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"I say, you do, no questions."
Daniel: So, you're supposed to teach and I'm supposed to learn! For four days I've been bustin' my ass, and haven't learned a goddamn thing!
Miyagi: You learn plenty.

The first film in The Karate Kid series, released in 1984.

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has just moved with his mother Lucille from New Jersey to Reseda, California. Daniel is overall a good kid, but his life takes a turn for the worse when he meets a girl that he likes, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), only to incur the wrath of her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Johnny happens to be the prize student of the Cobra Kai Karate dojo, whose sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) encourages ruthless aggression. After their first meeting, which ends with Daniel being beaten badly, Johnny leads his gang into tormenting Daniel whenever possible.

Things come to a head with Johnny's gang chasing Daniel down and beating the hell out of him just outside his apartment complex. Coming to his rescue is the elderly Japanese handyman, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). Despite his age, he defeats the Cobra Kai gang with ease, awing Daniel. After seeing that appealing to Kreese won't work, Miyagi agrees to train Daniel, but arranges a deal that the Cobra Kai will stop bothering Daniel if he enters an upcoming tournament, where he can fight the bullies on equal terms.

Daniel is hesitant about the tournament, but willing to learn karate at least to defend himself. The first few days Miyagi has Daniel do several chores: paint the fence, sand the decks and wax the car. Daniel endures it patiently, but eventually blows up at Miyagi for using him as a slave instead as a student. Miyagi then demonstrates what Wax On, Wax Off really means. Daniel is stunned, then begins to understand that Miyagi wasn't trying to teach him how to fight, but how to apply martial arts to his life.note  He comes to learn that karate is about balance and self-respect, that martial arts should be used in discipline and not for aggression. Mr. Miyagi doesn't teach Daniel to be a vicious badass, but how to calm himself and deal with his problems as they come.

Cobra Kai serves as a Sequel Series to the franchise as a whole, but in particular to this film and the events that take place in it.


The Karate Kid contains examples of:

  • Aesop Amnesia: Cobra Kai reveals that Ali broke up with Johnny for missing her birthday to go drinking with his friends. He seems to have taken this lesson to heart when he turns down a drink from his friend because they have school the next day, but he drops all intentions of shaping up when he sees Ali with Daniel.
  • All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Ali is a cheerleader, and "all guys" includes Daniel-san.
  • All There in the Script: Daniel and his mother moved to California as a result of her new job with Rocket Computers ("Flight to the future!"). The original script reveals why Freddy had "never heard of it" and also sheds some light on why it seems that Mrs. LaRusso might be an employee of the restaurant across from the Cobra Kai dojo. As she shares with Daniel:
    "They went bankrupt!...[But] listen to this. I walk out of Rocket with the beginning of Excedrin headache one through ten about to come on, and I'm going back to the car when this woman comes flying out of this restaurant, The Orient Express, and she's screaming, 'I quit! I quit!' Right behind her is this guy and he's yelling just as loud, 'You can't quit! You're fired!' It's one minute to noon, people are coming in to lunch, I'm the first but only applicant - I got the job!"
    • When Daniel questions her new position as a waitress, his mother clarifies that she is not a waitress. She is a hostess.
  • The Alleged Car: Lucille LaRusso's green station wagon. Has a faulty starter, providing a never-ending source of embarrassment to Daniel when she has to drive him on dates.
  • Apologetic Attacker: Bobby begs Daniel's forgiveness after kicking his knee.
  • Artistic License – Martial Arts: The Crane Kick as depicted in the film is fictional, chosen to be an iconic image over being a realistic technique. The actual crane kick is an advanced move that requires jumping, kicking and landing from the same leg, which no one in the production crew could do (and would be not very useful in real fighting context due to the lack of impact of the strike and all the stress it would place on the leg).
  • Attack the Injury: Once Daniel begins the final match of the tournament well, scoring two consecutive points from Johnny, (leaving Daniel just one point from victory) Kreese orders Johnny to attack Daniel's injured leg. Although Johnny is clearly reluctant, he follows Kreese's advice and it nearly wins him the match.
