# The "Karate Kid" Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401 "2004-07-22T20:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/1 "2004-07-22T20:09:56Z")
I saw this old flick last night on AMC…it is an enjoyablemovie. Anyway, Pat Morita (the guy who played Mr. Miyagi)-is he still working? I haven’t seen him for a while. And the boy …Ralph ?..did he make it as an adult actor? I recall seeing Morita being interviewed after the movie came out…he said he knew nothing about the martial arts! I thought it was neat hoe he taught the kid…“wax on, wax off”! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/2 "2004-07-22T20:30:49Z")
[Pat Morita.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001552/) Still working bit parts. [Ralph Macchio.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001494/) Still working bit parts. Most notably famous for “My Cousin Vinnie” as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/3 "2004-07-22T21:03:30Z")
Ralph Macchio was 23 when Karate Kid was made so it seems that most of his success came as an adult. Repeat after me, “IMDB is my friend.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/4 "2004-07-22T21:25:38Z")
[Noriyuki Pat Morita: In the Footsteps of a Sensei](http://www.furyu.com/archives/issue6/Morita.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/5 "2004-07-22T22:28:50Z")
He’s got an interview in the latest issue of INSIDE KUNG FU, I’m pretty sure that if you searched, you could find the article online. I didn’t read it. IIRC, he didn’t know any martial arts before the Karate Kid and I don’t think he really learned any afterwards. I always found that funny. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/6 "2004-07-22T22:33:41Z")
Ralph Macchio has also done stage work in his adult life… We just saw him in a play Off-Broadway, and I think a while back he was in the musical _How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/7 "2004-07-22T23:07:39Z")
My friend used to always joke about Pat Morita’s thumb. I guess he saw it in a movie and it looked really weird or something? I’ve always wondered if there was something to this or if my friend was just stoned. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/8 "2004-07-23T03:12:54Z")
I still can’t get over the fact that Ralph Macchio is 43. I mean, WTF? It doesn’t seem possible! Of course, when one realises that the movie is now 20 years old, it makes a bit more sense, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/9 "2004-07-23T05:10:14Z")
A funny “Karate Kid” story … Five or six years ago, I was working for the small daily newspaper in Fairmont, W.V. For the big Christmas parade, the city got a big-named Hollywood actor to be the grand marshall. It was none other than Martin Kove, the evil karate instructor from the “Karate Kid.” Everytime his name was in the paper, it was always “Martin Kove, who played the evil karate instructor in the Karate Kid movies …” ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/10 "2004-07-23T05:34:10Z")
I just watched Rambo: First Blood Part II, Kove is in that as well. I loved his character in the Karate Kid movies. For those of you who have seen Karate Kid, Part III, which is my favorite of the series, I want to point out that the evil karate instructor Terry Silver is supposed to be a Vietnam veteran terrorizing an 18-year old Ralph Macchio. However it should be noted that Ralph was 26 during the making of that movie; Thomas Ian Griffith, who played Silver, was 25! This sounds cryptic in text format here, but anyone who has seen this movie and who has seen Macchio and Griffith standing next to each other in the dojo scenes will attest to the weirdness of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/11 "2004-07-23T06:10:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ralph Macchio was 23 when Karate Kid was made so it seems that most of his success came as an adult. Repeat after me, “IMDB is my friend.” 😉 :eek: He looks like 15 in the movie! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/12 "2004-07-23T11:59:23Z")
can we pause and just appreciate how awesome Karate Kid was? I was 12 when that movie came out and I still love that piece of cheese. If it’s on TV, I sing along during the tournament, “You’re the best. . .around. . .and nothing’s gonna ever get you down.” “get him a body bag” “sweep the leg” I went home from that movie and practiced wax on, wax off – and I’m guessing I’m not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/13 "2004-07-23T19:19:23Z")
I was 16, and more interested in that cool Crane Technique. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/14 "2004-07-23T19:42:50Z")
And one of the truly amazing things is how that ‘crane’ technique thing has entered the public conscience. I’ll bet most people who see it (and do it) don’t even remember where it came from. It was in Disney’s ‘Hercules’ move. I recently saw ‘Bello the Clown’ at Ringling Bros do the pose when someone from the audience (whom he selected) threw something at him and it connected. I know I’ve seen it elsewhere. Truly, the ‘crane technique’ has entered the public conscience as a ‘martial arts fighting style’ or somesuch. Oh, and Elizabeth Shue plays the girlfriend. I just realized that the other night as well. Weird. Oh, and I got my first real chance to feel a girl up during the movie. “Ah, yes…I remember it…weeellllll.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/15 "2004-07-23T22:43:35Z")
Speaking of Elizabeth Shue, it was weird to watch Karate Kid recently, and realize that’s the same girl from Leaving Las Vegas. Also, didn’t Karate Kid 2 paint an unflattering image of her character, leaving Daniel, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/16 "2004-07-24T01:10:49Z")
Oh, geez. I was wondering “hey, yeah, what’s he been up to lately?” and went to IMDB. He [still looks like a kid](http://us.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/1368/Events/1368/RalphMacchioENetwork_Vespa_323961_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Macchio,%20Ralph)!!! That photo was taken when he was what, 41? He was really, really good in _The Outsiders_. “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…” ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/17 "2004-07-24T03:39:54Z")
Because of Karate kid I painted my room with a brush. It took me 5 hours and looked amazing! That is, until I came back the next day when the paint was dry - I started over with one of those rolling brushes: it took me half an hour and everything looked A-Ok afterwards. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/18 "2004-07-24T03:50:13Z")
_Karate Kid_ totally skipped England (at least, it skipped the part of England I was in), but a year after my family came back to the States _Karate Kid, Part II_ was released. There was huge buzz about it, especially among my fellow 15-year-olds, and I remember having to ask my friends what the big deal was. No one could believe that I’d never heard of _Karate Kid_! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/19 "2004-07-24T03:56:08Z")
> [@cazzle](#): > > I still can’t get over the fact that Ralph Macchio is 43. I mean, WTF? It doesn’t seem possible! > > Of course, when one realises that the movie is now 20 years old, it makes a bit more sense, but still… Say it ain’t so, because if he’s 43, I’m 40! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401/20 "2004-07-24T06:51:07Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I was 16, and more interested in that cool Crane Technique. When I was a teen I studied martial arts for a short time and one day a friend tried the “Crane Technique”(which he saw on Karate Kid) while sparring with the instructor. The instructor made **very** short work of him and then commented, “Don’t ever bring some movie BS in here again”. It’s still funny to me 15 years later. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-karate-kid-questions/256401.md?page=2)