About

“I Studied the Blade” is a catchphrase based on the expression "While You Were Partying, I Studied the Blade." The phrase is used in copypastas accompanied by photographs of men wielding katanas meant mock peers for attending social gatherings while they train sword fighting. As the meme spread over the following years, it also became a phrasal template using the format "While You Were X, I Studied the Blade."

Origin

On January 26th, 2016, a Redditor submitted an image macro captioned with the phrase to /r/justneckbeardthings^[3] (shown below). The post received more than 6,600 points (94% upvoted), and when posted to imgur, the image received more than 1,400 points and 1.7 million views. The image featured a man with his head bowed, clutching a katana. It included the text:

When you were partying, I studied the blade. When you were having premarital sex, I mastered the blockchain. While you wasted your days at the gym in pursuit of vanity, I cultivated inner strength. And now that the world is on fire and the barbarians are at the gate you have the audacity to come to me for help.

Spread

On June 3rd, Redditor graysjsnake posted a screenshot of a Facebook post featuring a variation of the copypasta to /r/justneckbeardthings^[2] (shown below, left). In this post, a man in a leather duster stands with a katana.

Three months later, on September 12th, Redditor pinky0926^[5] posted a screenshot from Facebook featuring of man in a hat and rope, holding a knife, with the caption "white you slept, I studied the blade." The post (shown below, right) received more than 8,200 points (87% upvoted) and 220 comments. On Tumblr, the post received more than 9,000 notes.^[6]

On April 22nd 2017, streamer Imaqtpie posted on his Instagram account @imaqtpielol an image of himself holding two umbrellas,^[4] captioning it with "While you were playing video games, I studied the blade." The post (shown below, left) received more than 18,000 likes in three months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References