# So. "The Karate Kid." Is the karate all bullshit or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605 "2005-11-18T04:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/41 "2005-11-19T23:39:03Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I would agree with that, with just one caveat: I fear _sparring_ with a rookie, because generally they have no “touch.” In full contact for all the marbles, I’ll gladly take the amateur over the pro. If you’re sparring somebody that’s been at it for many, many years, they can usually control and/or defeat you easily without hurting you too badly just through the proper application of technique. It’s the guy who’s just been in it for a little while and has some game but no touch who’s likely to wade in and completely coldcock you in what was supposed to be “light contact.” I’ve never had a black belt seriously injure me accidentally, but I’ve had an intermediate belt send me to the minor emergency clinic with a “straddle injury to the perineum,” i.e. kicked the bejeezus out of me right in my taint. I agree with this completely. When you’re sparring somone that has no control, you can get hurt, because the entire point is to engage in controlled fighting. Plus, when you’re sparring every night, it’s easy to occasionally let your guard down, and you have to trust your opponent to be able to pull his punches. Rookie’s can’t do that. But if you’re fighting full contact for real, then you’re trying to hit with as much power as you can, and here an uncontrolled rookie will just get clobbered. The difference in power between a rookie and a black belt of the same size is dramatic. Rookies don’t know how to shift their weight or use their hips to transfer power into their punches and kicks, and therefore generally just aren’t throwing them with a lot of force. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/42 "2005-11-20T18:13:21Z")
Parts of it were good. The philosophy was good and some of the basic moves were good. Quite obviously, some of the supporting characters had some fairly good training. Having said that, the rest of it was all Hollywood movie-fu and it sucked. I’m the fight coordinator for a movie in production right now. I know how hard it is to teach someone enough basics in a short time to make them look halfway decent. They didn’t even bother to do that with Ralph, or else he’s a total klutz. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/43 "2005-11-20T20:10:43Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I’m the fight coordinator for a movie in production right now. I know how hard it is to teach someone enough basics in a short time to make them look halfway decent. They didn’t even bother to do that with Ralph, or else he’s a total klutz. Very cool. Can you tell us any details? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/44 "2005-11-20T21:00:56Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > They didn’t even bother to do that with Ralph, or else he’s a total klutz. This starts to answer the question I’d like to ask: Do/did either Ralph Macchio or Pat Morita actually know any actual karate? Could either of them have entered a karate tournament at the time and not get completely laughed off the mat? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/45 "2005-11-20T22:39:20Z")
The ‘Hip Nip’ never apparently had any formal training. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat\_Morita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Morita) … I just like being able to say ‘Hip Nip’ now. That’s all _kinds_ of outdated. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605/46 "2005-11-21T00:05:32Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > This starts to answer the question I’d like to ask: Do/did either Ralph Macchio or Pat Morita actually know any actual karate? Could either of them have entered a karate tournament at the time and not get completely laughed off the mat? No. If Macchio had any training, it wasn’t very good. I’d say ‘yellow belt’ was about the level he was at, considering the quality of his punches and kicks. He did an awesome job of faking being able to play guitar in _Crossroads_, however. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-karate-kid-is-the-karate-all-bullshit-or-what/331605.md?page=2)