  • Awesome, but Impractical:
    • The crane stance, which in Real Life could be defeated with a good shove to the chest. Heck, if you pause the movie right before the Crane Kick, you can see that Johnny has a clear shot to the chin lined up and instead freezes in his place rather than attacking, presumably out of confusion. This becomes a plot point in the sequel where Chozen effortlessly counters it.
      • Crane is presented as more of a technique than a single move; Miyagi practices from the top of a pole, not because it confers an advantage, but because it presents a disadvantage, forcing him to hone his sense of balance to razor sharpness.
      • Apparently, it can be applied in Real Life... as a jumping front kick with your arms extended as "crane wings" to balance yourself as you stand on one leg... by using it like Lyoto Machida did against Randy Couture. Lyoto blindsided Randy by feinting a kick with his left leg then "doing the crane" with his attacking right leg.
      • Somewhat justified as practical in certain circumstances while in others it's an all-or-nothing telegraphed attack. According to Miyagi, if the crane stance/kick/technique is "done right", then "no can defense". The technique works best with a feint, as a Counter-Attack, when done quickly and timed precisely, or if the opponent doesn't know what's coming (as seen with Johnny Lawrence not knowing what to do when he first saw it used against him and with Terry Silver in Cobra Kai when Daniel used it as a follow-up Finishing Move after knocking the wind out of him).
    • Darryl Vidal easily defeats a number of opponents on his way to the semifinals, but his style has a lot of flash and not enough substance. This is exposed when he uses several tornado kicks against Johnny; he leaves himself wide open as his back is necessarily turned for part of the move, and multiple spinning kicks in rapid succession let Johnny get a fix on the timing and take Darryl down with a well-placed kick.
  • Barbaric Bully: The Cobra Kais routinely brutalize Daniel up until Miyagi intervenes.
  • Big Fancy House: Ali lives in one.
  • Boisterous Weakling: Daniel in the beginning. He did have some basic karate training at the Y before arriving in California, but he grossly overestimates his skills, even pretending to be a badass to Freddy. Unsurprisingly, Daniel ends up getting a very harsh reality check in his first fight with Johnny, who is a two-time All-Valley karate champion.
  • Broken Pedestal: You can see the shock and hesitation from Cobra Kai members when Kreese orders them to make cheap shots. The beginning of the second movie shows the greater fallout where Kreese bullies his students after the tournament and Miyagi has to intervene, and of course is followed up more closely in Cobra Kai.
  • Calling the Old Woman Out: When Daniel reaches his Rage Breaking Point, he calls his mother out on how she never thought about his feelings when they moved to California. She doesn't deny this and says that he's right.
    Daniel: Well, like it was fair coming out here without asking me how I felt about it, right. That was really fair.
    Daniel's mom: You're right, I should have asked.
  • Cool Old Guy: Mr. Miyagi.
  • Crippling the Competition: Contains one of the most famous film examples when Kresse orders Bobby to take Daniel "out of commission" in the semi-finals against Daniel. This means Bobby will be disqualified for an illegal hit, but injury will prevent Daniel from facing Kreese's prize pupil in the actual final round, guaranteeing victory. The plan only fails because Mr Miyagi has Healing Hands and Daniel has learned the iconic Crane Stance that lets him keep his weight off the injured leg.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Mr. Miyagi versus the Cobra Kai gang. Even five on one, they don't land a single hit on the old man, and he mows them down like wheat.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Miyagi in the first film especially.
  • Death by Childbirth: Miyagi's wife and newborn son both died in childbirth due to birthing complications, and 40 years later he's still grieving over it.
  • Defeating the Cheating Opponent: Zigzagged in the climax of the first film. Bobby injures Daniel's leg on Kreese's orders, and Bobby is disqualified when the judges catch it. However, the rest of Cobra Kai is allowed to still compete. Despite the injury, Daniel faces his next Cobra Kai opponent Johnny in the finals. While Johnny isn't cheating, he certainly takes advantage of the earlier injury. Even so, Daniel wins fair-and-square with a flying crane kick to Johnny's face.
  • Desperate Plea for Home: After being attacked one too many times by Johnny's gang, a fed-up Daniel flings his bicycle in the dumpster and shouts at his mother, "I hate this place! I HATE IT! I just want to go home. Why can't we just go home?"
  • Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: At the tournament, both Johnny and (especially) Bobby view Kreese as pulling this trope, as they both believe that they can beat Daniel in a fair fight, and resent Kreese forcing them to fight dirty.
  • Didn't Think This Through: A Deleted Scene has Johnny putting a cake where Daniel was about to sit in the school cafeteria, ruining his pants. Problem is, Johnny can handle Daniel in a fistfight, but a harmless prank (no matter how humiliating) like that, Daniel can easily retaliate, which he does, by ruining Johnny’s shirt. The moment Johnny realizes this was a possible outcome is priceless.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After the beach beating, Ali tries to tend to a crying Daniel, only for him to harshly tell her to leave him alone.
  • Evil Virtues: With the exception of Dutch, Johnny's friends prove to be anything if not loyal to him.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: The first film shows that the Cobra Kai are young bullies, but not exactly hardened criminals:
    • During the Halloween beating, Bobby tries to convince Johnny and Dutch that they're going too far after it becomes apparent that Daniel can no longer stand up.
    • Both Bobby and Johnny balk when ordered to unethically injure Daniel, though Kreese ultimately intimidates them into it.
    • Johnny congratulates Daniel after he wins and appears to accept his defeat with grace and dignity.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Classist as they are, Ali's parents are about the only two people to keep stony faces when Daniel humiliates himself at the country club.
  • Evil Mentor: Instructing his students to cheat? Check. Inspiring them to be sadistic bullies? Check. Strangling them for failing? Check. All John Kreese needs is a whip and a cat, and he'd be the trope picture.
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence: The beatings Daniel receives frequently leave him covered in bruises and/or blood.
  • Finish Him!: Kreese's instructions to the Cobra Kai.
  • Foreshadowing: When Daniel first goes to Mr. Miyagi's house for training, he sees oil pumps and asks Miyagi if he's in the oil business. Mr. Miyagi replies, "Not everything is as seem."
  • From Zero to Hero: Daniel, being a target of bullies, encounters a gifted sensei, by whom he is taught martial arts so that he can finally stand up for himself in a fight.
  • Funny Background Event: While Daniel is talking with his mom at lunch after checking out Cobra Kai, Johnny's gang are seen exiting the dojo in the background. Tommy comes across the street, sees Daniel, and quickly pulls the others aside so he can point it out, then they take off running before Lucille sees them.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: "Sweep the leg."
  • The Gloves Come Off: At the start of the beach beating, Johnny doesn't initially see Daniel as a threat, as he reacts to Daniel's attacks by merely dodging or tripping him, until he eventually gets bored enough to floor Daniel with one hit. Johnny at this point assumes the fight is over, as Daniel is on the ground in pain (and was clearly no match for him to start with)... only for Daniel to sucker punch him. Now Johnny is enraged enough to unleash his full aggression and turn the fight into a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown for Daniel.
  • Good-Times Montage: Montage of Daniel and his love interest having a good time at the arcade.
  • Graceful Loser: Johnny, after Daniel wins the tournament. Kreese... Not so much.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Ali has blonde hair, and is very sweet to Daniel.
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: Seemingly in play, but ultimately averted. To get to the level of competition that the Cobra Kai students are at requires years of training and physical conditioning. While it's true that Daniel manages to catch up in only two months, the set-up before the Training Montage makes it clear that Daniel is being pushed through extreme training, spending entire days from dawn to dusk working to build up his core muscles, then to follow up with balance, skill, and technique. Such intense training, with a proper teacher (working exclusively, rather than with a whole class), makes such a quick increase in skill believable. Plus, Daniel wasn't a complete novice as he did have some basic training at the YMCA. Notably, Daniel barely wins and is clearly outmatched physically. He wins, instead, on technique. note 
    • It's also further explored in both the novelization of the film and later in Cobra Kai that Kreese actually isn't a very good karate instructor and teaches his students poor technique. They're only able to do as well as they do because of their physical prowess, natural ability, and willingness to do violence. The man himself doesn't exactly acquit himself well against Mr. Miyagi; his greater size, strength, and youth should give him an advantage, but their skill levels are not remotely close.
