General Kwan and THE KWAN DAO weapon
General Kwan's arch-rival was another prominent military figure, General Show Shou, They would frequently capture one another on the battle field, but out of honour and respect, neither would kill the other This led to repeated occurrances of capture and escape between the the two men.
Finally, the Emperor gave an order to General Kwan that either Kwan behead General Show Shou upon his capture, or face execution. However, General Kwan could not rescind his commitment of not killing a defenceless captive, so when General Kwan did again capture Show Shou, he could not kill him. General Show Shou eventually escaped but the orders for General Kwan's beheading were never passed down.

THE KWAN DAO
During the latter part of the Han dynasty, battle was conducted on horseback as much as on foot. Kwan was a large, powerful and strong man and set about to design a weapon that incorporated his attributes into full combat effectiveness against soldiers on foot and horseback. This weapon could only be used by him and this would make him even more superior on the battlefield. His brothers, who were merchants, supplied him with the merchandise he required to build his weapon. General Kwan build a giant saber firmly attached to a long staff of metal and/or hardwood thus, his saber and lance were incorporated into one mighty weapon. It is believed that the General's saber weighed as much as 200 pounds. Today, a Kwan dao weighs in at around 10-40 pounds. The Kwan dao is in remembrance of the great master General Kwan Yun Chang. As an instrument of training, the kwan dao is used to develop muscle and tendon strength, technique development, enhance endurance and to develop an overall WuShu body for combat.

HOW, WHY AND WHAT FOR - THE USES OF THE KWAN DAO
There are several parts to the weapon itself; it has at one end a large crescent, the outside curved portion of which is used for slicing and chopping. A point at the end of the blade is employed in stabbing and thrusting movements.
The backside hook of the blade is used for catching, trapping or butting in fact an apponent's weapon can be captured by this hooked portion of the blade, and with a snapping wrist action, the Kwan Dao practitioner can disarm his opponent. The Kwan dao demands flexibility and strength. The practitioner needs stretched muscles and tendons in order to execute quick, accurate and highly varied footwork.
Endurance and breath control is important.
The Kwan dao is a heavy weapon after several movements of your kuen (form). It begins to feel heavier and heavier, this is why the Kwan dao is used primarily to build strength.

WORKING OF FORMS
Working of forms involving the Kwan dao, incoporates conitnuous fluid slicing, whipping and chopping motions. These constant fluid motions are also useful in developing strength.
Through time, forms (kuen) have changed and altered and several now favour the use of a movement striking the ground, however it is important to note that General Kwan Yu would have struck downward towards an opponent on the ground as soldiers were either on horseback or heavily armed and upright. There is a perception that the Kwan dao was used to chop the horses feet, unlikely, as he would be exposed to the soldier riding the horse.

CONCLUSION
The Kwan dao is a highly respected weapon both in traditional Chinese WuShu, Shaolin and other Kung Fu styles and Schools that have evolved from the Shaolin monasteries. Traditionally, Sifu's and SiHings would be the only students withn the Shaolin school allowed. Other students might be permitted to practice with the Kwan dao within the school to experience the benefits that working with the Kwan dao entails. Throughout it's history, the Kwan dao has become established as a highly honoured and respected weapon. Even today both the weapon and its creator, General Kwan Yu, deserve the respect and reverence paid to them.

Stories about General Kwan
It is told that General Kwan had a very bad temper at times so this is one reason why his face was always so red.

That he on returning from battle was so hungry he could never wait for food to be served so story goes that he lifted to many hot pots from the fire and in doing so, burned his face. That most of his soldiers ran away when fighting got out of hand and so he lost his temper upon returning from battle his face still red from fury.