Mar 31, 2012

Teen Beat

 
I always thought Daniel looked like he was wearing a Playboy mansion smoking jacket in this scene.


Mar 19, 2012

Karate Kid 3 - Terry Silver book



So I got lucky again on Ebay and found the book original Cobra Kai member Terry Silver gives to Daniel so he can learn "front sweeps."

I had hoped that this same book maybe was the one used in Karate Kid 1 in the "fix faucet" scene where Daniel is trying to learn karate from a book. I thought maybe this book was in the movie studio's prop dept and was used in both movies but no such luck, the illustrations and photos are different.

I'm still happy though that I was able to get this one. Another addition to the collection.





Mar 16, 2012

Mar 14, 2012

Sacrilege!



Ummm......no, there is only one Karate Kid and his name is Daniel Larusso. Is your name Daniel Larusso?

I didn't think so.

Sorry cowboy but you will not be the next Karate Kid.

Mar 12, 2012

Challenge at the dojo

Chapter 13, pages 58-59

"That's what's bothering you? The odds? We can fix that. Feel like a match, Mr. Lawrence?"

"Anytime, sensei." Johnny snapped to attention.

Daniel felt the burn of Kreese's stare as he eyed him. Somehow, he managed to keep his face still and hide the terror he felt in the presence of this man and his deadly students.

"Roberts!" commanded Kreese. "Get him a gi! We'll have a match. That better, old man?"

"No."

"Well," he said, sarcastically. "What more can we do to accommodate you? Room service?"

"No more fighting."

"This is a karate dojo, not a knitting class," he said has he thrust the karate outfit into Daniel's arms. "Now, let's get this over with. I've got a class to teach!"

Mr. Miyagi took the gi from Daniel's hand and put it neatly on the chair. He turned to leave. Daniel followed.

Kresse's face reddened in anger. He blocked their exit and spoke menacingly.

"You don't come into my dojo, drop a challenge, and leave, old man. Now get the kid on the floor, or, antique or not, you and I have a serious problem."

"Too much advantage, your dojo."

"Name a place," Kreese challenged.

Trip to the dojo

Chapter 13 of the book offers up a slightly different sequence of events at the Cobra Kai dojo. I will cover them in two sections.

The first is the karate lesson activities before the confrontation between Mr Miyagi and Sensei Kreese.

Chapter 13, page 57

The students paired for combat practice and, for the first time since he'd arrived in California, Daniel had an opportunity to observe a karate match without being an unwilling participant. There was an awesome beauty in the grace and speed of the motions, but even with hand and foot protectors, it was a rough game. One of the students was downed by another and was in obvious pain.

Kreese was not sympathetic.

"Get up," he said, coldly. "Pain purifies. The mind is master."

The boy gasped for breath, trying to pull himself up. To Daniel, he didn't appear purified - merely petrified.

"Say it!" commanded Kreese.

Weakly, the boy repeated Kresse's phrase.

"Louder!"

"Pain purifies. The mind is master!" he shouted. Kreese nodded and ordered the injured boy to do a hundered sit-ups. The boy dragged himself to the sit-up board and began his task.

It was at this point that Johnny spotted Daniel and Mr. Miyagi in the gallery. Kreese observed Johnny's distraction and said, sarcastically, "Lose concentration and you're dead meat, Mr. Lawrence."

Johnny leaned forward and whispered to Kreese. The sensei's hard eyes focussed on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Daniel was unnerved by his look and began to stand up.

"Let's go," he whispered to Mr. Miyagi, but the old man's hand rested gently on his knee, staying him. Kreese walked to the edge of the gallery and stood before Mr. Miyagi, towering over him.

"I understand you jumped on my students last night."

The good ol' days

 

Mar 11, 2012

Athletic field?

Chapter 11, page 48

With all the Cobras chasing after him, including a soaking wet Johnny, Daniel tore through the crowd in the gym, past an astonished Ali. He glanced over his shoulder just before going through the door. The last thing he saw was Ali, sticking out her beautiful leg to trip Johnny.

What a girl! Daniel thought, shedding his shower costume as he went. He knew his only hope for safety was to get over the chainlink fence at the far end of the athletic field. If he could do that, he'd be able to get home. If he couldn't, well, he didn't want to think about that.

He ran across the empty field. The fence was closer now, but he was winded and tired. At last, he reached the fence and scrambled up it, struggling to reach the top, but before he could pull himself over, Johnny grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the ground.

Legit


The Halloween dance and a kiss

Chapter 10 delivers a big shock, one I was not expecting. Daniel and Ali's first kiss.

Chapter 10, page 45

Through a crack in the curtain, he looked around the gym until he saw Ali dressed as a harem girl. The costume showed off some of her best features. Carefully, Daniel maneuvered the shower to her side, quickly opened the curtain, enveloped her and closed the curtain. Ali was startled, but smiled when she recognized her captor.