  • Hero's Classic Car: Mr. Miyagi gives Daniel a 1948 Ford Super DeLuxe, one of his classic cars that Daniel had to Wax On, Wax Off on, as a 16th birthday present.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Ali's parents try to set up their daughter to go out with Johnny just because he's rich and goes to the same country club as them. Never mind that Ali just broke up with him and that he's a ferocious bully who doesn't respect her.
  • Improv Fu: How Miyagi defeats Kreese in the parking lot (in a cut scene used in the opening of the sequel). He simply dodged and made him slash his own fists after accidentally punching out nearby car windows barehanded.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Miyagi makes Daniel fall off the rowboat he was balancing on, and when he climbs out of the water, Miyagi laughingly tells Daniel he's still wet behind the ears.
  • Ironic Echo: When Miyagi gets Kreese at his mercy, he uses Cobra Kai's creed against him.
    Miyagi: (forces Kreese to his knees) Mercy is for the weak. You do not train to be merciful here. A man face you, he is enemy. Enemy deserve no mercy. Hyaaaaaaaaaaa... (raises his hand) HA! (swings his hand down but stops short of Kreese's face before pinching his nose) Honk!
  • Irony: Mr. Miyagi has a vintage car collection that would be the envy of any motor enthusiast, but has no driver's licence.
  • Jerkass: The Cobra Kai as a whole.
  • Kick the Dog: Kreese orders his minions to use dirty tactics to injure Daniel (despite their insistence that they can beat Daniel fairly), which shows that he is the source of Cobra Kai's villainy. His students are just impressionable kids.
    Mr. Miyagi: No such thing, bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.
  • Kids Are Cruel: Besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny. Ali's girlfriends also despise Daniel from the get-go because he's outside Ali's social class.
    "She must be into fungus!"
  • Literal Metaphor: After demonstrating Daniel's lack of balance by toppling him out of the boat, Mr. Miyagi tells him that he's "all wet behind ear", an idiom for "inexperienced" that also happens to be literally true.
  • Literal-Minded:
    Daniel: (upon being instructed on Wax On, Wax Off) Where did all these cars come from?
    Miyagi: Detroit.
    • Also on belts.
    Daniel: Hey, what kind of belt do you have?
    Miyagi: (points to his belt) Canvas. Heheh, you like? JC Penney, $3.98.
  • Loophole Abuse: There's nothing technically illegal about the way Kreese wanted Johnny to win. After all, it was Bobby who disqualified himself by injuring Daniel's leg before the final round. However, it's setting up Daniel (a teenager) with an injury to make him vulnerable to a legal leg sweep. Johnny's Even Evil Has Standards reaction is due to the fact that he wanted to prove that he could still beat Daniel in a fair fight.
  • Miles Gloriosus: Dutch, despite being the most aggressive and bloodthirsty of the Cobras, is the opponent Daniel defeats most easily at the tournament. Dutch isn't cowardly, but even though he scores a point before Daniel defeats him, he does seem to be far less formidable than he thinks he is.
  • Mood Whiplash: Drunk Miyagi, it starts off as very funny until he relives a moment where he finds out about his wife and kid dying in an internment camp while he was at war.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Daniel's initial fight with Johnny, and even more the Cobra Kai gang-beating he receives in the school dance scene.
  • No Name Given: Mr. Miyagi's given name was never stated in the movie. In The Karate Kid Part II his name written in Japanese characters read Miyagi Nariyoshi (family name first, given name last), while The Next Karate Kid had him introduced as Keisuke Miyagi and the animated series as Chojun Miyagi. Cobra Kai shows his grave marker with Nariyoshi, as it had the strongest canonical ties.
  • No Sympathy:
    • Freddy. New kid just got the hell beaten out him in front of you by a much tougher bully? Geez, what a loser; you'd better ostracize him.
    • A member of the audience calls Johnny a "creampuff" when it's possible that he just had his nose broken.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Miyagi does this several times; early on to Daniel to avoid teaching him karate, then putting him through Wax On, Wax Off training, then even at the tournament he obfuscates not knowing English so that Ali can be by Daniel's side as Miyagi's "interpreter".
  • One-Steve Limit: Bizarrely averted- both the Big Bad (John Kreese) and his student The Dragon (Johnny Lawrence) have the same first name, despite there not seeming to be any deeper meaning to it. This would eventually be brought up years later in Cobra Kai when in a flashback Kreese describes Johnny to Terry Silver as a promising young student who has the same name as him.
