The Karate Kid (1984)
Screenwriter: Robert Mark Kamen
Director: John G. Avildsen
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elizabeth Shue, Randee Heller (and some mean guys)
Dear Darling,
Some movies stand the test of time. Not because the writer or director is a big shot or because the movie has a lot of special effects. A timeless movie is timeless because it tells a human story of navigating through the challenges of life and finding a small or large victory. Even as the victory is sweet, it is second to the power of love.
Does that sound cheesy, or cliche? Maybe. But it’s true. What is wisdom but the thing that works, over and over again?
The story of The Karate Kid goes like this: “Persevere and stay true to yourself, and you will find the accomplishment you knew was on the other side of muddy waters. You just need to listen, discern, trust your gut, wax a bunch of cars and go out with Elizabeth Shue.”
I am just kidding about the Elizabeth Shue part. She is not Elizabeth Shue in the movie—she is a teenage girl named Ali. But wouldn’t a man be so lucky to go out with Elizabeth Shue? She’s got that divine inner sparkle. There are not many women who glow like that. There is something to be said for those curly-haired, cozy women like Elizabeth Shue.
I love The Karate Kid, and I think about it all the time. It is a father-son story, even though Mr. Miyagi is not Daniel’s biological father. But you see in this movie how the universe brings us the gifts we desire, even if those gifts come in packages we didn’t expect. Daniel is so angry about having to leave his home in New Jersey and relocate to Los Angeles, California for his mom’s job. It’s awkward being the new kid at his ritzy school. But he meets this handyman who defends him when he is bullied, and who agrees to mentor him in karate. Through this relationship, he finds the best friend he always wanted. And Mr. Miyagi benefits in this relationship, too. Mr. Miyagi tragically lost his wife and child, yet, through mentoring Daniel, can be a father figure. That is why he calls Daniel, Daniel-son! Mr. Miyagi is a human with flaws, idiosyncracies, and an occasional temper, but he has consistent integrity and heart. He uses his position of influence to teach Daniel the most fundamental lessons of life, which are truth and character. He guides Daniel to be disciplined, to be fearless in the face of challenges, to keep his heart and soul intact, and shares repeatedly that true power is focused on nonviolence rather than harm or revenge. Karate, Mr. Miyagi insists, is not about trying to fight, bully, hurt, or intimidate anyone. It is about maintaining an inner balance when life delivers you battles and storms.
What I appreciate the most in this movie is the foil characters of Mr. Miyagi and the “sensei,” Kreese, who runs the karate dojo in Daniel’s neighborhood. The “sensei” gets off on having power over young minds. He teaches harming and hurtfulness, deceit and revenge. He teaches “no mercy.” The camera is close enough in these scenes with Kreese to capture the nuances of the teenage boys’ eyes as they grapple with the bad messages their mentor Kreese gives them. The boys have conscience, and they know what their sensei is telling them is wrong. They want to resist it. They wrestle with his guidance. And yet, they say “Yes, sensei,” anyway. It is because he is older, appears to be in-the-know, and seems strong and sure, even if it is for a nefarious purpose. Therefore, the boys let go of their own inner wisdom and discernment and become beasts and machines, rather than thoughtful and conscious teens who have the backbone to stand up to an ill-willed authority figure.
Mr. Miyagi, on the other hand, is a great teacher. In bringing eastern traditions to the west, Mr. Miyagi is like one of those Buddhist parables where a man is walking down a street with deep life questions, and meets an unassuming and humble worker. The unassuming and humble worker is really a yogi, or a Buddha, who looks poor or is missing teeth or something like that. Somehow, though, this unassuming and humble person gives the man the exact enlightened message he needed, at the exact right time, and the man realizes that the humble person was his teacher all along—not anyone who ever wore a fancy robe, or to whom he paid a bunch of money. Mr. Miyagi may appear to be only a handyman for an apartment building, but he has secret skills that go way beyond what the neighborhood sensei knows or can do.
What makes a teacher good? Well first, let’s establish that any strong guide or mentor has humility paired with patience, paired with audacity. I would say there are a few other components, as well:
1. A good teacher is selfless. It is not about the teacher’s agenda, but about helping a student learn. The teacher may infuse her or his interests and talents into some of the lessons, but that infusion is only to help the students walk away with something they can use.
2. A good teacher is wise and puts the onus for learning on the student. So while a good teacher has life experience that inform the lessons, she or he also requires the student to step up and keep stepping up in order to make any headway.
3. A good teacher listens. Here is the main difference between Mr. Miyagi and the “sensei,” Kreese. Mr. Miyagi has standards and expectations, and he challenges Daniel. He also listens to Daniel and becomes a friend who cares. Sometimes he says no to Daniel, but when Daniel explains something further, and Mr. Miyagi realizes Daniel has a good point, he changes his mind and works with Daniel on a particular goal. On the other hand, Kreese doesn’t listen to his students. The only dynamic he can accept is one where he is in charge. This is actually weakness, not power at all.
Our teachers are everywhere, and they don’t have to have the label “teacher.” In Everyday Zen by the Buddhist Charlotte Joko Beck, she says that she would not travel or even walk a few yards just to meet a “teacher,” for life is the Teacher Itself, when one is in tune and in the moment.
But what good is teaching without laughter and without fun? The sensei doesn’t laugh, and his idea of fun is tearing people down. Daniel’s crew, on the other hand, is always smiling. Mr. Miyagi laughs hard, and Daniel’s girlfriend Ali skips and has a lightness about her, and Daniel’s mom Lucille has such joie de vivre.
Give me joie de vivre and laughter over a sensei any day.
Namaste, karate-meisters!
Ms. Wonderful
Oh, and please do peruse the Rose Woods YouTube channel.