×

WHERE TO WATCH

PURCHASE

Fandango At Home

RentBuy

Apple TV Store

RentBuy

Amazon Video

RentBuy

YouTube

RentBuy

Google Play Movies

RentBuy

Powered by JustWatch

The first film in The Karate Kid series, released in 1984. It was directed by John G. Avildsen.

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has just moved with his mother Lucille from New Jersey to Reseda, California. Daniel is overall a good kid, but his life takes a turn for the worse when he meets a girl that he likes, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), only to incur the wrath of her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Johnny happens to be the prize student of the Cobra Kai Karate dojo, whose sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) encourages ruthless aggression. After their first meeting, which ends with Daniel being beaten badly, Johnny leads his gang into tormenting Daniel whenever possible.

Things come to a head with Johnny's gang chasing Daniel down and beating the hell out of him just outside his apartment complex. Coming to his rescue is the elderly Japanese handyman, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). Despite his age, he defeats the Cobra Kai gang with ease, awing Daniel. After seeing that appealing to Kreese won't work, Miyagi agrees to train Daniel, but arranges a deal that the Cobra Kai will stop bothering Daniel if he enters an upcoming tournament, where he can fight the bullies on equal terms.

Daniel is hesitant about the tournament, but willing to learn karate at least to defend himself. The first few days Miyagi has Daniel do several chores: paint the fence, sand the decks and wax the car. Daniel endures it patiently, but eventually blows up at Miyagi for using him as a slave instead as a student. Miyagi then demonstrates what Wax On, Wax Off really means. Daniel is stunned, then begins to understand that Miyagi wasn't trying to teach him how to fight, but how to apply martial arts to his life.^note And get some needed housework done as payment for training Daniel. He comes to learn that karate is about balance and self-respect, that martial arts should be used in discipline and not for aggression. Mr. Miyagi doesn't teach Daniel to be a vicious badass, but how to calm himself and deal with his problems as they come.

The first of the original Karate Kid trilogy, a.k.a. the "LaRusso trilogy", continued with The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III.

Cobra Kai serves as a Sequel Series to the franchise as a whole, but in particular to this film and the events that take place in it.

Remade in 2010 with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith as respective Expys of Mr. Miyagi and Daniel. Initially a completely separate continuity, it was later revealed to be in the original canon as this film all along with Karate Kid: Legends.

Trope on, trope off:

• All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Ali is a cheerleader, and "all guys" includes Daniel-san and Johnny.
• All There in the Script: Daniel and his mother moved to California as a result of her new job with Rocket Computers ("Flight to the future!"). The original script reveals why Freddy had "never heard of it" and also sheds some light on why it seems that Mrs. LaRusso might be an employee of the restaurant across from the Cobra Kai dojo. As she shares with Daniel:
  Lucille: They went bankrupt!...[But] listen to this. I walk out of Rocket with the beginning of Excedrin headache one through ten about to come on, and I'm going back to the car when this woman comes flying out of this restaurant, The Orient Express, and she's screaming, 'I quit! I quit!' Right behind her is this guy and he's yelling just as loud, 'You can't quit! You're fired!' It's one minute to noon, people are coming in to lunch, I'm the first but only applicant - I got the job!
  • When Daniel questions her new position as a waitress, his mother clarifies that she is not a waitress. She is a hostess.
• The Alleged Car: Lucille LaRusso's green station wagon that has a faulty starter, is constantly breaking down and needs a rolling start to get going. This provides a never-ending source of embarrassment to Daniel when she has to drive him on dates.
• Always Someone Better: Discussed. Mr. Miyagi at one point reveals that he, too, got into many fights as a child, with the implication that he didn't consider it any different than the bullying Daniel is going through. This surprises Daniel, who points out that Miyagi knew karate even as a child. Miyagi replies "Someone always know more."
• Apologetic Attacker: Bobby begs Daniel's forgiveness after kicking his knee.
• Artistic License – Linguistics: Mr. Miyagi refers to Daniel with the "san" honorific, which in Japanese is a sign of respect to a boss, co-worker, guest or non-related elder. Daniel being a teenager and his student, the proper term would be more like "kun" or "chan." You may argue Miyagi is a Humble Hero and is intentionally talking to Daniel as equals, and "Daniel-san" flows better to an English-speaking audience.
• Artistic License – Martial Arts:
  • The Crane Kick as depicted in the film is fictional, chosen to be an iconic image over being a realistic technique. The actual crane kick is an advanced move that requires jumping, kicking and landing from the same leg, which no one in the production crew could do (and would be not very useful in real fighting context due to the lack of impact of the strike and all the stress it would place on the leg). Thus, they invented a new, purely fictional kick involving a flamingo pose into a front kick.
  • Tournaments such as the one Daniel was in only allow strikes to the head by hands. If Daniel had simply gently touched Johnny's face with his foot (as a demonstration of what he could have done), he would have won some points, but kicking Johnny in the face was a clear violation of the rules that should have gotten Daniel immediately disqualified. Of course, Johnny and Dutch would have been disqualified before it even came to that, Dutch for kicking Daniel in the face during their match and Johnny for kicking an unnamed opponent in the face quite unnecessarily; he actually pulled back a kick to the torso and redirected it to the face, just to show off.
• Artistic License – Sports: Zigzagged. The All-Valley has no competitors wearing protective gear where mouthguards would be the minimum requirement. The junior divisions in the background were using protective gloves and boots while the seniors did not, which is common in some karate disciplines where juniors wear protective equipment while seniors wear only a mouthguard.
• Ass-Kicking Pose: The Crane Technique is set up with the user standing on one leg with his arms outstretched to the side and above their head.
• Attack the Injury: Once Daniel begins the final match of the tournament well, scoring two consecutive points from Johnny (leaving Daniel just one point from victory), Kreese orders Johnny to attack Daniel's injured leg. Although Johnny is clearly reluctant, he follows Kreese's advice and it nearly wins him the match.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • The crane stance, which if performed in Real Life is putting you at a disadvantage in being off balance with an opponent at close range. This flaw is shown in the sequel where Chozen effortlessly counters it. That said, Crane is presented as more of a technique than a single move; Miyagi practices from the top of a pole, not because it confers an advantage, but because it presents a disadvantage, forcing him to hone his sense of balance to razor sharpness. Within the context of this film it plays as a Defensive Feint Trap; Daniel has an injured leg, and Johnny is assuming that him standing on one leg is entirely an inability to do otherwise, rather than setting up a Counter-Attack.
  • Darryl Vidal easily defeats a number of opponents on his way to the semifinals, but his style has a lot of flash and not enough substance. This is exposed when he uses several tornado kicks against Johnny; he leaves himself wide open as his back is necessarily turned for part of the move, and multiple spinning kicks in rapid succession let Johnny get a fix on the timing and take Darryl down with a well-placed kick.
• Big Fancy House: Ali lives in one.
