"I sit now to write my memoirs, not because I am a man of any great importance to the world, but rather because I knew such a man. His life changed the lives of millions and changed mine in ways I could never have imagined when I first met him, all those years ago, as a boy of just nine years."
The opening paragraph of this historical novel obliquely introduces the real-life figure that drives the narrative. The story is told by a fictional narrator about the man of great importance whose actual life can be researched should one desire: Chojun Miyagi. That last name may strike some as intensely familiar and, indeed, there is a connection here between Chojun and the character of Mr. Miyagi—however slight it may be—from the movie The Karate Kid. Chojun Miyagi is the martial arts master credited with founding the Goju Ryu school of traditional Okinawan karate. The most significance correlation between the novel and film, however, is that the great teacher in both is being viewed through the filter of an external observer. Kenichi Ota in this sense steps into the role of the title character in the film in order to tell a far more expansive—yet still fictionalized—story.
“…my final conclusion is that the deeper meaning of karate is not physical, but rather spiritual. Through the practice of kata, the practitioner aims for perfection of form and movement. This can only be achieved by being in harmony with the elements surrounding us, the earth below, and the heavens above. To perfect one’s movement in kata is to be perfectly in tune with nature and the universe.”
Dr. Kano is a titanic figure in martial arts as a result of being universally recognized as the founder of judo. The meeting between Miyagi and Kano quickly turns to the details and intricacies of Goju Ryu. As the conversation dives deeply into the subject of martial arts, Kano is revealed to be especially interested in one particular thing: the practice of kata without a partner. The above quote is the initial answer Miyagi gives in response to Kano’s direct query: “What is the purpose of performing a kata alone?” The answer provides illumination into the development of the perception of martial arts as being entirely about physical defense. The discipline of martial arts like karate and judo once almost universally appeared to be no different than that of boxing in that it appears to be all about the conditioning of the body to both withstand and deliver violent punishment. For those who actively participate in the martial arts, however, it has long been understood to be a discipline equally related to conditioning the mind (here referred to obliquely as the spirit). Of course, since Miyagi arrived at this conclusion, media representations have made it much easier for outsiders to understand this more abstract benefit of martial arts training.
"Father was a fisherman, like his father before him, and no one knew the waters off Okinawa better. When I wasn’t at school, I would go out with in his boat. I was the only one of his children who loved the sea as he did. Like most fishermen, he spoke little while at sea, as if making a sound might invite the attentions of a malevolent sea-god who would call forth some catastrophe out of spite. Father would mutter a single word, net or sail, and we’d haul in the nets or raise the sail. There was no need to say more. We shared countless silent hours in this way."
Had the author merely wanted to tell the story of his title character, he could just as well have written a biography. That he instead structures the historical element as a second-hand account distilled through the perspective of a completely different narrator suggests, by definition, there must be something about the life of Kenichi Ota—his fictional storyteller—that is at least as significant as the story about the title character. The question of what makes Kenichi’s story as worthy of being told as the story of Chojun Miyagi is a mystery that is central to the events of the narrative because that narrative is more broadly the story of the changes Okinawa undergoes as a result of the defeat of Japan in World War II. This quote appears early in the book and paints a portrait of Okinawa before the war. The focus on silence not being an awkward element within social interaction foreshadows multiple instances throughout the book which serve to implicate remaining silent as an expression of the strength of character.
