Naming Your Sword

[bizzybazza]

I think "DOG" is an awesome name for a dog, specially all capitals like that.. Is your swords a he or a she? Or gender neutral?

jenna you may well be right....i fancy a pug and call it pugsley but thats me lol

 

[Martial D]

Heh. My cat is named kitty and I named my katana bloody Mary. I guess I'm not alone.

 

[Steve]

if you had a dog and loved it you would take some time to find a fitting name and not just call it "DOG" to me it is the same with my katanas which to be honest i like more than some pooch no matter how cute.naming a katana makes it more than an implement ,it gives it a piece of your soul.
so i say Banzai!!!! and watch out for "Red Mist" my latest addition to my collection

Err... umm... sooooooo... if I name my dog "Rex" it's partly because my dog is alive. But really, more than anything, it's so that I can get my dog's attention. "Rex. Sit." "Rex. Come." Naming a living creature is nothing at all like naming an object.

If you're a legend in your field and want to name your tool of choice, fine. But short of that, it's just incredibly, achingly dorky.

 

[drop bear]

I dont even use names for people. I just call them "Mate"

So I gues that is what I should call my sword.

 

[Flying Crane]

I think "DOG" is an awesome name for a dog, specially all capitals like that.. Is your swords a he or a she? Or gender neutral?

I would name my dog Orphan Maker or World Splitter.

I would name my sword DOG.

 

[Martial D]

I dont even use names for people. I just call them "Mate"

So I gues that is what I should call my sword.

Shouldn't you use a boomerang?

 

[drop bear]

Shouldn't you use a boomerang?

No I am Caucasian. We use a Noif.

 

[bizzybazza]

i think both points of view,either to give names or not are valid and neither camp should by vilified for their point of view.by the other.

 

[Chris Parker]

i am just a beginner i have 4 katanas and i love them even if they are not the best quality. i feel so much a part of them i must name them ....so my first is dragon claw ,second is dragon breath,third is bamboo killer and the last has a red saya so i call it red mist tomorrow i get a paul chen practical pro and it is superb and all black so its name will be night shadow. i know its a biy naff but i get more from my collection by naming them.
when i was 18 (48yrs ago) i read a book i would reccomend called "nights of bushido" which told the atrocities by japanese in the name of bushido.although they committed these atrocities when you understand the bushido code you can at least understand why and what they did. since reading it rather than repulsed i find myself looking back to the code of bushido that is the japanese version of chivalry and i am overtaken by the past.that's why i feel close to my katanas and need to name then.....Banzai (may the emperor live ten thousand years ) lol
i am looking for a shinken as a final statement and i will pay a lot for it and i already have a name "heavens breath "

Hi.

A beginner at what, out of interest? Oh, and I would caution against such ideas of "bushido" as a historical reality (mind you, I'd say the same about chivalric concepts)....

 

[Jenna]

I would name my dog Orphan Maker or World Splitter.

I would soooo love to see you yelling his name in the park!! specially if he is like a pomeranian or maltipoo or one of those

 

[drop bear]

I would soooo love to see you yelling his name in the park!! specially if he is like a pomeranian or maltipoo or one of those

Pug.

 

[Jenna]

Pug.

..well I have been called plenty of things before, and but this! #whyioughta

 

[KorGarott]

So, I've read through here, and decided to share a short story. I will say that I currently own 4 swords: a Thai Dha, an 1890 German saber, an 1863 US Union NCO rapier, and a Japanese Chokuto. Of these, the rapier is the one I've owned the longest, as it was passed to me as a family heirloom when I was 11. The next one is the Chokuto. I bought it during a time of high emotional stress for myself, and because of that, I formed a very close emotional bond to that blade while practicing with it. Whenever I held it, it felt comforting to me, and calmed me, and I honestly don't care if this makes me sound weak or weird or whatever, but I truly think that sword got me through that rough time in my life. It only felt natural to give it a name, since it did more for me than my girlfriend at the time (who was actually the source of my stress) I was losing my passion for weaponry, and it felt like I lost my way, and that sword brought me back. therefore, I gave it a name that to this day I hope is accurate, of Wasureta Yume. hopefully it translates properly to forgotten dream, because that sword helped me find back onto my path. To this day, it is the only weapon I own that has a name.

