While everyone who’s seen The Karate Kid will remember Daniel LaRusso’s epic victory at the 1984 All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, they may be shocked to learn just how little he trained with Mr. Miyagi before achieving this outstanding feat. As a 17-year-old who moved from New Jersey to Reseda, California, with his mom, it was not long before LaRusso found himself taking part in a genuine fighting competition. With the wise Mr. Miyagi as his mentor, Daniel quickly took on Miyagi-Do’s “wax-on, wax-off” philosophy.
Although the timeline of events in The Karate Kid was less clear in the original film, the sequel series Cobra Kai offered new insight into exactly how long LaRusso trained under Mr. Miyagi before facing off against his rival, Johnny Lawrence. Despite Mr. Miyagi’s tragic backstory, he still took the time to take Daniel under his wing and offer his unique training methods to allow him to overcome his bullies. As one of the greatest underdog stories ever told on film, The Karate Kid was a defining movie for countless young martial arts lovers of the 1980s.
Daniel LaRusso Only Trained With Mr. Miyagi For Around Six Weeks In The Karate Kid
Mr. Miyagi Entered Daniel In The All-Valley Tournament Before Their Training Even Began
When Daniel first came to Reseda, he had no martial arts experience and was just a bright-eyed kid hoping to make some new friends in an unfamiliar town. Although Daniel quickly befriends the high school cheerleader Ali Mills, this soon catches the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend and Cobra Kai black belt fighter Johnny Lawrence. After Johnny and his gang brutally beat Daniel on Halloween night, it was the unassuming handyman Mr. Miyagi who came to the rescue and showed off his incredible martial arts skills as he defeated the bullies.
While Mr. Miyagi was initially reluctant to train Daniel, it was only after seeing how the ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran and Cobra Kai sensei, John Kreese, treated him that he not only agreed to become his mentor but also proposed that he take part in the All Valley tournament. Without much time to train, Mr. Miyagi had Daniel waxing cars, sanding floors, and painting fences, all tasks that unknowingly gave him the skills he needed to be a great fighter. With an unusual training method, Mr. Miyagi taught the value of a defense-based fighting philosophy.
“But he only trained for six weeks. I should’ve destroyed him. I was too hell-bent on revenge for all the sh*t he’d pulled. And even though I pulled a lot of sh*t on him too, he didn’t fight for revenge. He fought to honor everything he’d learned. To show guys like me that we couldn’t get the best of him.”
– Johnny to Miguel in Cobra Kai season 6, episode 14, “Strike Last.”
How Daniel Beat Johnny Lawrence With Hardly Any Karate Training
Miyagi-Do’s Fighting Philosophy Offered Lessons That Cobra Kai Never Could
With just a few short weeks of training to his name and barely any genuine fighting experience, the fact that Daniel managed to defeat Johnny was a truly incredible display of skill. However, Mr. Miyagi’s seemingly simple chores had a much deeper sense of purpose than was initially apparent, as Daniel was secretly being taught the fundamental blocking techniques used in karate. Having gained muscle memory and innate reflexes without even realizing it, Mr. Miyagi quickly gifted Daniel with the skills some fighters spent years developing.
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All 4 Steps Of Mr. Miyagi’s Training In The Karate Kid Explained
One of the more iconic elements of 1984’s The Karate Kid is Mr. Miyagi’s training of Daniel LaRusso via an unusual series of chores and tasks.
While Johnny’s aggressive fighting techniques came from the ruthless “strike first, strike hard, no mercy” philosophy of Cobra Kai, even after receiving an unethical sweep kick to his injured leg, Daniel was able to maintain the composure needed to come out on top. By assuming the same “crane” stance technique he had previously watched Mr. Miyagi perform, Daniel delivered an incredible front kick to Johnny’s face and scored the final point he needed to emerge victorious. Without much training behind him, Daniel proved that honor, valor, and determination were sometimes enough to defeat a more experienced fighter like Johnny.
How Long Daniel LaRusso Trains With Mr. Miyagi After The Karate Kid
Daniel and Mr. Miyagi’s Training Continued Long After The Karate Kid
Mr. Miyagi trained Daniel to victory over the course of just six weeks in The Karate Kid, but his mentorship did not end there. As the franchise continued through The Karate Kid Part II, Daniel accompanied Miyagi on a trip to his homeland of Okinawa and faced off against the nephew of Miyagi’s old friend-turned-rival Sato, Chozen Toguchi. The Karate Kid Part III saw Daniel facing new threats from within Cobra Kai, as the deranged sensei Terry Silver sought to turn Daniel against Miyagi and embrace his dojo’s more ruthless and aggressive point of view.
Pat Morita, the actor who played Mr. Miyagi, passed away on November 24, 2005, and only appeared in Cobra Kai through archival footage and digital techniques.
While Daniel and Mr. Miyagi had ups and downs, the truth was that Miyagi mentored him his entire life and was practically a member of the family as Daniel got married to his wife, Amanda, and had his two children, Samantha and Anthony. Sadly, Mr. Miyagi died on November 15, 2011, but had mentored Daniel since 1984, and the entire history of their time training together spanned 27 years. Although Mr. Miyagi had already passed away by the time The Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai premiered, his legacy looms large over every aspect of the show.
- Created by
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Robert Mark Kamen
- Cast
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Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Martin Kove, William Zabka, Randee Heller, Ron Thomas, Elisabeth Shue, Xolo Mariduena, Mary Mouser, Jaden Smith, Wenwen Han, Taraji P. Henson, Jackie Chan