• Boisterous Weakling: Daniel in the beginning. He did have some basic karate training at the Y before arriving in California, but he grossly overestimates his skills, even pretending to be a badass to Freddy. Unsurprisingly, Daniel ends up getting a very harsh reality check in his first fight with Johnny, who is a two-time All-Valley karate champion.
• Broken Pedestal: You can see the shock and hesitation from Cobra Kai members when Kreese orders them to make cheap shots. The fallout is explored further in Part 2 and Cobra Kai.
• Calling the Old Woman Out: When Daniel reaches his Rage Breaking Point, he calls his mother out on how she never thought about his feelings when they moved to California. She doesn't deny this and says that he's right.
  Daniel: Well, like it was fair coming out here without asking me how I felt about it, right. That was really fair.
  Daniel's mom: You're right, I should have asked.
• Cool Old Guy: Mr. Miyagi.
• Crippling the Competition: Contains one of the most famous film examples when Kreese orders Bobby to take Daniel "out of commission" in the semi-finals against Daniel. This means Bobby will be disqualified for an illegal hit, but injury will prevent Daniel from facing Kreese's prize pupil in the actual final round, guaranteeing victory. The plan only fails because Mr Miyagi has Healing Hands and Daniel has learned the iconic Crane Stance that lets him keep his weight off the injured leg.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Mr. Miyagi versus the Cobra Kai gang. Even five on one, they don't land a single hit on the old man, and he mows them down like wheat.
• Deadpan Snarker: Miyagi doesn't let his broken English keep him from commenting humorously on things, often at Daniel's (playful) expense.
• Death by Childbirth: Miyagi's wife and newborn son both died in childbirth due to birthing complications, and 40 years later he's still grieving over it.
• Defeating the Cheating Opponent: Zigzagged in the climax of the first film. Bobby injures Daniel's leg on Kreese's orders, and Bobby is disqualified when the judges catch it. However, the rest of Cobra Kai is still allowed to compete. Despite the injury, Daniel faces his next Cobra Kai opponent Johnny in the finals. While Johnny isn't cheating, he certainly takes advantage of the earlier injury. Even so, Daniel wins fair-and-square with a flying crane kick to Johnny's face.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Downplayed. When Daniel wins the tournament, Johnny can be heard shouting: "You're all right, LaRusso! Good match!" while personally handing him the trophy. It still takes decades before they actually get along.
• Desperate Plea for Home: After being attacked one too many times by Johnny's gang, a fed-up Daniel flings his bicycle in the dumpster and shouts at his mother, "I hate this place! I HATE IT! I just want to go home. Why can't we just go home?"
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: At the tournament, both Johnny and (especially) Bobby view Kreese as pulling this trope, as they both believe that they can beat Daniel in a fair fight, and resent Kreese forcing them to fight dirty.
• Didn't Think This Through: A Deleted Scene has Johnny putting a blueberry pie where Daniel was about to sit in the school cafeteria, ruining his pants. Problem is, Johnny can handle Daniel in a fistfight, but a harmless prank like that (no matter how humiliating), Daniel can easily retaliate, which he does, by ruining Johnny’s shirt. The moment Johnny realizes this was a possible outcome is priceless.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Johnny victimized Daniel because he saw him with Ali on the beach and did everything in his power to get him out of the way just so he could get back together with her… even if it means beating him to a pulp.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After the beach beating, Ali tries to tend to a crying Daniel, only for him to harshly tell her to leave him alone.
• Evil Virtues: With the exception of Dutch, Johnny's friends prove to be nothing if not loyal to him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The first film shows that the Cobra Kai are young bullies, but not exactly hardened criminals:
  • During the Halloween beating, Bobby tries to convince Johnny and Dutch that they're going too far after it becomes apparent that Daniel can no longer stand up.
  • Both Bobby and Johnny balk when ordered to unethically injure Daniel, though Kreese ultimately intimidates them into it.
  • Johnny congratulates Daniel after he wins and appears to accept his defeat with grace and dignity.
• Everyone Has Standards: Classist as they are, Ali's parents are about the only two people to keep stony faces when Daniel humiliates himself at the country club.
• Evil Mentor: Instructing his students to cheat? Check. Inspiring them to be sadistic bullies? Check. Strangling them for failing? Check. All John Kreese needs is a whip and a cat, and he'd be the trope picture.
• Family-Unfriendly Violence: The beatings that Daniel receives frequently leave him covered in bruises and/or blood.
• Finish Him!: Kreese's instructions to the Cobra Kai.
• Foreshadowing: When Daniel first goes to Mr. Miyagi's house for training, he sees oil pumps and asks Miyagi if he's in the oil business. Mr. Miyagi replies, "Not everything is as seem."
