Book of Nine Swords question

[henebry]

So I've read the book through several times and I'm confused about the favored weapons listed for each of the different disciplines. Is this just flavor/fluff, or is there some game mechanic which gives a bonus if you employ a bastard sword for a Diamond Mind maneuver (or, alternatively, a penalty if you employ a Great Sword)?

[Khantalas]

Well, Swordsage gains Weapon Focus for the weapons of a discipline, but other than that, there are no real game mechanics involved.

[Forks]

Im pretty sure the tactical feats for each of the disciplines require that you wield one of the associated weapons, dont have the book with me atm.

[Kultrum]

its for Swordsage, feats and a few prestige classes

[Merlin the Tuna]

On their own, they don't do much. As mentioned, the Swordsage gets Weapon Focus in a set of discipline weapons. The Blade Meditation feat also grants +1 to damage with a set of discipline weapons (among other bonuses), and I'm fairly sure that the Shadow Blade feat requires using a Shadow Blade weapon (and stance) to get Dex to damage.

So basically, if you don't go out of your way to take advantage of them, it's no big deal; you can use Shadow Blade techs with a Greatsword and you won't really miss out on anything. But there are ways to specialize if you desire, so you can make yourself a really Shadow Blade focused character instead of just a Shadow Blade focused character.