for his instruction, so when I wasn’t busy on my uncle’s boat I would do chores for him instead. One weekend, he asked me to move a pile of heavy stones from one side of the yard to the other. The next weekend, he asked me to move them back again. I didn’t mind. I was delighted to be near my sensei, and Miyagi indulged me good-naturedly with work designed to build my strength and stamina.
One day, two rough-looking men appeared in the garden demanding to see Miyagi. When no one answered the door, they banged louder and repeated their demands to see him. I stopped what I was doing and took a closer look at the men. One was tall and broad with a flat nose and fleshy cheeks, but it was the smaller one who drew my eye. His body was lean and hard, his mouth set tight in a sneer. His pale eyes darted around the yard until they fell on me. I looked away quickly but it was too late.
“Hey, where is Miyagi?” he shouted.
For someone to use such a familiar form of address for an Okinawan nobleman in his own garden could only mean one thing. He was here to challenge Miyagi. I’d heard it happened occasionally—Miyagi was one of the most renowned to-te masters in Okinawa and people wanted to prove themselves against him.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Is he in the house?”
I shrugged.
The men returned to the door and banged it again, shouting for Miyagi. As they did, he appeared behind them. “I’m Miyagi,” he said.
The men turned to find him standing one step away. “Is there some emergency?” he asked, his voice showing no emotion whatsoever.
The men were lost for words and exchanged furtive glances. “No emergency,” the smaller one answered finally. “We were looking for Miyagi.”
“If there’s no emergency, then why the urgency?” he demanded, and I noticed he had sunk his weight and was planted like a rock in front of them.
“No urgency,” the smaller man said, regaining his composure a little. “We were just looking for you, and now we’ve found you.”
“If there was no urgency, then why hammer on my door and conduct yourself in such a manner?” Miyagi demanded, his voice growing louder now.
“You are Miyagi the to-te man?” asked the bigger of the two, ignoring Miyagi’s question.
“You know who I am. Who are you?” he said, never taking his eyes from the smaller man.
“We have come to see your to-te,” the bigger man said.
“I do not show it,” Miyagi said.
The men took a moment to consider their next move. The smaller of them was about to say something but Miyagi spoke first, “There is only one way to see it, but you wouldn’t thank me for showing you.”
I’d inched closer in case Miyagi needed my help. He glowered at me but I remained where I was. “The wood is all chopped?” he asked, struggling to control his temper.
“Not all of it,” I answered.
“Then go and finish,” he ordered.
I moved away and returned to my chores. The two men spoke a while longer with Miyagi, but I was too far away to hear what was said. They left meekly enough without a backward glance and I never saw either of them again.
That evening Miyagi was away at a committee meeting so Shinzato taught in his place. When the class had finished and the other boys had left, I cornered Shinzato and asked a question I’d never dared ask before.
“Do we ever spar?”
“Occasionally,” he answered.
“Why not more?” I probed. “Isn’t it important to practice realistically?”
“Real to-te isn’t a game. It’s life or death.”
“But everything we do is prearranged. It’s not the same as a real fight, where you don’t know what’ll happen.”
Shinzato regarded me for a moment and I held his gaze, wondering whether he knew we went to the same school. I thought he was going to refuse, but instead he said we could spar if I wanted.
“What should I do?” I asked.
He raised his arms to the guard position and I did the same.
“Now what should I do?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you,” he said with the trace of a smile. “You said yourself, sparring’s unpredictable.”
I looked into his eyes wondering what he was thinking. His expression was void of clues. Then a black explosion went off in my face. He’d stuck me, his movement so fast that I hadn’t reacted at all. I stumbled backward in shock. I could taste blood on the inside of my lip and feel the beginnings of a swelling with my tongue. Shinzato circled me. Our sparring wasn’t over. I had the sinking feeling it had only just begun. I became hyper-alert, waiting for the next punch, but when Shinzato stepped forward it was with a kick that caught me in the belly. It knocked the air out of me and I doubled over, gasping in pain and cursing my own stupid curiosity.
Shinzato waited for me to recover, eying me like a hawk eyes a wounded bird. Eventually I stood upright and Shinzato nodded for us to continue. I couldn’t stop now, it would be unthinkable, so I lunged forward and threw a punch at his face. I felt his hands tap my wrist, parrying my punch aside. I followed up with a punch from my other hand, but somehow he was at my side, no longer in front of me. When I lifted my foot to turn and face him, he swept it from under me. I stumbled. As my head dipped, I saw a flash of something. His kick connected with my jaw, and I saw black.
I woke to find myself on Mrs. Miyagi’s couch. I could hear raised voices in the hallway outside, which stopped when they realized I’d come around. Shinzato entered and stood beside me. “You’re awake,” he said with a frown.
“Yes,” I answered groggily.
“You’re okay.”
Was it a statement or a question? I couldn’t tell. I nodded dumbly.
“Now you know why we don’t do more sparring,” he said with a grin. ‘Someone always gets hurt.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen him smile. “Yes,” I replied with a grin of my own, eager to show I didn’t bear a grudge.
At this, it seemed Shinzato felt his duty had been done and he turned to leave. Mrs. Miyagi entered the room with a tray, ignoring Shinzato very deliberately to make her displeasure very clear. There were tea and sweets on the tray and she insisted I drink a cup of sweet tea.
Shinzato murmured a polite good-bye to Mrs. Miyagi but she didn’t reply. I tried to sit up but she would have none of it, and I dared not disobey. Several times I tried to get up and leave, but Mrs. Miyagi continued to make polite conversation and I couldn’t get away. I haven’t even the slightest recollection of the topics we covered, though I imagine it was about the health and wellbeing of my family. A good hour must have passed before Mrs. Miyagi was finally satisfied that I was ready to make my way home.
