So I finished rewatching The Karate Kid (The one with Mr. Miyagi… Duh) for the umpteenth time. It’s been one of my favorite movies to watch for a long time because it still gives me the chills watching the student-teacher dynamic built between an unlikely duo. The movie’s many valuable lessons are relevant to martial arts and life. More importantly, the film has aged well and is still a delight to watch, even though it’s been 36 years since it was first released in theatres.
- When the Larusso family moves to California, we see Daniel having a tough time adjusting to his new life. This situation is bound to arise (unless you plan to remain in one place forever). The best way is to treat it as an opportunity and welcome it with open arms and an open mind. We have to remain patient.
- Things always aren’t what they seem to appear at first. Mr. Miyagi’s training method involves a lot of menial labor and doesn’t seem to have any connection with Karate. Even though Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel this before the start, Daniel learns defensive techniques through muscle memory, something he realizes when his teacher attacks him (FYI, you can find the same thing happening in the 2016 film, Baaghi starring Tiger Shroff). This piece of wisdom is repeated many times in the movie by Mr. Miyagi, who is a living example. He starts as a maintenance man in a building, someone you don’t give a second thought to. He happens to be a master at Karate and a very wise man.
- People aren’t always what you expect them to be, don’t judge them too quickly. Feeding off the last point, Mr. Miyagi is also a World War II veteran with a sad past. He doesn’t like to fight, maintaining that Karate is used for defense only because he has seen combat for real. He is a recipient of the Medal of Valor as well.
- You can learn from anything and anyone. Mr. Miyagi becomes Daniel’s mentor, guide, friend, and father figure. Given how they meet, you can be sure that you can find a mentor if you are willing to learn with an open mind. This is also shown in many scenes as the movie progresses. Mr. Miyagi learned a lot of lessons from his time with Daniel.
- There are no bad students, only bad teachers. The teacher commands, and the student obeys, no questions asked. This calls for a total surrender on the student’s part and a willingness to trust the process. This is harder than it may seem because surrendering control to someone else isn’t easy. The student-teacher dynamic used to be this way and should be this way, but we have different notions of being an apprentice these days. On the teacher’s part, they must put in their dedicated efforts because someone has shown faith in them.
- We don’t fight to win or lose. It is about your self-respect and self-esteem. We learn to fight so we don’t have to fight. Daniel starts to learn Karate to defeat the Cobra Kai folks but soon realizes his motivations are shallow. The more prudent cause is to earn their respect, to prove a point so they will never bother him again. This holds for life as well. With all the politics and power plays we indulge in our lives, what’s the point? To score one over the other person? We need to be honest about our motivations for doing anything and reach for a greater purpose that’s more meaningful.
- We need to be committed to the task at hand. When we start something, we either commit with the utmost dedication or not start at all. If we have one foot out the door and second-guess ourselves at every turn, we will never reach anywhere.
“You can walk on the right side of the road and it will be safe. You can walk on the left side of the road and you will be safe. If you walk in the middle, you will get squashed like a grape. The same is true for Karate and for life.”
These are just some of the things I picked up during this viewing. There is so much to unpack in the movie that I am confident that if I watch it again, I will come up with another list like this. All things said and done, the most important theme explored in this movie is the importance of having BALANCE.
You can be all-powerful, wealthy, and have everything else going for you, but if we don’t have balance in our lives, we will never be at peace. This is true for every aspect of our lives, relationships, career, and even ourselves. Near the movie’s end, Daniel sits in the locker room before the final fight, nursing an injured leg. He implores his mentor to help him so he can fight and be at peace with himself (Similar situation is seen in the 2013 film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag when the protagonist races barefoot with an injured leg. He knows it is risky, but he needs to do it so he can be at peace with himself).