Why wasn’t Danny LaRusso disqualified for using the Crane Technique against Johnny Lawrence to win the All Valley Karate Championship of 1984?
Because, despite Johnny’s claim, which we heard thirty years later in Daniel’s car dealership, Daniel’s kick to Johnny’s head wasn’t illegal.
“What are the rules here?” (Daniel LaRusso)
“Don’t know. First time you, first time me.” (Mr. Miyagi)
“What, I thought you knew about this stuff! I figured you went to these before. Oh, great. I’m dead. I am dead! You told me you fought a lot!”
“Ah, for life, not for points!”
“Daniel, look, everything above your waist is a point. The head, the sternum, kidneys, and the ribs. Got it?” (Ali Mills)
“Hope so!”
The Karate Kid (1984)
I think Daniel got it.
Johnny was one to talk anyway. In his first match of the tournament, he grabs his opponent by the arm, delivers a kick to his chest, then pulls him to his knees to deliver — guess what?
A kick to the head!
Then, when Johnny meets Vidal in the semi-finals, Johnny puts him on the mat for his second point with — as if you couldn’t guess — a kick to the head.
So, who the hell was Johnny to say kicks to the head were illegal?
That’s not even to mention, when Daniel has to face Dutch in their match, the first point Dutch scores against Danny is with — surprise, surprise — a kick to the head!
I’ve read a couple of sources that said, it wasn’t that Daniel used a head-kick — it was that he didn’t use a controlled kick to the head.
To which I say, “Whaaaa! Daniel cheated, Sensei! He didn’t use a controlled head-kick to win the championship!”
Please. Johnny and Dutch didn’t try to *control* their head-kicks. John Kreese had already told his boys of Cobra Kai to do whatever it took to win the tournament, so they were already cheating, head hunting, and not pulling any punches (or kicks, as the case may be.)
I didn’t hear Daniel complaining about it when he asked Mr. Miyagi to do that trick to get Daniel back out on the mat.
That’s because, Daniel was the best around. Nothing was ever going to keep him down.