The simile of the sea
The narrator is remembering the first time he met Chojun Miyagi by sea back in the year 1933. He recalls, "The sky was a fathomless blue, as vast as the ocean beneath it, the sun was rising slowly over the tall Ryukyu palms, casting pointed shadows on the white sands below, and the sea was moving in gentle swells, with only the occasional ripple of white foam beyond the rocky headland." The impact and influence of Miyagi to the narrator’s life is immeasurable. The narrator has now decided to write a memoir in memory of Miyagi who died when he was mid-sixties. As he writes the memoir, the narrator recalls the first day he met Miyagi.
The simile of the shore
When the narrator was struggling to rescue himself by swimming to the shore, he saw a shaft of sunshine that looked like a beacon and he tried to swim towards the shore to get hold of it and save himself. He says, "I looked to the shore and saw a narrow shaft of sunlight cast by a gap in the clouds, illuminating a thin strip of the rocks behind my beach like a beacon in the gathering storm.” Luckily, the narrator was lucky to swim using all his strength to safety.
The simile of the leaf
As the narrator was struggling to swim against the strong waves, he knew very well that he was at the mercy of the winds and the strong waves. He compared himself to the leaf which is very light and could be easily be blown away by the waves. He says, “I feared I’d be picked like a leaf and dashed on some hillside far inland.” However, he tried his level best to get out of the sea before the waves could become more dangerous.
The simile of the bull
The first time the narrator spots Miyagi he does not know who he is. However, he compares his fitness to the bull when he says, “The man was built like a bull." At the first stance, he could not estimate his age but probably he was younger than his father though he was not young either. The narrator's father describes the man as having broad shoulders, strong jaws, and a wide face. The narrator's description paints Miyagi as a strong man who had invested much of his time in exercising.
The simile of waves
From the beginning of the memoir, the narrator hints to the reader that Miyagi was a strong Man who took karate to the next level in Japan. As the memoir progresses, the narrator takes the reader back on how he met Miyagi for the first time at the sea. The first time he sees Miyagi, he realizes that the muscles of his stomach look liked a ripple of waves. The narrator articulates, “The muscles of his stomach stood out like a ripple of waves.”
