Though only a commoner, he was affectionately referred to as a living bushi (Samurai Warrior). Prior to this you had to be either affluent or of nobility.

Despite his slight build and physical stature, he was obsessed with the thought of becoming a man of the ‘iron fist’ and ‘steel fingers.’ He pursued this objective with extreme dedication, eventually developing a fist like Thor’s hammer. By the time he was thirty, he had a reputation for having a terrific fist.

Unlike most karate masters, Agena never opened a school, but instead continued working exclusively on his own fist and fingers until they were capable of performing incredible feats.

Gushikawa village was off the beaten path, but ended up being the location for one of his more colorful stories. It boasted a tree, which is still the topic of much conversation among the local residents. This tree first became famous around the turn of the century when one of its villagers, Agena, made history there.

On this particular day Agena was visiting his friend, Tengan Matsu, who knew that Agena had developed his hands to an extraordinary degree. Tengan opened a bottle of saki and after a few drinks said, “Agena, I’ll make a bet with you. I bet I can rip off the bark of that tree faster than you can. The wager will be five pounds of meat. What do you say?”

“Aw, come on,” replied Agena smiling. “Forget it. Drink up. It’s a silly bet. You have as much chance as a snowball in hell.”

“No, I’m serious,” insisted Tengan. “But there is a condition. I use my chisel and you use your hands. After all, you are the man with the iron fist and steel fingers.” Tengan smiled, feeling secure in the knowledge that even Agena would not take up such a bet.

Agena however, jumped up and said, “Get ready to buy me five pounds of top sirloin. I’m not asking for filet, just top sirloin.” And he ran to the tree. Tengan followed with his chisel.

Tengan asked the village headmaster to referee, and on the mark, they started. Tengan looked at Agena wondering if he was drunk. He must be if he expect to beat the chisel, no matter how strong his hands were.

Agena repeatedly punched the tree with his fist, loosening the bark and ripping if off with his fingers. Punch, then rip, and the bark would come off in wide strips. Within two minutes, Agena had punched and ripped off an eight-foot strip, while Tengan had barely come down only one third of the way.

Tengan threw down his chisel, admitting defeat. By now the village people had heard what was happening and had gathered around the tree, amazed by Agena. Tengan went off to the market place, bought the meat and a few extra jugs of saki.

There is also a story featuring another Tengan, not Matsu. This Tengan worked in a bath house and had always wanted to see Agena in action before he died. One day as Agena was laying in his bath, Tengan approached him, telling him that he had dreamed about his death. He begged Agena to do something so that he could see him in action before he died. Agena agreed and asked him what it was he wanted to see. Tengan wanted to see his iron fist and steel fingers in action. Before Agena began, Tengan called for all the women, who were on the other side of the bath house wall, to witness the demonstration. When all was ready, Agena jumped up, giving one big kiai, and thrust his fingers right through the bath house wall. Tengan prospered when he began charging admission for all to see what Agena had done.

There are many episodes dealing with Agena and his steel fingers. He never hurt another human being, and when used for self defense he merely subdued his assailants rather that killing them.

No one knew for a long time that his teacher was Matsumura Sokon.

One day as Tengan and Agena walking through a village on their way home, they were seen by the local cooper. Recognizing the two men as strangers, the cooper began to practice his kata in an attempt to impress them. Tengan wasn’t impressed however, and decided to teach the cooper a lesson. He went up and said, “I see you know karate. Well you must not be too good if you must use all those tools.”

The cooper asked, “What do you mean? How else can you work with this material?”

Tengan replied, “In our village, we shape the bamboo with our hands.”

“Of course,” the cooper said “you are putting me on! Show me if you can.”

Tengan, who was a big man, said, “To show you, I’ll let the smallest and weakest of our village do it (pointing to Agena).”

So Agena walked over to a bamboo tree that was lying on the cooper’s floor. He picked it up and rapidly stripped it of its branches with his fingers. Then he pounded it with his fist all the way down its length and ripped it in two. He finished by splitting it into smaller pieces with his chops.

The two of them then walked away leaving the dumbfounded cooper looking at the pieces of bamboo.
Agena had done it with the power of his mind – the ki.