The Karate Kid

Question: Why does Daniel get annoyed with Miyagi after he says Daniel was lucky he didn't hurt his hand falling off his bike?

Answer: Daniel's wounds came from fighting the Cobra Kai guys but he tells Miyagi that he was injured falling off of his bike. Miyagi sees through this and sarcastically says that he's lucky his hand wasn't hurt.

Damian Torres

I think he was also subtle letting him know he knew he didn't really fall off his bike because if he had, he would have at the very least scraped his hands...especially if he fell hard enough to cause that much damage to his face.

He was still trying to hide it. However, if you fall, you instinctively put out your hands, and they would be scraped up. Miyagi, older and experienced in life, knew better, but Daniel wasn't going to admit it outright.

Question: At the end of their date, Daniel and Ali run into some of her snobby friends who insult Daniel and drive off. Then Ali seems irritated at Daniel, but why? She's the one who is more laid back about their relationship and the fact that Daniel doesn't fit in with her friends. You'd think if anything she would try to reassure Daniel and say it's no big deal. So why is she mad at him, especially since he didn't say or do anything to make her so?

Krista

Chosen answer: She is irritated because he told her she could have gone with her friends if she wanted. I believe she got annoyed because Ali thought Daniel should have realized by now she wanted to be with him and didn't care what her friends thought.

weetie21

Also, you have to take a look at the snobby friends involved. Johnny and Dutch, two of Daniel's tormentors, were in the front seat and another one, Tommy, was in the backseat with two of Ali's friends who have always looked down on him. This came on the heels of another of Ali's snobby but nicer friends chatting with the two of them from a brand new sports car. Not to mention that at the start of the evening he met Ali's parents who made him uncomfortable. Although it is true that she would have been irritated with Daniel because he hadn't figured out that she didn't care what her friends or parents thought, he couldn't see past the fact that Johnny and his friends were part of her circle. He believed that she would look down on him and wouldn't be any different, which she picked up on, sparking her irritation when he told her she could have gone with them if she wanted to.

dewinela

Question: Why does Daniel lie to Freddy Fernandez about his mother's job? He said that she worked with rocket computers, yet we see her working in a restaurant.

Socks1000

Chosen answer: He didn't lie. That was the company she was supposed to be working for. However, the company went bankrupt and she lost her job. She showed up at the restaurant at the same time that the hostess quit and was hired immediately.

Question: I read that there was supposedly a deleted scene which happens during or after Daniel's fight against Dutch. Namely, after Daniel scores a point, Dutch gets so angry that he tackles him, causing him to get disqualified in the process. Is this true that this scene existed?

Answer: Yes.

And why was this scene deleted? It would explain how Daniel was able to defeat Dutch by scoring only one point.

Question: Johnny mentions something about ex-degenerate. I was just curious, what exactly was he talking about?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: He's basically saying that he's going to go "straight-edge" and stop drinking, partying etc. He's going to buckle down and be good. Most likely to win Allie back.

Question: Bobby doesn't take part in the fight after the Halloween dance and even tries to get the gang to stop beating up Daniel, so why does he attack Miyagi after he saves him from Johnny's kick?

Answer: Because this is no longer simply beating up someone who is at their mercy, this is some strange guy coming in and taking his friends apart.

LorgSkyegon

I always thought Bobby was the bad/ good guy, because he didn't like to hurt Daniel or make trouble, he even felt bad for that kick to the side, that almost knocked Daniel out of the tournament, he was forced into doing it from Kreese and even apologized to Daniel, I think he just went along with the rest of the guys, to fit in with the gang.

Chosen answer: "San" is a japanese term of respect. Sort of like the english "Mr.", however "Sir" would be a little closer to what it means in japanese. They attach the "San" at the end of someone's name, rather than at the begining like english speakers do.

RJR99SS

Chosen answer: Did you not see the beginning of the film? Daniel stood up to Johnny and the other Cobra Kai's on the beach. This makes him their enemy. As Kreese teaches them, "an enemy deserves no mercy", which is why they continue to pick on him.

Answer: There's also the fact that Daniel is with Johnny's ex, Ali.

Question: Why was Ali mad at Daniel at the mini golf course? The last time we saw them together was at the club where Daniel got embarrassed. But they were already planning to meet there. I have seen no explanation as to why she was mad at him.

lartaker1975

Chosen answer: Ali was upset with Daniel because he didn't allow her to explain why when he came to pick her up, he found her not only dancing with her ex-boyfriend but kissing him. He ran off after running into a waiter and everyone (Johnny included) laughed at him as he sat on the ground in a mostly white outfit covered in spaghetti sauce.

Answer: I never understood that either. Of course he ran off without letting her explain! That was humiliating and she should have been the one to apologize.

Yes, but teenage girls don't work that way.

Question: In the first movie does Mr. Myagi have a trabant car in his front yard?

Answer: No, the closest thing to looking like a Trabant is a 1959 Metropolitan 1500.

rswarrior

Question: How old is Danny supposed to be? And why in the scene were Daniel is out to eat with his mom after seeing the karate place that Johnny is in, why do they come out point to him laugh and run away?

Garretob1

Chosen answer: Daniel is 15. He turns 16 just before the tournament. Remember that the cobra kais hate Daniel. So the fact that he had the audacity to show up at their dojo and is then spotted eating with his "mommy" amuses them. They run away because they wanted to be ready on their bikes to get him when he left the restaurant.

Gavin Jackson

No, he was 17, turning 18 in the film (note his line "kid's legal now, huh?") Remember, Karate Kid II is the summer after part 1, where Daniel is going off to college in the Fall (or would have been).