• The Freelance Shame Squad: A ballroom filled with refined, upper-crust partygoers all stop dancing and put down their canapes just to laugh at Daniel-san after he bumps into a waiter and gets bolognese sauce all over his outfit. They're probably mocking the poor waiter too, but it doesn't come across as strongly.
• From Zero to Hero: Daniel, being a target of bullies, encounters a gifted sensei, by whom he is taught martial arts so that he can finally stand up for himself in a fight.
• Funny Background Event: While Daniel is talking with his mom at lunch after checking out Cobra Kai, Johnny's gang are seen exiting the dojo in the background. Tommy comes across the street, sees Daniel, and quickly pulls the others aside so he can point it out, then they take off running before Lucille sees them.
• Game-Breaking Injury: "Sweep the leg."
• The Gloves Come Off: At the start of the beach beating, Johnny doesn't initially see Daniel as a threat, as he reacts to Daniel's attacks by merely dodging or tripping him, until he eventually gets bored enough to floor Daniel with one hit. Johnny at this point assumes the fight is over, as Daniel is on the ground in pain (and was clearly no match for him to start with)... only for Daniel to sucker punch him. Now Johnny is enraged enough to unleash his full aggression and turn the fight into a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown for Daniel.
• Good-Times Montage: Montage of Daniel and Ali having a good time at the arcade.
• Graceful Loser: Johnny, after Daniel wins the tournament. Kreese... Not so much.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Ali has blonde hair, and is very sweet to Daniel.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Seemingly in play, but ultimately averted. To get to the level of competition that the Cobra Kai students are at requires years of training and physical conditioning. While it's true that Daniel manages to catch up in only two months, the set-up before the Training Montage makes it clear that Daniel is being pushed through extreme training, spending entire days from dawn to dusk working to build up his core muscles, then to follow up with balance, skill, and technique. Such intense training, with a proper teacher (working exclusively, rather than with a whole class), makes such a quick increase in skill believable (plus Daniel wasn't a complete novice as he did have some basic training at a New Jersey YMCA). Notably, Daniel is clearly outmatched physically but wins on technique. Kreese's philosophy is the antithesis of budo principles and Miyagi's outlook on balance, his instructions to the Cobra Kai focus almost entirely on offense, which neglects their defense considerably. Meaning Daniel actually has a good chance of victory by ironically letting them attack. It's further explored in both the novelization (and Cobra Kai) that he actually isn't a very good instructor. Their physical prowess, natural ability, and cultivated intensity is what made them dangerous. Half of them fail out of the tournament bracket on their own, and Kreese himself doesn't acquit well against Mr. Miyagi despite his greater size, strength, and youth.
• Hero's Classic Car: Mr. Miyagi gives Daniel a 1948 Ford Super DeLuxe, one of his classic cars that Daniel had to Wax On, Wax Off on, as a 16th birthday present.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Ali's parents try to set up their daughter to go out with Johnny just because he's rich and goes to the same country club as them. Never mind that Ali just broke up with him and that he's a ferocious bully who doesn't respect her.
• I Reject Your Reality: Johnny stubbornly refuses to accept that his relationship with Ali is over.
• Improv Fu: How Miyagi defeats Kreese in the parking lot (in a cut scene used in the opening of the sequel). He simply dodged and made him slash his own fists after accidentally punching out nearby car windows barehanded.
• Irony: Mr. Miyagi has a vintage car collection that would be the envy of any motor enthusiast, but has no driver's license. He's also an incredibly badass fighter, yet he has no martial arts belt.
• Jerkass: The Cobra Kai as a whole.
• Kick the Dog: Kreese orders his minions to use dirty tactics to injure Daniel (despite their insistence that they can beat Daniel fairly), which shows that he is the source of Cobra Kai's villainy. His students are just impressionable kids.
  Mr. Miyagi: No such thing, bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.
• Kids Are Cruel: Besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny. Ali's Girl Posse also despise Daniel from the get-go because he's outside Ali's social class.
  "She must be into fungus!"
• Literal Metaphor: After demonstrating Daniel's lack of balance by toppling him out of the boat, Mr. Miyagi tells him that he's "all wet behind ear", an idiom for "inexperienced" that also happens to be literally true.
• Literal-Minded:
  Daniel: (upon being instructed on Wax On, Wax Off) Where did all these cars come from?
  Miyagi: Detroit.
  • Also on belts.
  Daniel: Hey, what kind of belt do you have?
  Miyagi: (points to his belt) Canvas. Heheh, you like? JC Penney, $3.98.
