending in a hook-shaped tip.
Hook swords typically have a six inch handle, ending in a spike that is almost ten inches long. Each also has a crescent shaped blade, mounted onto two parallel bars which altogether form the hand guard. The handle construction mainly varies between two types. One use only wooden handle scales which were pinned to the tang. The other uses a grip wrap made from silk or other corded material, wrapped on top of slightly thinner handle scales.
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| An antique Hook sword with Qing style grip wrap |
In total, they were around thirty six inches in length, or just barely under one meter, with some variation.
Weight also varied, typically between one and two pounds for each sword.
It's blade geometry looks similar to a double-edged Jian, with a raised central ridge.
Supposedly, traditional hook swords were sharp on both edges, but the majority of those we see today are not sharpened.
It's unclear what use the hook swords had in actual warfare. It may well be that they were only used for martial arts display and street performance. They are certainly intimidating, but highly impractical.
For example, I've never seen a sheath made for them, which would certainly allow them to become dull very quickly, if they ever were sharpened. I'm not saying they weren't deadly. I am saying they were neither easy to carry nor maintain. Both of these aspects make them quite impractical as battlefield weapons.
That's all for now. Next week will be about dual ring weapons.
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