Thomas -
You raise a credible point regarding just when that mystique enters the
matter, at least in some cultures: but in European history, the mystique of
the sword definitely predates the decline of its use. There are plenty of
mediæval works to support that. As to the Japanese aspect - which is, after
all, what counts most here... well, I'd be very interested in the opinions
of some of the experts here on that score.
For my own part, well... back in college I was young and stupid enough to
fight in a duel. (I wrote the girl a sonnet, her boyfriend challenged me
"in the name of her honour and the honour of the English language" ... well,
in retrospect he might have been right about the sonnet, gods know I've done
better since.) It had a tremendous effect on my sense of appropriate
fighting range, but no appreciable effect on my sense of the mystique.
That, I've been hooked on since childhood. I got pretty close to the
effects of the sword during that duel at dawn (and no, it was not to the
death, just blood); I've also taken a rapier thrust in the palm, and I once
had to sew up a friend's hand after some foolish horseplay because he
refused to go into a hospital. Admittedly, I have not seen any
life-threatening or maiming injuries (at least from swordplay - as regards
bare-hand arts, that's another matter), but no: none of it has reduced my
sense of the mystique of the sword.
I am certain that there are those who would say that I don't "know enough
about the object to appreciate it properly"... but if you are using that as
a yardstick for this issue, then you would have to say also that pretty
nearly all the serious sworders I've encountered over the past thirty-odd
years don't know enough to appreciate swords properly either, since they all
seem to be subject to a view similar to mine (and in some cases, rather more
extreme)... at which point I have to ask, exactly who is in a position to
appreciate the thing properly, if not its serious practitioners?
I freely admit that my worldview leaves me subject to a fair bit of mystique
of one variety or another. Suits me just fine. There is ample mystery in
the world, and it pleases me to honour and respect that.
Gereg
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:26:26 -0000
From: "Thomas Davidson" <
tom.davidson@...>
Subject: Re: swords (was ...Eras)
There is a significant difference between appreciation and mystique.
One can appreciate the craftsmanship of a sword, a piece of
calligraphy, a poem, a blossom, a tank, and F1 racing car ...
in fact just about anything.
One of my favourite sights, when working in an office overlooking
S London (low skyline) was Conorde on the Heathrow approach.
But that does not mean I am subject to the mystique of the thing.
I have often wondered whether the mystique - the mystery - of the
sword stands in some way as a marker of man's removal, or distance,
from that which the sword represents.
I don't think the sword carried quite as much 'spiritual
significance' to the Sengoku and earlier samurai. Their approach was
somewhat more pragmatic. The sword represents them, rather than
they being symbolised by the sword. The names of sword, as discussed,
owe nothing to mystique, more to about how someone came into
possession of the blade.
There was probably one called 'the shop on the corner'.
Mystique - I don't think so - just the sepia-tinted voice of
ignorance, sentimentality and nostalgia.
(If one hand to examine the effect of the sword close up, I bet that
goes some way to dispelling the mystique)
In fact, I wonder whether 'mystique' occurs when one doesn't know
enough about the object to appreciate it properly?
Thomas