• Loophole Abuse: There's nothing technically illegal about the way Kreese wanted Johnny to win. After all, it was Bobby who disqualified himself by injuring Daniel's leg before the final round. However, it's setting up Daniel (a teenager) with an injury to make him vulnerable to a legal leg sweep. Johnny's Even Evil Has Standards reaction is due to him wanting to prove that he could still beat Daniel in a fair fight.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Ali is definitely one of West Valley High's elite, but for the most part she is a genuinely nice person who presides over the school with a benevolent hand. The true Alpha Bitch in this movie happens to be Johnny (a male version), and her friends also qualify.
• Meaningful Background Event: Johnny and his friends are too busy beating up Daniel to notice Miyagi jumping the fence, ready to jump them.
• Miles Gloriosus: Dutch, despite being the most aggressive and bloodthirsty of the Cobras, is the opponent Daniel defeats most easily at the tournament. Dutch isn't cowardly, but even though he scores a point before Daniel defeats him, he does seem to be far less formidable than he thinks he is.
• Mood Whiplash: Drunk Miyagi starts off as very funny until he relives a moment where he finds out about his wife and kid dying in an internment camp while he was at war.
• Next Sunday A.D.: The film was released in June 1984, but takes place from September to December of that year.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Daniel's initial fight with Johnny, and even more the Cobra Kai gang-beating he receives in the school dance scene.
• No Name Given: Mr. Miyagi's given name was never stated in the movie. In The Karate Kid Part II his name written in Japanese characters read Miyagi Nariyoshi (family name first, given name last), while The Next Karate Kid had him introduced as Keisuke Miyagi and the animated series as Chojun Miyagi. Cobra Kai shows his grave marker with Nariyoshi, as it had the strongest canonical ties.
• No Sympathy:
  • Freddy. New kid just got the hell beaten out him in front of you by a much tougher bully? Geez, what a loser; you'd better ostracize him.
  • A member of the audience calls Johnny a "creampuff" when it's possible that he just had his nose broken.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Miyagi does this several times; early on to Daniel to avoid teaching him karate, then putting him through Wax On, Wax Off training, then even at the tournament he obfuscates not knowing English so that Ali can be by Daniel's side as Miyagi's "interpreter".
• One-Steve Limit: Bizarrely averted— both the Big Bad (John Kreese) and his student The Dragon (Johnny Lawrence) have the same first name, despite there not seeming to be any deeper meaning to it. This would eventually be brought up years later in Cobra Kai when in a flashback Kreese describes Johnny to Terry Silver as a promising young student who has the same name as him.
• Ordered to Cheat: "Sweep the Leg" is the former Trope Namer (though the "out of commission" order fits much better). Interestingly, sweeping the leg itself isn't "cheating"; the one who was ordered to actually cheat was Bobby, who was disqualified for deliberately attacking Daniel's knee. "Sweep the leg" was Kreese telling Johnny to target an already injured location, which might work for a real fight and was not illegal like the direct strike but would be considered a cheap and dishonorable move in a tournament setting. Neither boy wants to follow the order, but they both comply.
• Pet the Dog: Despite Daniel losing the beach beating fight with Johnny, Ali still thanks him for standing up for her, and goes on to be the only one of Daniel's peers who never treats him unkindly either for his social status or for being victimized by the Cobra Kai gang.
• Pom-Pom Girl: Ali, who appropriately is one of the few kids who supports Daniel when he runs afoul of Cobra Kais.
• Poor Communication Kills: Ali intends to see Danny after dinner at the country club, but her parents put her up to dancing with Johnny. When Danny sees them, Johnny sees this as the perfect opportunity to spite him and forcibly kisses Ali to make it look like they're back together. The next time they meet, Danny thinks Ali owes him an apology for kissing her ex, and she thinks he's letting their "differences" get to him. It takes a third party (Ali's friend) to clear the air and explain to Daniel that Ali didn't even want to kiss Johnny.
• Pun: Miyagi makes Daniel fall off the rowboat he was balancing on, and when he climbs out of the water, Miyagi laughingly tells Daniel he's still wet behind the ears.
• Quality over Quantity: The novelization had Daniel complain to Mr. Miyagi before the tournament that he didn't know very many moves. Miyagi replied that he was better than the Cobra-Kais at the ones he did know.
• Real Award, Fictional Character: About two-thirds of the way into the film, Daniel walks in on a very drunk Mr. Miyagi dressed up in a World War II-era US Army uniform. Miyagi earned the Medal of Honor fighting in the European theatre as part of the all-nisei (Japanese-American) 442nd Infantry Regiment. Truth in Television: The 442nd is the most heavily decorated military unit in American history, including earning 21 MOHs for the European war. A member of the regiment later said that they fought all the harder to prove their loyalty to America in the face of their fellow nisei being packed into internment camps back home (in which Miyagi's wife and son died in childbirth).
• Secretly Wealthy: Miyagi is first presented as the handyman of the apartment complex where Daniel and his mom live, but when he agrees to teach Daniel karate, he takes him around back and shows a well-kept Japanese style home with a small fleet of classic cars. It's hinted that he owns the apartments and does the maintenance himself for fun.