  • Ordered to Cheat: "Sweep the Leg" is the former Trope Namer (though the "out of commission" order fits much better). Interestingly, sweeping the leg itself isn't "cheating"; the one who was ordered to actually cheat was Bobby, who was disqualified for deliberately attacking Daniel's knee. "Sweep the leg" was Kreese telling Johnny to target an already injured location, which might work for a real fight and not illegal like the direct strike but would be considered a cheap and dishonorable move in a tournament setting.
  • Pom-Pom Girl: Ali, who appropriately is one of the few kids who supports Daniel when he runs afoul of Cobra Kais.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Ali intends to see Danny after dinner at the country club, but her parents put her up to dancing with Johnny. When Danny sees them, Johnny sees this as the perfect opportunity to spite him and forcibly kisses Ali to make it look like they're back together. The next time they meet, Danny thinks Ali owes him an apology for kissing her ex, and she thinks he's letting their "differences" get to him. It takes a third party (Ali's friend) to clear the air and explain to Daniel that Ali didn't even want to kiss Johnny.
  • Real Award, Fictional Character: About two-thirds of the way into the film Daniel walks in on a very drunk Mr. Miyagi dressed up in a World War II-era US Army uniform. Miyagi earned the Medal of Honor fighting in the European theatre as part of the all-nisei (Japanese-American) 442nd Infantry Regiment. Truth in Television: The 442nd is the most heavily decorated military unit in American history, including earning 21 MOHs for the European war. A member of the regiment later said that they fought all the harder to prove their loyalty to America in the face of their fellow nisei being packed into internment camps back home (in which Miyagi's wife and son died in childbirth).
  • Secretly Wealthy: Miyagi is first presented as the handyman of the apartment complex Daniel and his mom live in, but when he agrees to teach Daniel karate he takes him around back and shows a well-kept Japanese style home with a small fleet of classic cars. It's hinted he owns the apartments and does the maintenance himself for fun.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Ali is a rich, popular girl, who loves Daniel, regardless of their difference in social class, and doesn't humiliate him like everyone else does, unlike her Rich Bitch friends.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Having a philosophy of "Belts only good to hold up pants" is great for your personal life, less so when entering an organized tournament that is restricted to those ranked brown belt or higher (which is pointless, as there is no standardization of belt ranks).note 
  • Satellite Love Interest: Ali is nice, pretty, the ex-girlfriend of Johnny, and lives with upper-class parents in a Big Fancy House... and that's all that's really known about her before she's easily written out of the sequel. It isn't until Cobra Kai that we learn more about her.
  • Second Place Is for Losers: Kreese attacks Johnny after destroying his trophy, prompting Miyagi to give him a little lesson. note 
  • Shout-Out:
    • After Miyagi rescues Daniel from Johnny and his friends. Daniel wakes up to see Miyagi nursing him back to health, then asks where's the guy who saved him.
    Daniel: So where'd Spider-Man go?
    Miyagi: Who?
    • Mr. Miyagi himself might be an obscure reference to Teinosuke Yagi, a Japanese bonesetter and former jujutsu master who introduced the young Jigoro Kano (the founder of Judo) to his art when the latter was being bullied. His last name is also a reference to Chōjun Miyagi, the founder of Gōjū-ryū school of Karate (which the writer Robert Mark Kamen had practiced before and whose sensei had a similar philosophy to movie-Myiagi). His full name, back when it was canonically Keisuke Miyagi, is an even more clear reference to Teinosuke Yagi.
  • The Sociopath: Dutch, who is even more bloodthirsty than Johnny, is usually seen bobbing excitedly when they're about to hurt Daniel, and is the one who rebukes Bobby most fiercely when the latter protests that the gang has punished Daniel enough. Reinforced by Cobra Kai, where all of the original Cobra Kai gang (now grown up) have renounced Kreese's "no mercy" thinking... except for Dutch, who has gone to prison.
  • There Is No Try:
    Miyagi: Now, ready?
    Daniel: Yeah, I guess so.
    Miyagi: Daniel-san, must talk.
