Question: In tournament action, is the crane kick an actual legal move to use? How about the stance to start the move?
SAZOO1975
26th Sep 2008
The Karate Kid (1984)
Answer: It was not the technique that was illegal but where and how he made contact with Johnny that was illegal. I'm not 100% sure how to describe what is wrong with it but it is the spot he made contact with and that he kicked Johnny with intent to hurt him (witch may seem weird but believe it or not point based karate sparring is in fact a non-contact sport somehow).
In the film, there was nothing illegal about the contact he made, nor was it determined he had an intent to harm. Bobby was disqualified for an excessive and deliberate attack, but he also intentionally kicked the leg, which was not a part of the body to earn a point. What you may be trying to describe as illegal was lack of control. The ref even says to watch the control. It could be up for debate about if Daniel had control over his kick, but in the film, the ref found it acceptable.
21st Dec 2007
The Karate Kid (1984)
Question: During the final fight scene after Daniel scores the 2nd point, Johnny goes to have his Kreese check his nose. When he was done, Kreese told Johnny to "Sweep the lick." What did he mean by this?
Chosen answer: He told him to "Sweep the Leg" meaning to concentrate his attack on Daniel's knee. Johnny balked at this since he would be disqualified, but did it anyway out of fear.
If Johnny was disqualified for sweeping the leg then why didn't Daniel immediately win? Why did the fight instead continue with the final crane kick scene?
Actually means to show no mercy.
Answer: Johnny wouldn't get disqualified. Kreese wants him to do 'sweep the leg' to punish Daniel for a while instead of having Johnny go straight for the win. Johnny questions it only as it's not very sporting to sweep an already injured leg.
Johnny COULD have been disqualified, but for story purposes, he received a warning. Then, when he elbowed Daniel's leg, he got one last warning. The referee told him another strike to the knee and he'd be disqualified. The main antagonist being disqualified is incredibly anti-climactic. Nobody wants to see that in a film. You want the good guy to kick him in the face.
15th Dec 2007
The Karate Kid (1984)
Question: This is in regards to the tournament in this movie and in part 3. Is it compatible to tournaments in real life? In real life, are they physically hitting each other or do they pull back on their punches? What do they do in the tournaments in both movies that is not allowed in a real life tournament?
Chosen answer: Without knowing the exact style of karate, it is impossible to answer. I perform in martial arts tournaments but we wear various protective gear and are prohibited to strike at targets like knees (as in the movie) but are also prohibited from "excessive" contact on legal targets. My brother-in-law, though, does another style - and he won a match by kicking a person so hard he broke ribs and the other participant couldn't continue - so my brother-in-law won the match. Different styles differ. Back in the 70's and 80's "Point sparring" was very popular. This is where the contestants pull their punches only making light contact. This was considered a good skill to have as it taught one control their punches and to learn distance. It was very boring to watch and with the development of safer protective gear point sparring pretty much went away.
14th Dec 2007
The Karate Kid (1984)
Other mistake: During the final match, Johnny scores his second point with a forearm to Daniel's side. However it is incorrectly announced as a kick to the side. Johnny was on one knee at the time and in no position to kick him. Also, you can see Johnny throw a forearm and not a kick.
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Chosen answer: There are no rules about how a fighter must stand before throwing a kick, and it's basically just a jumping front kick, which is completely legal.