The Spirit of the Blade .

aproy1101 said:
Thank you for posting this Mike. My grandad and 4 of his brothers fought on that side. Actually the war ended while my grandad (the youngest to go to WWII) was on his way so technically he didn't fight in the war at all. The four brothers saw a lot of action. Ray fought Germany. Ray was OK with the Germans after the war. The others all tensed up if you ever mentioned the Japanese. I can't claim to understand why, but you seem to have expressed the same bitterness above, and I appreciate it.
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Maybe it's because your grandfather and the Germans are both white? I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that there's a bit of racial antagonism involved. For those that are history buffs, you may remember that the US government rounded up and imprisoned more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent during WWII. Two-thirds of those imprisoned were US citizens. What were these people's crimes? None, except for the fact that their ancestors were Japanese. The government's justification for it was that it was a national security issue. They were afraid that Japanese-Americans would form a fifth column and sabotage vital businesses and industries and maybe even military installations. This was obviously just an excuse though. The US government did not round up and imprison those of Italian or German descent en masse, even though we were at war with Germany and Italy also.
 
You don't need to prove it, Kamagong, I think it is well known History records the internment with a racist element. I certainly see it that way. It's not even debatable- the cartoons of the day showed the same, 'slant eyed evil devil'.


Today 'we' have, 'ragheads'. The Nazi's had Kikes, and I don't know what a Turk called an Armenian.


Will Gauntanimo (sic) Bay be looked at by future generations as a racial reaction? I don't think so, since most are battle field pick ups, but it's interesting to understand that we haven't come very far, and are never far off from losing it all over again over race.

munk
 
The Japanese Americans interred during World War 2 had it much better than any Japanese living in Japan during the war.
(Over here they were eating rats and grass...)
They were put in camps, not imprisoned, and there were many instances of Japanese in America providing the Japanese in Japan with intelligence.
They WERE doing it, so noone can say it was a completely unfounded claim.
 
Racist ? Certainly there may have been an element of that . It may have even been prevalent . Xenophobia , good sense , sacrifice of freedoms ? There was a war on . You were dealing with an enemy who struck at you without declaring war .

I don,t know about anyone else . If someone strikes at me without warning the gloves are off . I am no longer going to be reasonable until the person who attacked me has proven to me to my satisfaction that they are no longer a threat . To my satisfaction . It will take a great deal to satisfy me .

How were white people who emigrated to Japan treated during the war ? I imagine that the numbers were not the same and with good reason . Would there be suspicion , racism and Zenophobia ?
 
kamagong said:
Maybe it's because your grandfather and the Germans are both white? I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that there's a bit of racial antagonism involved.
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You may be right here Kamagong. I am southern, and proud to be from a second generation of non-racists southerners, my grandparents, though didn't view racism the way we do today. I've heard many diatribes, against which my mom always fought, and never let it go once when she was around. If my sister or I ever used a racist slur we got slapped. No questions. I didn't dare sing along with rap when I was a kid.

I also think DIJ, and KTG make great points that are undefensible. I still smart from Pearl Harbor and I wasn't born yet, we all do. Plus the Japanese have yet to take responsibility for being one of the most evil agressive regimes in the history of the Earth. The Germans have. I have always believed that was the reason for the bitterness, but you may be right. As a southerner its hard to deny it could be racism.
 
I spent some time under the spell of the magik, believing blades could have spirits, etc.
Then I read history.
The year was 1900, the Chinese martial arts masters were at the peak of their powers, having spent the last several thousand years developing, refining, and practicing their arts.
The Chinese nation was in the process of being carved up by Europe, and the Masters joined together to throw the invaders out.
The foreigners won. The masters were defeated. All their martial arts could not help one hoot when the chips were down.
The moral? Please, bring your blessed blade to the fight. Bring two of them. Hand me my gun.
 
Hey Shadow guess what ? All things being equal I agree with you . L:O:L
The westerners magic was certainly stronger . Magic is all about the will . If you will this not to be so then it will not be so . Unless someone elses will is stronger .
 
In a way it is too bad that this is how it is. But, I think it is important to see what is really there. Most people do not see reality, they see what they want to see.
Oops. Gettin' pretty deep for a knife forum..... Better lighten up the moment, as my wife would say. Sorry, folks.
 
The_Shadow said:
...But, I think it is important to see what is really there. Most people do not see reality, they see what they want to see....
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ah, yes, but who decides which people are seeing the true reality. everyone only sees a part of reality and fills in the blanks based on experience. people do not see what they do not expect. which is why most drivers do not see cyclists and motorcyclists, it's not that they are ignoring them, they truly do not see them even if they look. a sub-symptom of information overload, we are only capable of a finite amount of processing in our organic cpu's, in spite of our own pride in our personal intelligence. this also is the reason for all them neat optical illusions, we are all seeing what we expect, not what is there.
 
