metro
11-28-2005, 09:35 AM
Mr. Monday: Mr. Miyagi was a great coach
Mr. Monday still hasn't caught a fly with chopsticks.
No beginner's luck here.
It's been 21 years since "The Karate Kid" hit the big screen, giving skinny weaklings hope against the Cobra Kais of the world.
But at Mr. Monday's house, the flick just debuted as the Friday night movie, a tradition which has introduced 5-year-old Junior Monday to the hits of the '80s and '90s.
But a week after watching it came the news that the heart of the movie -- Pat Morita -- had died Thursday at age 73.
Mr. Miyagi was headed to the bonsai forest in the sky.
Sure, the kid had dug the movie because of its sweet moves. Miyagi jumping over the fence to open a can on the skeleton-costumed baddies; Daniel-San winning the All-Valley Tournament with the crane technique kick to Johnny's glass jaw.
But, as a dad instead of a 12-year-old, Mr. Monday found pretty deep waters running through the Daniel-Miyagi dynamic.
Miyagi was the greatest coach ever captured on film.
"We make sacred pact," Miyagi tells Daniel. "I promise teach karate to you, you promise learn. I say, you do, no questions."
And that's how it starts. But the bulk of the movie is about the lessons, not about the fights.
It's about sanding the floor, painting the fence. And, of course, waxing on and waxing off.
That's how Miyagi is a great coach. Unlike other movie coaches, he doesn't wave a magic wand, show up one day with his ragtag team suddenly great.
He breaks down karate into pieces, skills anyone can learn.
And, in the movie's best scene, it all comes together. Waxing on has built the body and made the movements correct. It's one of those epiphanies in movies where the characters and the audience all fit the pieces together at the same time.
Even the kid went, "Ohhhhh."
Hopefully, Mr. Monday and the rest of the world can remember that in real life. You can't teach a kid how to turn a double play or read the encyclopedia in one sitting. You have to teach kids how to pivot, how to sound out words and how to celebrate incremental successes.
Morita made Miyagi, and Miyagi taught us all. Not bad for an '80s movie.
Now, if only Mr. Monday could forget about "Karate Kid II."
Mr. Monday still hasn't caught a fly with chopsticks.
No beginner's luck here.
It's been 21 years since "The Karate Kid" hit the big screen, giving skinny weaklings hope against the Cobra Kais of the world.
But at Mr. Monday's house, the flick just debuted as the Friday night movie, a tradition which has introduced 5-year-old Junior Monday to the hits of the '80s and '90s.
But a week after watching it came the news that the heart of the movie -- Pat Morita -- had died Thursday at age 73.
Mr. Miyagi was headed to the bonsai forest in the sky.
Sure, the kid had dug the movie because of its sweet moves. Miyagi jumping over the fence to open a can on the skeleton-costumed baddies; Daniel-San winning the All-Valley Tournament with the crane technique kick to Johnny's glass jaw.
But, as a dad instead of a 12-year-old, Mr. Monday found pretty deep waters running through the Daniel-Miyagi dynamic.
Miyagi was the greatest coach ever captured on film.
"We make sacred pact," Miyagi tells Daniel. "I promise teach karate to you, you promise learn. I say, you do, no questions."
And that's how it starts. But the bulk of the movie is about the lessons, not about the fights.
It's about sanding the floor, painting the fence. And, of course, waxing on and waxing off.
That's how Miyagi is a great coach. Unlike other movie coaches, he doesn't wave a magic wand, show up one day with his ragtag team suddenly great.
He breaks down karate into pieces, skills anyone can learn.
And, in the movie's best scene, it all comes together. Waxing on has built the body and made the movements correct. It's one of those epiphanies in movies where the characters and the audience all fit the pieces together at the same time.
Even the kid went, "Ohhhhh."
Hopefully, Mr. Monday and the rest of the world can remember that in real life. You can't teach a kid how to turn a double play or read the encyclopedia in one sitting. You have to teach kids how to pivot, how to sound out words and how to celebrate incremental successes.
Morita made Miyagi, and Miyagi taught us all. Not bad for an '80s movie.
Now, if only Mr. Monday could forget about "Karate Kid II."