Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25360536-20140920031731/@comment-8986886-20140920143822

In any case, that was the old man's(the Quincy side) doing, and he didn't get his own sword until Nimaiya reforged Zangetsu. The Hollow that was Ichigo's original Zanpakutou has never hinted anything about a release command afaik.