The Hyup Do, the "Long Handled Moon Sword," is a traditional Korean military weapon. With its 3 to 4 foot shaft and wide, curved blade, this "Moon Sword" resembles as miniature European Glaive. Unfortunately, rather little is know about the history of traditional Korean weaponry, because most documentation was systematically destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1909 to 1945. What is known is that the Hyup Do was one of the oldest and most fundamental training tools of the Korean military. It was developed to teach soldiers the basic concepts of reach, angles, positioning, and fighting in and/or against groups. However, the Hyup Do was considered weak in actual combat, and was supplanted by the Wal Do, a similar spear-like sword with a second smaller blade protruding below the main blade. More Bladed Weapons