did, and I learned his own sensei had studied in China for many years before returning to Okinawa.
Miyagi told us the mythical origins of Kung Fu, which was introduced to the Shaolin Temple in the fifth century by the Indian monk, Da Mo. The Shaolin monks observed the fighting methods of animals and based their strategies on what they saw. Countless styles now existed all over China. In the southern port of Fuzhou, where Miyagi’s teacher had mastered his art, the main ones were Crane, Lion, and Dog Boxing.
I learned that Okinawa had had its own fighting art, which, as well as developing powerful punches on the makiwara, combined throwing and grappling. Miyagi believed to-te was a combination of native Okinawan methods and classical Chinese martial arts, which had been introduced by the Chinese immigrants. These were the legendary Thirty-six Families that had been sent by the Ming emperor. This filled me with pride, since Chinese immigrants were rarely spoken of in such a positive way on Okinawa.
When my uncle realized I was a good diver, I was sent down to scrape barnacles off the hull and free the rudder from tangled netting. Diving in the oily waters of Naha harbor wasn’t the same as diving in the clear waters of Itoman Bay, but I was happy to build up my breath and didn’t complain. It took three days, and by the evening of the third day the hull was smooth and the rudder in perfect working order. I sat with the rest of the crew as the sun went down and my uncle appeared with a bottle of awamori, the local rice brandy. Someone produced cups and handed me one without a word. Uncle Anko poured a tot for me without comment and I drained it quickly as the others had done. My throat was on fire, my eyes watered uncontrollably, but I was determined not to choke, and I fought hard to pretend nothing was amiss.
“You did well today, nephew!” Anko said loudly, pointing in my direction with his empty cup, “Didn’t he?” It seemed he’d had a few tots already and didn’t wait for a response. “The boy is a to-te man. He trains with Miyagi!” he nodded knowingly, looking from one deckhand to the next. “They all know Miyagi round here. But tell me Kenichi, have you ever seen your master do to-te?”
“Many times,” I answered.
“Ha! What did you see?”
“I saw him battling a typhoon,” I offered.
It sounded silly now that I’d said it. “On the cliffs-tops near Itoman, facing into the wind,” I continued half-heartedly. Anko didn’t know what to make of this information—it was inconceivable that anyone, let alone a native Okinawan, would stand on a cliff during a typhoon. “I saw him break a makiwara,” I added hopefully. I wondered if anyone knew what a makiwara was.
“Have you ever seen him fight?” Anko demanded.
I shook my head.
“I didn’t think so. So how do you know if he can?”
I looked from my uncle to the crew. All eyes were on me expectantly. “I just know,” I said defiantly.
Anko looked at the faces of the crew too, then nodded slowly and leaned close to me as if talking confidentially, though when he spoke, it was loud enough for all to hear.
“Well guess what Kenichi, you’re right! Because I have seen him fight,” he said triumphantly. “And so have these guys,” he said, pointing his cup at some of the older crew. “It was a long time ago now, but I can still remember it well. I will never forget. In fact, I know quite a lot about Miyagi. I knew him as a boy. He’s the same age as me, you see, although we didn’t go to school together. In those days we Chinese immigrants had our own school. We weren’t allowed to go to the same school as the Okinawans and the Japanese. Besides, he was the head of the noble Miyagi clan, so we had very little in common, but his reputation was well known among the young men of Naha.”
Anko smiled and wagged his finger at me, spilling awamori as he did. “Believe it or not, your teacher was a bit of a tearaway in those days. Always getting into fights and scrapes. He was strong, too. None of the other boys wanted to tangle with him, even before he learned to-te.” At this, some of the crew nodded their agreement. “When he left school he joined the family business of import and export. One day when he was about eighteen, he came to the docks to solve a dispute with a group of dockers who were refusing to unload cargo from one of his boats.
“The dockers were saying it was more work than they’d been told, and they demanded more money. Miyagi insisted they’d been correctly informed. He offered to help them unload it himself to make the job easier. There were six of them, so a seventh hand, a strong man like Miyagi, would make a big difference. But this gang was notorious for cheating people and refused his offer. It was an old trick: leaving a perishable cargo in the hold all day in the hot sun, until the owner was forced to agree to their demands or lose his cargo completely.
“Well, Miyagi wouldn’t be cheated. The discussion got heated. It turned into an argument. Insults were exchanged and then some pushing and shoving began. The dockers were all strong men, you know how they are, and they were not afraid of Miyagi. They surrounded him and they threatened him. They didn’t believe a rich merchant like Miyagi could be a threat to the six of them. They were wrong.
“I saw the whole thing from my boat. It was incredible. Miyagi stepped aside and brushed past one of them, who fell to his knees. Miyagi had hit him so fast that nobody saw it. It must have been in the solar plexus because the docker rolled onto his side and curled his knees to his chest. He never got up again.
“It took the others a moment to realize what had happened and by that time, Miyagi had slipped out of their ring. Suddenly, fists were flying. They leapt at him, eager to be the first to strike him. Miyagi ran around a pile of barrels and they split up and went to each side. He chose one side where only two were coming at him and stepped forward, hitting the first man on his neck with the ridge of his hand. The man went down. In the same instant, Miyagi kicked the second man in the stomach, driving him backward into a pile of rubble.
“The other three had gone around the barrels the other way, and the first of them was about to seize Miyagi from behind. Now this is the truly amazing thing. Without even looking, Miyagi kicked backward like a mule, and the man went down! But the next man reached Miyagi and got him in a bear hug. I thought it was all over then, but Miyagi sunk low and shrugged his head backward, smashing the man in the face. The docker wouldn’t let go, so Miyagi bent forward and seized his foot, then pulled it upward. The man was forced to let go and fell over backward, clutching his knee in agony.
“By this time, some of the others had recovered and three of them surrounded Miyagi and smashed at him with their fists. I saw them strike him over and over, but it made no impression on him. They might as well have hit a brick wall. He parried one man’s punch and seized his arm, and I swear there was a smile on his face. The man struggled furiously to pull his arm free but Miyagi’s grip was iron. Meanwhile the other two tried to reach Miyagi, but Miyagi kept thrusting the man in his grip at them, using him like a shield.
“Then the man in Miyagi’s grip produced a knife, but before he could use it Miyagi jerked violently on his arm, pulling him forward onto the point of his elbow, and the man collapsed. Miyagi stripped the man of his knife and spun it expertly in his hand, daring the other men to come forward now. Both ran away instead.
“What happened after that?” I demanded.
“The police came by, looking for witnesses, but no one had seen a thing,” Anko smirked. “We were all sick and tired of being cheated by those dockers.”
“What happened to Miyagi?”
“Nothing, of course,” he laughed. “It would take more than the word of a few