DannyinJapan said:
The Japanese Americans interred during World War 2 had it much better than any Japanese living in Japan during the war.
(Over here they were eating rats and grass...)
They were put in camps, not imprisoned, and there were many instances of Japanese in America providing the Japanese in Japan with intelligence.
They WERE doing it, so noone can say it was a completely unfounded claim.
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That's not really the point is it? How the Japanese treat their own is their business. How we treat our citizens is our business, and interning approximately 70,000+ without a hearing is unconscionable. After all this is America, not some fascist or totalitarian regime. BTW the internment camps were prisons. They were surrounded by barbed wire fences and guarded by MPs carrying guns. If that isn't a prison I don't know what is.

I'm Filipino-American. There is no great love for the Japanese in my family. During WWII a couple of Japanese soldiers made my grandmother bow to them 100 times when she was eight months pregnant with my dad. When my dad was born, he was named after my grandma's cousin who died during the Bataan Death March. But I still differentiate between the Japanese and Japanese-Americans.

What I find most objectionable about the whole thing is the disparate treatment Japanese-Americans received. German and Italian-Americans were not put into internment camps even though there are well documented instances of German-American saboteurs conspiring to attack East Coast targets.
 
It was a prison, there was racism, some intelligence was gathered, and it wasn't right.


munk
 
"Ancient weapons and a hokey religion isn't any substitute for a good blaster at your side, kid." - Han Solo (Star Wars, 1977)

Just like a coin worn around your neck absorbs and holds your body heat, it may be that swords or any other object that comes into contact with people retains a physical memory of the contact with that energy.

*Some* of my khukuris seem to give off a good vibe, for lack of a better word. I attribute this in part to the kami's blessing, in part to the inherent honesty in a good product. It's not alive and can't help ward off hurricanes, ghosts or thugs.

Hitler sought the Spear of Destiny for that reason, "none can stand against him who wields it", but to me it's just an old pilum, and wouldn't help anybody.

Now, my Medallion of the Five Kamis- that has supranatural powers of many sorts- but it's not a knife. It can't kill anybody, but will give the wearer a neckache. :foot: :D


Mike
 
I know, I know, we've burst into a new Century and have cell phones and cold logic, but I still think some of my blades have a little ....personality....


What a atavistic sap I am, my DNA is telling me stories from the campfire of hunter gatherers a million years ago.


munk
 
munk said:
What a atavistic sap I am, my DNA is telling me stories from the campfire of hunter gatherers a million years ago.
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And who are you to argue with it? Over a million years, it was right enough times to get to you.
 
O yea! Weapons have TONS of mystical powers!

Every bullet i load is sprinkled with holy water, and Prayed over with 10 hail Marys.

My blades weapons, such as my stainless battle spork, are used to slay the cerimonial goose every winter thaw. Only after being baptised in its holy blood can it gain status as a TRUELY blessed weapon. It even gets +3 against the undead.
 
last nite on the tv they had a documentary on two hunters up in my old stompin' grounds (kodiak) one had killed a deer & was skinnin' & butchering it with his buck folder when jumped by a small (350lb) female bear, he managed to stab it in the throat a few times as it chomped on his arm & a few other places. he killed the bear. he was badly damaged but survived. the other hunter had made his kill, then went off to kill another deer, came back later to collect the 1st one, but a 750 lb male bear had decided he wanted it more. that hunter died. the bigger bear had managed to chomp further on him as his jaws were able to spread enough further to crush his whole side. the dead hunter had managed to shoot the bear in the shoulder, which didn't bother the bear much. both instances happened within a day of the other. the bear recovered without any problem.

anyhoo, the moral seems to be that having a knife sometime will make a difference.

hmmm. mebbe there was magic in that knife that the western gun didn't have...the surviving hunter was 68 by the way. the other was about half that....

mebbe there are times when fate hangs on a knife edge and it is only belief or lack of it that pushes it over one way or the other.
 
Magic ? Bullet ? = Magic Bullet ?
Magic ? Knife ? = Magic Knife ?

I guess it depends on your point of view . People who don,t believe in magic ? I believe you . People who do believe in magic ? I believe you .
It has little to do with what you believe in as long as you believe in yourself .
 
What a atavistic sap I am, my DNA is telling me stories from the campfire of hunter gatherers a million years ago. munk



And who are you to argue with it? Over a million years, it was right enough times to get to you. >> Mackenzie4856


I know- great point. !!!


munk
 
WHAT?

Come on. the guy with the Buck folder got lucky and hit an important artery, AND his bear was smaller. IF the second guy had placed his shot better he could have walked away without a scrape. A knife certainly wouldnt have made jack SQUAT of a difference when his rib cage was crushed by the bears jaws.

Knives do some things better than guns, its true. Cutting is one of them. Killing large carnivores witht their mystical powers is not. The Hunter-gatherers you speak of were intellingent enough to know that: thats why they didnt try to wrestle Dire bears with their obsidian knives ;)

In reality, youv either got the spirit in YOU, or you dont. YOU make the difference, not some piece of metal.
 
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