Learning balance on the pond

Balance good, karate good, everything good. Balance bad? Better pack up and go home." Miyagi and Daniel at the Chatsworth Nature Preserve.

Off limits to the public, the Chatsworth Nature Preserve — originally the Chatsworth Reservoir — was used for training scenes in The Karate Kid. In this pond on the north side of the preserve, Miyagi fishes and Daniel practices his balance on the bow of Miyagi’s boat.

Dinner at the Country Club scene

The Grand Plaza Ballroom at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza hotel in Thousand Oaks was the location of the Encino Oaks Country Club ballroom in The Karate Kid.

While laughing about the slap he got from Shue at this location, Zabka says, "The way it looks [in the film] is I’m laughing at [Daniel] with spaghetti on him. What my laugh is really saying is, 'She hit me again. I can’t believe she really hit me again.'"

Daniel waits for Ali at the main entrance of the Encino Oaks Country Club — really the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel in Thousand Oaks.

The main entrance of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel, where Daniel waits for Ali.

The All Valley Tournament

Miyagi and Daniel check in for the All Valley Karate Championship in the corridor outside the Matadome at Cal State Northridge.

The Matadome at Cal State Northridge has been substantially upgraded since the production shot there. However, the west side entrance looks virtually unchanged.

 
The All Valley Karate Championship was filmed in the Matadome at Cal State Northridge.

 

Zabka attended Cal State Northridge as a film major before getting cast in The Karate Kid.

 

Macchio says that many angles, along with slow motion, were shot for the final kick, but in the end one simple shot worked best: low and wide. "To credit Billy Zabka [who] took an amazing hit, the kick is great, but the hit was even better," says Macchio.

"Hey, Mr. Miyagi, we did it!" Avildsen says The Karate Kid originally was supposed to end in the parking lot after the tournament. (This is where the 1986 sequel picks up.) However, after the crowd carries Daniel off, Avildsen knew there couldn’t be a better ending. "Well, how can I top this? I don’t need the scene in the parking lot," Avildsen remembers thinking at the time. "How can the audience feel better than at that moment? And I feel that's when you always turn on the lights."

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http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/the-valley-as-seen-in-the-karate-kid-then-and-now-4790827

Dr. Yang Jwing Ming

Fortress of the Golden Dragons

(artwork by Quantum Studio)