This answer can't be accurate. When Daniel says "Kid's legal now", he meant he can now drive meaning he was 16. Just the same, he was able to fight a year later in the tournament in part 3, in which case he'd be 17. So he couldn't be 17 in part 1 or he would not qualify to enter in part 3 (being 18).

Answer: There definitely seems to be confusion about his age. Initially he was born in 1968, making him 15 turning 16 just before the tournament. When Mr. Miyagi celebrates Daniel's birthday, you can see the cake has 16 candles. However, in Karate Kid 3, which is meant to be set the following school year, Daniel is in college, so they retconned his birthday to 1966 (December 18, 1966 is his). This of course means Daniel was over 18 when fighting in the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championship.

Bishop73

Question: Where is the school that Daniel was seen riding his bike to, and is the school real and/or still there?

Answer: It's the Charles Evans Hughes Jr High School in CA and it still stands.

ChiChi

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?

SAZOO1975

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.

papajim

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.

Question: Is the healing technique that Mr. Miyagi uses where he rubs his hands together real, or just something made up for the movie?

Krista

Chosen answer: That's debatable. Some Chinese people believe that they can heal injuries with the power of their hands, but it has yet to be proved by science. They added it into the movie to make Mr Miyagi seem powerful and mysterious.

Answer: The rubbing of the hands is to get Miyagi's chi flowing - the Eastern cultures believe this to be inner energy of the spirit. A Western perspective would be to say Miyagi did this to warm his hands. The heat generated would help massage Daniel's injury (think of a hot stone massage). He then focuses on the pressure points and eases the knots in Daniel's body (or in the leg injury scene, his pain). He didn't 'heal' Daniel; he simply numbed the pain, which is why Daniel was still limping.

Answer: Sake, or possibly Japanese Whiskey.

Answer: Reviewing the film long ago during my own drinking days... He was actually drinking Lord Calvert American blended whiskey.

Question: Why wasn't Johnny disqualified for his own "illegal contact to the knee" like Bobby was? We know the ref saw it happen because he gave Johnny a warning. Never made sense to me.

lartaker1975

Answer: The answer makes no sense since Johnny caught the leg and purposely rams the elbow into the back of the knee. There was no accident about it. Even the ref acknowledged this.

lartaker1975

Chosen answer: Johnny attacked an illegal area which the rules accept may happen accidentally and so they have provisions for warnings and such in light of that possibility, whereas Bobby performed an illegal technique which cannot happen accidentally, and therefore the rules call for immediate disqualification.

Phixius

That wasn't an accident; Johnny deliberately elbowed the back of the knee. But having him disqualified would be a terrible ending to a great film. The warning was for plot reasons.

Answer: The movie never explains this and it always seemed like an error to me. I've always reconciled it by saying that a flying kick to an opponents knee is considered so egregious it warrants an instant disqualification, while an elbow to the knee only draws a warning. Once again, the movie never actually says this so it's only speculation but it does make some sort of sense if you think about it.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: I always took it to mean that the kick Bobby did actually put Daniel in a position where he was unable to continue, and that it was a definite attempt at maliciousness (at least in the referee's eyes), whereas Johnny's attack might have simply been an accident. Look when Bobby kicked Daniel's knee-the fight just started, and it wasn't an accident. When Johnny connected (Up to this point Johnny fought fairly and within the rules) they were in the middle of a match, and Johnny simply hit him illegally without intending to. When I used to train and fight in tournaments, I once got punched across the jaw by an opponent who got a warning. When he did it a second time a few seconds later, he was disqualified. It wasn't something that appeared malicious, it was just in the heat of the moment of the fight. Bobby's act wasn't, which is why he got disqualified. Johnny could have been in the heat of the moment, which is why he only got a warning. If he hit the knee again, he would have been disqualified.

dewinela

Question: In tournament action, is the crane kick an actual legal move to use? How about the stance to start the move?

SAZOO1975

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.

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.

Bishop73

Answer: While the kick might not have killed Daniel, who's to say that the beating would have stopped there? Johnny told Bobby that he'd decide when he'd had enough. Johnny was extremely mad, and might have gone really far. Even if he didn't, most of his friends were on the same page, so they might have joined in beating him. If Miyagi hadn't intervened, Daniel very well could have been killed.

dewinela

Chosen answer: Very unlikely.

Question: At the beginning during the Cruel Summer song sequence, while playing soccer Daniel is seen in an obvious "set-up" fight with Bobby. Was this gym class, or soccer try-outs?

Answer: It looks like after school try-outs since the cheerleaders are also practising.

ChiChi

Answer: Ali said "I'm sorry what happened at the soccer try outs" when she and Daniel are in the cafeteria together.

Question: When Daniel is organising a second date with Ali, Ali trips over the ball heading back to the cheerleader, who says "Way to go, Buttertoes?" What does 'Butter toes' mean?

Answer: "Butterfingers" is a common jab for someone being clumsy and dropping something. "Buttertoes" is a play on this, because she was clumsy with her feet.

Do you have any idea who actually says it? Can't work out whose voice it is.

Either Johnny or Tommy. It's hard to make out, but the other Cobra Kai didn't really interact with Ali, so it would be one of those two.

Continuity mistake: In the final fight between Daniel and Johnny, there is a time when Johnny's head band falls off (after Johnny scores his second point). Right after it falls off, if you look quickly you can see it back on, then it goes back off. (02:00:50)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That right unless there were a few bits of the scene cut where the referee gave it back to him.

More mistakes in The Karate Kid

[Miyagi karate-chops the tops off three beer bottles.]
Daniel: How did you do that? How did you do that?
Miyagi: Don't know. First time.

More quotes from The Karate Kid

Trivia: Daniel's Apartment is called "The South Seas," located in Reseda, CA.

More trivia for The Karate Kid

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.