    (they sit down)
    Miyagi: Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later (makes squish gesture) get squish just like grape. Here, karate, same thing. Either you karate do "yes" or karate do "no." You karate do "guess so," (makes squish gesture) just like grape. Understand?
    Daniel: Yeah, I understand.
    Miyagi: Now, ready?
    Daniel: Yeah, I'm ready.
  • Thug Dojo: Cobra Kai, as enforced by Kreese (and much to the eventual chagrin of his charges).
  • Token Good Teammate: Bobby Brown is by far the least barbaric of the Cobra Kai, being the only one who ever worries about taking their abuse of Daniel too far. He later goes on to become a pastor.
  • Trauma Conga Line: From the summer beach party to the Halloween dance, the Cobra Kai gang puts Daniel through endless violence and humiliation until Mr. Miyagi intervenes.
  • Trickster Mentor: Miyagi is very intelligent but likes to live a humble life, with the discovery he is a karate master a big surprise to begin with. He likes to obfuscate with simple questions and has a playful attitude, but also doesn't tell Daniel the purposes of the chores as a deliberate part of the training method.
  • True Blue Femininity: Ali is first seen wearing a blue swimsuit on the beach, and later wears a blue shirt on her first date with Daniel.
  • Uncertified Expert:
    • Mr. Miyagi, a former street-fighter and decorated World War II veteran, is dismissive of karate tournaments' use of belt color to denote skill level, replying "canvas" when Daniel asks him what belt he is. When filling out entry forms at the All-Valley, when he's told of the requirement that entrants be brown belt or higher, he puts Daniel down as a black belt and steals a belt from an official's bag.
    • Mr. Miyagi gives Daniel his keys and tells him to drive his truck. When Daniel protests that he doesn't have a license, Miyagi replies "Me neither."
  • Villainous BSoD: Bobby who was always the most laid back of the Cobra Kais has a minor one after Kreese forces him to injure Daniel's knee and practically breaks down in tears apologizing.
  • Virtue Is Weakness: Sensei Kreese delivers a denigrating speech about mercy to his students.
    We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the street, in competition: a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy.
  • Wax On, Wax Off: The Trope Namer. Mr. Miyagi's method of training Daniel is to have him wax and wash the cars, paint the fence and the sides of his house, and sand the walkway in his garden.
  • We Have Reserves: There's no rule in the All-Valley Karate Championships against any dojo entering multiple students. Kreese uses this to his advantage with the Cobra Kai, much to Bobby and Johnny's chagrin by illegally eliminating Daniel from the competition. With no opposition left in the finals his dojo would win by default.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Daniel did not have a long time to train for the tournament and it's clear he doesn't have the same athletic energy as any of his opponents, but Miyagi focused on teaching fundamentals and efficient move sets. As such everyone else is wasting energy while he makes precision moves to earn the necessary points to win his matches.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Er, where did Freddy go? He seemed set up to become a good friend of Daniel's but he just...disappeared. His other friends peer pressure him into ditching Daniel in the soccer practice scene after the beach fight. He can however briefly be seen watching the tournament right at the end and is presumably part of the crowd that lifts Daniel onto their shoulders after he wins.
  • What the Fu Are You Doing?: While sparring with Mr. Miyagi, Daniel tries fighting like a boxer, doing fancy footwork and jabs. Miyagi easily trips him and orders him to stop dancing around.
  • Would Harm a Senior: When the elderly Mr. Miyagi intervenes in the Halloween beating, the Cobra Kai gang has no issue attacking him five on one. During the confrontation at the dojo, Kreese also threatens to hunt down Miyagi if Daniel doesn't show at the tournament (though it's not until the opening moments of the sequel that Kreese actually attacks Miyagi).
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Daniel stays on the ground after getting gut-kicked by Johnny in their first fight; Johnny thinks he's won and taunts him, but then Daniel hops to his feet and pops him in the nose. The gambit doesn't pay off; Johnny just beats him down even harder.
  • You Have Failed Me: A variation. Kreese strangles Johnny for failing to win and for telling him off for acting crazy. Who knows how far he would have gone had Miyagi not been there?

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Miyagi Saves Daniel

Mr. Miyagi saves Daniel from being viciously beaten by Johnny and his friends.

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