Mai's weapons



In battle, Mai wielded a large variety of weapons. She usually hid her weapons beneath the sleeves of her robe, effectively utilizing the elements of surprise and stealth to her advantage. With her fast reflexes, cunning wits, and precision, Mai could best a single powerful bender or a multitude of armed or bending-capable opponents despite not being a bender herself.

Darts


Hidden beneath her sleeves and robes, Mai carried spring-loaded holsters on her wrists and ankles which held small arrow-like darts that she could fire off at will with but a single gesture. These darts were fired with such velocity that they had the potential to pierce wood. Unlike the rest of her arsenal, Mai's darts had the unique ability to pierce ice without causing it to shatter. She often used her darts when the need arose for speed, maneuverability and surprise, particularly when she was otherwise unable to properly use knives.

Knives


Mai carried red tinted knives which she hid inside her sleeves and robes. These were her weapons of choice and were used in almost every battle she was involved in.

Mai had a variety of knives to choose from, each suited for a different purpose. Mai used streamlined long-bladed knives for speed and added lethality, single-bladed knives, double-bladed knives thrown in a fashion similar to disks, and longer, thicker knives to better immobilize a foe. Several of Mai's knives were actually sharp enough to puncture stone, metal and wood. Mai had shown the most skill with her knives, throwing many knives at once in one or more directions.

Unlike Mai's knives, real-world stilettos can only pierce wood and bones.

Sai


Mai also had miniature sai at her disposal. They resembled a very sharp dagger with a studded handle except for the fact that they were retractable, able to go from dagger to sai in mid-air or within her grasp. Mai did not use her sai often, usually resorting to them for an almost guaranteed kill such as against a powerless Katara and against Toph. Like her double-bladed knife, Mai could use her sai as a cutting edge knife as shown when she sliced through all the tapestries in Chan's home with a single throw.

Others


While Mai did not normally use materials outside her shuriken set, she was known to use an icicle to impale a fish on top of Zuko's head after meeting Jin and hearing Zuko's stammered excuse.

Mai also used a specific type of knife that she held with her arms in an X-form, along with another one, which was a more commonly seen knife. It is possible that Mai used this knife a few seconds after the first one was thrown; however, when this one was thrown - along with yet another commonly seen knife - the knives were very deformed, probably because they were being thrown so fast and only seen for a moment. It is difficult to tell if it was the same knife; however, there was the same type of button-like circle and long, thin hole coming out of both sides of the circle.