The Hand of Okinawa

When Satsuma swords

Robbed you of yours

You turned your hands and feet

To weapons of their defeat

But the Ryukyu kingdom did go

Absorbed into greedy Yamato

When Funakoshi was exiled from you

He spent his life among the Yamatonochu

Teaching their elite the empty hand

While they held contempt for their fellow man

Put with Koreans and Africans in their Human Museum

Tokyoites would pay money to see them

Of course Funakoshi hid the secrets

In simple dancing moves for idiots

Only those respectful of Okinawa-te

Can unlock the wisdom hid away

Yamato’s greed was its downfall

The Yankee horde crushed its armies all

The debt was paid in Okinawan blood

Two blinding flashes united them in victimhood

The same hand that plucks the sanshin

Strikes down foes with zanshin

This now empty hand, once Chinese

Is free to move as it may please

I humbly take the hand of Shuri

Which has given so much to me

Peace of mind and heart and health

There could be no greater wealth

Some take the hand in arrogance

And boastful of their karate dance

Think a white suit improves their mojo

Strut and bully in their dojo

That is why I train alone

In a park my skills I hone

With pages of Kanezawa and his mentors

I avoid the throng of blackbelt vendors

Those who see me and feel sorry

Have never heard of yamakomori

What I lose in fighting prowess

I gain in peace and humbleness