Like it or not, The Karate Kid is Probably the Most Important Martial Arts Film of All Time

Yes, you read that right. The Karate Kid.

Let’s face it, it’s not a film that has a tremendous following in the martial arts community. Most don’t hate it. But it’s never on the Mount Rushmore of the genre. There’s an odd sort of resentment that The Karate Kid, of all movies, has cemented in pop culture. It’s a martial arts film without martial artists. Most Karate practitioners will scoff at it, pointing out that whatever Ralph Macchio is doing could barely qualify as karate. How could this be one of the most popular films in the genre?

And yet, it’s probably the most important martial arts film of all time. Probably. [The Karate Kid recently earned a spot on Scott Bolon’s list of Good Martial Arts Movies for Non-Martial Artists.]

With the release of the new original series “Cobra Kai” out this month, I’ve been thinking more about The Karate Kid. The tone of Cobra Kai seems fun, focusing on the original film’s villain “Johnny” as the protagonist. While the franchise’s many entries have tried to keep the tone serious, Cobra Kai seems to be running the other way.

It reminds us that over thirty years later, The Karate Kid has become a comedy. It’s so delightfully a product of the 1980’s. It has it all: the bad training montage, the bad music, the bad karate. You get the feeling its success was largely accidental. Like the filmmakers themselves didn’t know what made it work. But it did work. Kids today are still saying phrases like, “sweep the leg” or “put ’em in a bodybag” without even knowing where they originate. Watching The Karate Kid again this week (you can get it for free if you have Amazon Prime), I still can’t quite call it a great movie. But I can call it an important movie. Here’s why:

1) It portrayed normal people learning martial arts. 

There’s a refreshing lack of stakes in The Karate Kid. No one has been killed, the girlfriend hasn’t been kidnapped, and no one is going to die. This is a high school drama, with as much or more screen time dedicated to a budding romance as to karate.

It was probably a bit surprising for an audience in 1984. At the time, the martial arts was firmly in the action genre. It’s heroes were action heroes: Jean Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal. These were big, masculine men who were just as likely to use guns as their hands. Martial arts films featured healthy amounts of violence, screaming, and veiny arms.

Enter Danny LaRusso. A Jersey kid lost in his new Southern California home. He probably weighed 125 lbs soaking wet. He was played by an actor who had zero martial arts training, which was actually fine because neither did his character. Unlike nearly every other film of the time, The Karate Kid chose not to display a master at the height of his power. Instead, it focused on the learner’s journey. We saw Danny struggle with a steep learning curve, failing more often than succeeding. Even at the films conclusion, Danny was by no means an expert. He had learned just enough to edge out his competition at a local kids tournament.

This portrayal charmed audiences and showed them an example of people training in martial arts while still leading normal lives.

2) It re-branded martial arts to parents.

If you worry about your kids getting triggered by micro-agressions on Reddit, you would not have enjoyed bullying in the 80’s. Back when a new kid in school would get jumped by a pack of boys behind the gym, who would beat him within an inch of his life while an aloof principal threw his hands up and said, “this is how boys work things out.”

School bullying was a largely unaddressed issue in the 80’s, and film was not the social commentary medium it is today. Action stars in top grossing films like Top Gun and Terminator had zero empathy, and their conflict resolution skills were limited to killing everyone who disagrees with you. The martial arts genre drifted toward the action film, with it’s stars trying to emulate what was popular. If anything, these “heroes” probably created a bully or two.

A major message in The Karate Kid is that there are socially acceptable ways to stand against bullying. Our hero, Danny, tries a few times to fight his tormentors on the streets. He not only fails but experiences consequences. Eventually, he does it in a totally legal and supervised karate tournament. He even manages to make peace with a few of them at the conclusion (only to fight them in the parking lot in Karate Kid II, but never mind that).

The film was also deeply relateable to mothers. With divorce rates doubling from 1960 to 1980. Danny and his nemesis, Johnny, was a symbol for a generation of fatherless boys. He had fallen in with a harsh, Vietnam veteran Sensei. A semi-abusive father figure who transferred his pain and anger onto his proteges. He was a not so subtle message that action heroes were poor role models. Daniel’s teacher, Mr. Miyagi, was a paragon. The completely non-threatening grandfather figure whom every mother in America would entrust their boy to. Miyagi was also a war veteran, but his service was marked by tragedy instead of glory.

It struck multiple chords with mothers, seeing martial arts could not only teach their child some self respect, but also might get them around the male figures they needed. Believe it or not, this idea that a martial arts teacher would guide your pre-teen child into manhood had not been widely explored in the genre. The typical martial arts hero was often portrayed as largely complete, fully trained and well into maturity. It’s no wonder that parents across American ran to enroll their children into martial arts schools. Which leads to my next point.

3) It created the kids market.

Sure, kids classes existed before The Karate Kid. But smartphones existed before the iphone, and no one cared. This film supercharged the previously untapped kids market. Suddenly, taking the kids to karate practice became as normal as taking them to soccer and ballet. Instructors of all styles scrambled to get their kids programs off the ground amidst the surge of demand. Children became the financial backbone of the martial arts business model. This change was disruptive to teachers who either didn’t like kids or didn’t see the value of what was happening in pop culture.

This opened up a pandora’s box where teachers struggled with new questions of just how you were supposed to teach eight-year-olds things designed for grown men and women. Slowly, instructors began to find new ways to tailor their curriculum towards children. Short attention spans, crazy energy, and bodies that were still developing needed special attention. Kids also needed to see progress in more tangible ways (or maybe their parents did). Basic belt systems expanded for kids to include multicolored belts, gold stars, and yes, the dreaded children’s black belt.

But on the whole, all this attention karate was getting was a good thing. The groundwork was being laid for a generation of children who would grow up doing martial arts, most fondly remembering The Karate Kid in their childhoods.

At the end of the day, I’m still not going to tell anyone that this movie is required viewing to understand martial arts. Hell, I still get annoyed someone let Daniel compete in the black belt division after two months of training. Who is running this tournament?! But there is a real sweetness to the story. Pat Morita’s performance absolutely holds up and makes the film eminently watchable when he’s on screen. Ralph Macchio is totally believable when he stands next to his Cobra Kai adversaries, who look like full blown adults. The movie might not be great, but it’s kinda awesome. I’m looking forward to seeing where the Cobra Kai series takes the franchise.

And please, someone, do the Mr. Miyagi prequel film.

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Louie Martin

Louie is a black belt in Seibukan Jujutsu, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, and Enshin Itto ryu Battojutsu. He's certified in Gracie Combatives and trains at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu.

He runs a site called HighPercentageMartialArts.com, dedicated exclusively to statistics in martial arts.

He wrote a book about fanaticism in martial arts, called The True Believers.

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