 

[hoshin1600]

(the following is a true story)
i have a display sword that my dad gave me. one night i awoke to a flying bat in my room. when i turned on the light, it landed on the wall next to a window and rested. in my faulty logic i opened the window and with katana in one hand and a towel in the other i tried to poke it with the sword to move it then swat it out the open window. well it decided it didnt like my plan. the bat was very angry at me for disturbing his peaceful slumber and started flying all over the 10" x 10" room. then suddenly before i knew it, the blood sucking vampire was coming right at my face, thirsty for the blood of my neck. i instinctively used the sword to defend myself against this rabies carrying varmint. with one kesa giri, i cut it down. it landed in a bloody heap defeated and dead. from that day forth the sword is known as............... "Bat killer".
(insert whistling theme song here..with picture of horizon during dusk)

 

[bizzybazza]

So, I've read through here, and decided to share a short story. I will say that I currently own 4 swords: a Thai Dha, an 1890 German saber, an 1863 US Union NCO rapier, and a Japanese Chokuto. Of these, the rapier is the one I've owned the longest, as it was passed to me as a family heirloom when I was 11. The next one is the Chokuto. I bought it during a time of high emotional stress for myself, and because of that, I formed a very close emotional bond to that blade while practicing with it. Whenever I held it, it felt comforting to me, and calmed me, and I honestly don't care if this makes me sound weak or weird or whatever, but I truly think that sword got me through that rough time in my life. It only felt natural to give it a name, since it did more for me than my girlfriend at the time (who was actually the source of my stress) I was losing my passion for weaponry, and it felt like I lost my way, and that sword brought me back. therefore, I gave it a name that to this day I hope is accurate, of Wasureta Yume. hopefully it translates properly to forgotten dream, because that sword helped me find back onto my path. To this day, it is the only weapon I own that has a name.

many say that a sword should be named only if it has done something special...i have 6 katanas and have named them all....dragon claw,dragon breath,bamboo slayer , red mist ,night stalker and blood beast.
these swords like your japanese chokuto they helped me get through one of my frequent periods of depression and i think that is sufficient for them to deserve naming.
i wish you and Wasureta Yume all the best and keep loving it as your helper in rough times. so Go tōkō arigatōgozaimashita (thank you for your post)

 

[Anarax]

I have several swords and a couple of them that I'm fond of, one that I mainly train with is a Korean saber sword. For the love of me I can't think of a name for it. I think naming it would give the sword personality. The other is a Chesness Tenchi ko katana, so of course i refer to it as Tenchi.
The Korean saber is a straight sword, broader and a little beefy.

On my mok gum KJN wrote my name in Korean and put in parenthesis spirit of a warrior underneath my name on one side and his name on the other. I plan to have this engraved or have it done in needle point on my saber.

Two questions: 1 What is the Korean term for spirit warrior? 2 Does anyone have any suggesstions on naming your sword?

My advice would be to think of something meaningful to you. Foreign names are a good idea, just be sure it's something you can pronounce.

 

[drop bear]

I had a maglight I called torchemada.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I had a maglight I called torchemada.

I'd have gone with TorchUrMama instead.
You get the pun, plus an implied "your mom" joke as well.

 

[ArthurJ]

Very interesting to read about how a sword has no life, yet many who are engaged in Asian martial arts, including those connected to Shinto spiritualism, practice the forms of those "war" arts as reverently as any religion. Even bows are done to respect human persons who are not of the Western stigma of any god. How besmirking to comment that to name a sword, because it is lifeless and "just a tool" it is! Many have never seen the spiritual connection between the life student, his katana, and the bullet that flies past him as he cleaves it with his katana. Why should he bow to his sword in his practice of iaido? Do you bow to your screwdriver or your bullets? I dare to say none here who bow before another human would have any understanding as to why the student of iaido bows before his katana... or anyone before anything. Perhaps once one understands that to bow to the sword is not demeaning, but, it is a matter of respect for the spirituality that is represented... or contained within, the birth of such an item. Surely the rubber stamping of thousands of toy swords and military playthings do not illicit a reverence for the purpose nor the thread of connection to all things around... or should they? The Japanese have a way of understanding their connection to the spirituality of all things, living and nonliving. Shintoism is a religious practice that aids that understanding. Naming a child gives a human an identity as one that commands fundamental respect for human life. Woe be it to every human to provide a similar spirituality for things that represent the bringing of death. We should be so kind no?

 

[Steve]

Very interesting to read about how a sword has no life, yet many who are engaged in Asian martial arts, including those connected to Shinto spiritualism, practice the forms of those "war" arts as reverently as any religion. Even bows are done to respect human persons who are not of the Western stigma of any god. How besmirking to comment that to name a sword, because it is lifeless and "just a tool" it is! Many have never seen the spiritual connection between the life student, his katana, and the bullet that flies past him as he cleaves it with his katana. Why should he bow to his sword in his practice of iaido? Do you bow to your screwdriver or your bullets? I dare to say none here who bow before another human would have any understanding as to why the student of iaido bows before his katana... or anyone before anything. Perhaps once one understands that to bow to the sword is not demeaning, but, it is a matter of respect for the spirituality that is represented... or contained within, the birth of such an item. Surely the rubber stamping of thousands of toy swords and military playthings do not illicit a reverence for the purpose nor the thread of connection to all things around... or should they? The Japanese have a way of understanding their connection to the spirituality of all things, living and nonliving. Shintoism is a religious practice that aids that understanding. Naming a child gives a human an identity as one that commands fundamental respect for human life. Woe be it to every human to provide a similar spirituality for things that represent the bringing of death. We should be so kind no?

So, Arthur, does your sword have a name?