33. When I was living in Hodogaya, a fellow Okinawan came and invited me out, so I went along with him. He took me to a house in a very lively section of Yokohama. The owner of the house, I later found out, was a rather famous crime lord. The owner of the house welcomed me warmly, serving beer and asking many questions about karate. As I was answering his queries, he asked me if I could fight a boxer, to which I replied it was not impossible. He then said he had a boxing gym next door. When we went over there, I saw a tall young man. The crime boss asked me if I’d consider a match with the young man, so I answered “sure but karate techniques do not work with leather gloves on the hands, so I’ll fight bare knuckled. You can come at me with bare hands or gloves, it’s your choice. Don’t hold back, but don’t worry, as I won’t kill you.” The young man said he would rather wear the gloves. I entered into the first attack from the diagonal and pressed his hands down with my palm. Simultaneously, I thrust under his eye with my other palm, dropping him instantly. The crime lord was very pleased, took me back to his house and fed me a great feast.
COLLECTION OF SAYINGS BY MOTOBU CHOKI By Nakata Mizuhiko, Overseen by Marukawa, 1978 Translation © 2001 by Joe Swift