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Makabe Chotoku, the vice president of the Ryukyu Fire Insurance Company, is a seventh generation descendant of Makabe Chaan. When Chotoku was rebuilding the family grave site after the war, he inspected Makabe’s bones. He said that he was surprised to see that his leg bones were so long. I believe that the information which I received from Taira, Chosho, and Chotoku, would all seem to indicate that Makabe Chaan was indeed of more than just average size.

To continue with the confrontation between Makabe and Funakoshi, there is an abstract poem which I believe characterizes their encounter.

Poem:

Bushi no miya, sura ni

tobu toi no kukuchi,

michimiteinteiniya touiyanaran

Interpretation:

The movements of a real bushi are not unlike those

of a bird in flight: swift, natural, and without

thought. Regardless of one’s physical strength,

catching a bird is virtually impossible.

Although Makabe was big and powerful, he was also unusually agile, no doubt the result of his intense training. Seemingly, Funakoshi dung to the idea that power was enough to overcome an opponent. He had successfully stalemated Makabe in the tests of power, and believed that he was ready to challenge the technique of the great bushi.