"Want to dance?" he asked, putting his arms around her waist.

"I never danced with a shower before," she said, putting her arms around his neck.

"Well, don't you think it's time to test the water?" he joked.

Ali nodded, smiling. "Where have you been hiding? I haven't seen you for weeks.'

"I've been busy."

"I'm glad you got unbusy," Ali said.

"Me, too."

Daniel looked into Ali's eyes, then pulled her softly toward his racing heart. She looked up at him and tilted her head. Gently, he leaned toward her and they kissed. And kissed again.

A broken bicycle

When Daniel walks into Mr. Miyagi's workshop and asks him if it was he who fixed his bike I always wondered to myself what was wrong with his bike. Yeah, he said he hated his bike and threw it into the dumpster, but what was wrong with it?

The book clears it up.

Chapter 8, page 35

"KIAAIIIII!" Daniel howled in disgust as he heaved his broken bicycle into the dumpster outside his apartment.

He had walked it all the way home, but when the axle broke in the parking lot, he gave up on it.

Daniel's mother was getting out of the Chevy when she saw Daniel at the dumpster.

"Daniel!" she called, running across the lot to him. "What's the matter?" He turned away from her to hide the tears and the bruises.

"What's wrong with you bike? Why did you throw it away?"

"Felt like it," he mumbled.

Reseda, Okinawa



Mar 10, 2012

No "no mercy"

"Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir!"

Nobody could forget those words, especially Daniel. They are what the Cobra Kai are all about. However in the book the phase is slightly different.

Chapter 7, page 31

Daniel stared at the steamed dumplings on the plate before him at The Orient Express. With a chill, he remembered the words he had heard shouted in cadence that afternoon at the karate school he had visited, the Cobra Kai Dojo:

"What do we study?"

"The Way of the Fist!"

"And what is that Way?"

"Strike first. Strike hard!"

That was the way of the karate school where Daniel had thought he might train.

He remembered the "sensei" - the teacher, John Kreese. He was a dangerous looking man, with cold, piercing eyes - the sort of person who just looked like he'd strike first and strike hard.

The students followed Mr. Kreese with awesome precision in their solemn ritual practice. Daniel had watched from the visitor's gallery, waiting to speak to the sensei after class, hoping he could afford the lessons he wanted so badly.

Mar 9, 2012

Got it!



A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how I would like to get my hands on a copy of the Family Circle magazine that sits under Daniel's karate book in the "fix faucet" scene. I also mentioned I thought it would be difficult unless there were a grandma out there somewhere that saves Family Circle magazines.

Well, a few Ebay searches later and I got it, I found it when I searched for "Peanuts" items.

April 1969 is the date on the magazine and it only cost 20 cents, in 1969 that is. I had to pay $10.00, well worth it though. My collection has begun.

Mar 4, 2012

Lunchroom fight

As with most movies scenes are cut out during the editing process for one reason or another, and the Karate Kid was no exception.

One scene that was cut out, although I wish it hadn't been, was the lunchroom fight scene.



Chapter 6, page 29-30

"How over?"

"Weeks." Ali spotted two vacant seats and led the was to them.

Daniel mumbled to no one in particular, "Weeks. What's weeks? One? Two? Fifty-two? One half?"

Ali put her milk on the table and sat down. Daniel pulled out a chair, but when he sat down, there was a sickening squish. Too late, he realized there was something on the chair. When he stood up, he found a mashed piece of blueberry pie all over the seat of his white pants.

"Ooooh-gross!" said a girl at the next table.

Daniel looked for the culprit and he didn't have to look far. At a nearby table, Johnny and his henchmen were congratulating one another. All around, the kids spotted Daniel's pants and began laughing.

Ali was angry.

"You jerk!" she cried to Johnny. Daniel wiped the thick blueberry mess off his pants and held it in his hands as he walked calmly to Johnny.

"Don't even think about it, worm."

Daniel hesitated for a moment. He had, after all, made it to lunch period without a fight.

Calmly, he smeared the gob of blueberry gunk on Johnny's shirt. Mayhem erupted.

Mar 2, 2012

Darryl Vidal, still practicing the art



(from killboxx.com)

Darryl Vidal - Ku Dan (9th Degree) Kenpo Karate - has been training and teaching Kenpo Karate for over 30 years. He has also trained in Boxing, Wrestling, Filipino Stick-Fighting and Wing-Chun Kung Fu. He appeared as himself in the Original Karate Kid movie as the Tournament Semi-Finalist, and also stunt-doubled as Mr. Miyagi doing the Crane Technique atop the wooden stumps on the beach. Darryl currently teaches Kenpo Karate, Stick-Fighting, and Self-Defense for the Murrieta Parks and Recreation Department in Murrieta, California.

Ali, with an " i "