The Karate Kid

I first saw The Karate Kid when I was around eight. That is exactly how old Peanut is, so I expected the same reverence for the film that I had. Didn't happen that way...

First of all, the experience just wasn't the same. I was holding a very grown-up drink, but that was an improvement. Why had I not noticed the first time around, that the Cobra Kai sensei looked like David Hasselhoff and Val Kilmer's lovechild? I'm not kidding - you should take a look, it might surprise you:



Kind of like how I was surprised by the tightness of the jeans and super short shorts that Ralph Macchio wore in the movie. All the male characters were wearing amazingly tight pants, actually. I am kind of puzzled that the generation, as a whole, was able to produce offspring.

The part that broke my heart was the reaction that my children had, to Mr. Miyagi. As a child, I had found the movie and life lessons learned to be profound. Here's what I heard last night:

"Wax on, Wax off." HeeheeheeeheeehaaHAHAHA!

"Paint the fence." OOOOOOhahahahhahHeeeheeeheee!

The kids thought it was HILARIOUS.

They loved the movie, but for an entirely different reason than I did. I still thought the experience of watching the film was something akin to holy. When Daniel-San executed the Crane Kick during the final moment, a sob escaped from my throat. "Look kids", I said, barely holding it together, "he DID IT! With an injured leg and everything! Good overcame evil. Perseverance triumphed!" My husband gave me a look that said I was pathetic.

Then came Pat Morita's all-knowing look, frozen until the credits rolled. The kids exhausted themselves with knee slaps and foot stomps - at the hilarity of his beatific (*sob*) facial expression.

They said that they thought it was a really great movie.

They could have been watching Spongebob.




May 28th, 1986

My favorite thing to do is karate. I go to karate lessons on Thursday and Tuesday. We practice many things. In karate you have to have a stance that keeps you balanced. Like the horse stance you spread your feet as far as you can like this with your back straight so the person your fighting won't pull you down. or the cat stance. you put your feet like a t with all the weight on your back leg like this. I practice my hardest to have strong, steady stances. In karate you have to have strong punches. You put one hand in a fist by your ribs upside down and when you punch you turn it right side up. You need to know how to kick. you need to balance when you kick. To have long, extended, kicks you should strech. Before you strech you should exersize so you don't strain yourself when you strech. I like to do karate and I know alot more than what I told you. But I have to quit in June. And start again in September. I have to practice in the summer my hardest.