“Sweep the leg, Johnny!”

I love The Karate Kid: “Karate here, karate here, karate never here, understand?” “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir.” “I’m Daniel, with an l.”

These are just off the top of my head, and I could go on [barely restrains self].

In honor of the new Karate Kid movie, here are the top six greatest Karate Kid facts:

1. Comics nerds alert! “The Karate Kid” was a member of the DC Comics Legion Of Superheroes. Despite the karate-specific name, DC’s Karate Kid was actually a master of every form of martial arts available through the 31st century, including “super karate.”
2. Mr. Miyagi’s technique for speed and accuracy in motor control of catching flies with chopsticks is a reference to the Japanese samurai film Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima (1956).
3. Legendary samurai film star Toshirô Mifune auditioned for the role of Mr. Miyagi but was thought to be “too serious” and too much like the samurai warriors he played in sixteen Kurosawa films like Rashomon. Mifune’s samurai-seriousness lost him the part, but the world gained the hilarious Yoda-like performance of Pat Morita as Miyage.
4. The “Crane Kick” technique is entirely fictional (sad!).
5. Production on Karate Kid II began just ten days after the release of The Karate Kid. Way to bank on success, guys!
6. The karate choreographers for The Next Karate Kid awarded Hilary Swank the coveted “pink belt” for her mastery of screen-ready flashy karate.




Additional Trivia

7. Karate Kid Ralph Macchio attended my friend Megan’s church in Connecticut.