Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4957813-20131113141215/@comment-2186265-20140206173150

Cang Du probably didn't think that Zanpakuto are alive like Kenpachi did before his battle with Ichigo. Also the old man was always Ichigo's Quincy powers and as he himself said it: "That's why I tried to suppress your growing potential and always tried to be the source of powers." Ichigo up till now has only been fighting with a fraction of full power, the part that the old man couldn't suppress. As for why they could still use Shikai, this is just a guess but maybe it's just that the Medallions can't completely cut off a Shingami's connection with their Zanpakuto.