The Karate Kid is one of the most definitive teen movies of the 1980s, an era filled with teen movies. Ralph Macchio played Daniel LaRusso, a new kid in town who learns karate from the wise Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), which he uses to take down bullying members of the violent and shady Cobra Kai dojo.
In June 2020, after spending two seasons on YouTube Red, Cobra Kai, the sequel series to the beloved 1984 film co-starring its original lead characters Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), was acquired by Netflix. . Almost instantly, fans of the original, as well as new viewers, were unable to “remove” the show from their queue. It quickly went from being a “dark hit to #1 show,” and now with season 3 of the series as well (the first exclusively on Netflix).
Released on January 1, 2021, 41 million households tuned in to the nostalgia-tinged show in the first 28 days of its release. In other words, Cobra Kai, which chronicles the events 30 years after the original film, is a huge success.
As a star pupil of Mr. Miyagi, Ralph Macchio lit up the screen in the first three Karate Kid movies in the ’80s, winning tournaments, learning the discipline of martial arts, and showing off some impressive moves. But if Macchio was in a real self-defense situation, would he be ready? Okay, that’s a bit of a wacky question, but you never know.
The star explained in an interview that his experience is more like an appreciator of martial arts. He never entered the real belt system, but he studied for the movies and that led him to have some knowledge of some techniques that made it easier for him as an actor.
“In the second movie, I had more time to train, so I got better,” he said. “In the first one, I had a couple of weeks and that cost me a lot at the beginning. It helped that I had some dance training as a kid, and these fight scenes are choreographed, so I was decent learning the choreography.”
Well, Cobra Kai is kicking butt in the audience department, so ultimately being a teacher probably isn’t necessary for Ralph Macchio. As for the exact number?
“I took six self defense lessons when I was 10 years old, who knew?”
