Quote:
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Originally Posted by fernando
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The term "
gekken" is irrelevant to the weapon under discussion:
1. The word is Japanese and is literally "moon sword".
2. In Chinese the label "sword" is never applied to these weapons, they are usually regarded as a form of "spade" (
chan ) and the common term is
yuechan or moon spade.
2a. In Chinese usage, "sword"(
jian) belong in their own class, double edged and straight. (the Japanese
ken and Vietnamese
kiem are the same word.) Curved single edged blades (like sabers) are in the class
dao , (literally, knives). The Japanese word
tô means the same thing. In the medieval dynasties there was some blurring as applied to some polearm heads, but curved blades of any kind were never
jian.
3. The weapon itself is not characteristic of Japan's martial arts tradition though it may have seen limited use in Okinawa which was at one time closely linked to China politically and culturally.
So Fernando, I tend to agree that
gekken probably relates to some Japanese system of fencing.