Function follows form

While this is not exactly true in human action[*] (we can, after all, (re)design from scratch once we know what we want), it often becomes true. Meaning, we can't really scrap everything and restart. If you inherit a house, you probably don't have the resources to tear it down and build it up again. If you got a blade from your sensei or your daimyo, you had to adapt to it. And so on. Unless, of course, you could have your weapon made to your own designs[+].

So, again with the knife I got last week... I did some... flow, I guess, against a pole, and some Sombrada-3, and... I don't know if it is my recent understanding of those flows or what, but I find my movement changes with that knife. Also, if you check that photo in the link earlier this paragraph you'll see that the handle is a tad... worn. Mind you, good enough for going through sturdy fishbones, but not something you can parry with. Not reliably. Also, the blade is quite thin (a tad above a milimeter, I think).

So, in some ways, quite like a poor peasant's knife. A blade that does its job... which is not going against armour, or swords, or even sticks. A wide blade, for a purpose, that makes you move in certain ways if you want to use that edge. Your use, your own form, has to follow its form. And then, if I were a successful fighter and developed a style, some time later I'd want a sturdier blade, a blade I could trust... and I would use that one for a pattern, since it would be what I already knew. And I'd leave that blade to someone when I retired... and the shape and its movements would live on.

Take care.

[*] For those who are curious, in biology "form follows function" is a Creationist perspective, while "function follows form" is an expression of Darwinian evolution.

[+] And assuming the design was a good one.