My Thoughts on the History of the Sword

Swords were a vital and fundamental part of shaping our history and who we are as a global society today. Nations rose and fell by the blade; yes, people died, but lives were saved as well. Heroes were born and turned into legend through the eons.

It is in our basic nature to struggle for dominance and squabble for resources. The human animal is the only one on the planet that can rationalize and rise above these base impulses, or invent reasons to continue them. It's what truly sets us apart from our animal neighbors, cousins and ancestors.

History has shown time and again that most technological advances are invented in and because of the military and are then spread through the masses. The military is why we have commercial jets and the internet, why we have put a man on the moon, hundreds in orbiting space stations and are now looking to the stars again, dreaming of colonizing other worlds. This would not have been possible without the need for these things during wartime; the internet was an effective means of communication, planes too were weapons and we were after all trying to prove our dominance by placing a man on the moon before any other nation. This would not have been possible without the advent of the sword.

The sword paved the way for advances in weaponry and other wartime technologies, which were later implemented in times of peace. And now, obsolete as weapons, they are a reminder of our long and colorful past and of the wonders and achievements of this animal called man. They are works of art, means to better ourselves through meditation, and hone our minds and bodies as practitioners of the sword arts. They are a reminder of the thousands who died so we could be who we are and have what we have today. Without them, we would have become a different animal indeed.

Swords have an almost mystical feel to them, especially the old ones. We wonder who held it in their hands and why they may have taken up arms. We stare in awe at the wondrous past that we cannot go back and see firsthand, but can see traces of through the blade. We can see the ingenuity and necessity in those that came before us, and we can read about their successes and failures. And maybe, just maybe, we can feel a sort of kinship with them, with the past, through these blades that they have left for us to be in awe of.