• Spoiled Sweet: Ali is a rich, popular girl, who loves Daniel, regardless of their difference in social class, and doesn't humiliate him like everyone else does, unlike her Rich Bitch friends.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Having a philosophy of "Belts only good to hold up pants" is great for your personal life, less so when entering an organized tournament that is restricted to those ranked brown belt or higher (which is pointless, as there is no standardization of belt ranks).^note Though as Miyagi put it, he fought for his life, not for points, so is perhaps overqualified.
• Satellite Love Interest: Ali is nice, pretty, the ex-girlfriend of Johnny, and lives with upper-class parents in a Big Fancy House... and that's all that's really known about her before she's easily written out of the sequel. It isn't until Cobra Kai that we learn more about her.
• Second Place Is for Losers: Kreese attacks Johnny after destroying his trophy, prompting Miyagi to give him a little lesson. ^note  This scene was cut from the film, but was used in the sequel's opening montage.
• Shout-Out:
  • After Miyagi rescues Daniel from Johnny and his friends. Daniel wakes up to see Miyagi nursing him back to health, then asks what happened to the guy who saved him.
  Daniel: So where'd Spider-Man go?
  Miyagi: Who?
  • Mr. Miyagi himself might be an obscure reference to Teinosuke Yagi, a Japanese bonesetter and former jujutsu master who introduced the young Jigoro Kano (the founder of Judo) to his art when the latter was being bullied. His last name is also a reference to Chōjun Miyagi, the founder of Gōjū-ryū school of Karate (which the writer Robert Mark Kamen had practiced before and whose sensei had a similar philosophy to movie-Myiagi). His full name, back when it was canonically Keisuke Miyagi, is an even more clear reference to Teinosuke Yagi.
• The Sociopath: Dutch, who is even more bloodthirsty than Johnny, is usually seen bobbing excitedly when they're about to hurt Daniel, and is the one who rebukes Bobby most fiercely when the latter protests that the gang has punished Daniel enough.
• There Is No Try:
  Miyagi: Now, ready?
  Daniel: Yeah, I guess so.
  Miyagi: Daniel-san, must talk.
  (they sit down)
  Miyagi: Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later (makes squish gesture) get squish just like grape. Here, karate, same thing. Either you karate do "yes" or karate do "no." You karate do "guess so," (makes squish gesture) just like grape. Understand?
  Daniel: Yeah, I understand.
  Miyagi: Now, ready?
  Daniel: Yeah, I'm ready.
• Thug Dojo: Cobra Kai, as enforced by Kreese (and much to the eventual chagrin of his charges).
• Token Good Teammate: Bobby Brown is by far the least barbaric of the Cobra Kai, being the only one who ever worries about taking their abuse of Daniel too far.
• Took a Level in Badass: Daniel goes from an almost complete scrub, to winning a tournament handicapped against the two-time defending champion, in less than 7 weeks of training (between November 1st, when training starts, and the tournament on December 19th).
• Training Montage: "You're the Best (Around)" (not by Survivor, of "Eye of the Tiger" fame, but by Joe "Bean" Esposito) plays during the tournament montage. Not exactly a training montage, but Daniel learns how good he has gotten from Miyagi's training. On a meta note, the first three Karate Kid movies were directed by John G. Avildsen, who also directed Rocky. Not to mention that, while performed by Esposito, the song is written by Bill Conti, who composed "Gonna Fly Now" for Rocky.
• Trauma Conga Line: From the summer beach party to the Halloween dance, the Cobra Kai gang puts Daniel through endless violence and humiliation until Mr. Miyagi intervenes.
• Trickster Mentor: Miyagi is very intelligent but likes to live a humble life, with the discovery he is a karate master a big surprise to begin with. He likes to obfuscate with simple questions and has a playful attitude, but also doesn't tell Daniel the purposes of the chores as a deliberate part of the training method.
• True Blue Femininity: Ali is first seen wearing a blue swimsuit on the beach, and later wears a blue shirt on her first date with Daniel.
• Uncertified Expert:
  • Mr. Miyagi, a former street-fighter and decorated World War II veteran, is dismissive of karate tournaments' use of belt color to denote skill level, replying "canvas" when Daniel asks him what belt he is. When filling out entry forms at the All-Valley, when he's told of the requirement that entrants be brown belt or higher, he puts Daniel down as a black belt and steals a belt from an official's bag.
  • Mr. Miyagi gives Daniel his keys and tells him to drive his truck. When Daniel protests that he doesn't have a license, Miyagi replies "Me neither."
• Villainous BSoD: Bobby who was always the most laid back of the Cobra Kais has a minor one after Kreese forces him to injure Daniel's knee and practically breaks down in tears apologizing.
• Virtue Is Weakness: Sensei Kreese delivers a denigrating speech about mercy to his students.
  We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the street, in competition: a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy.
• Wax On, Wax Off: The Trope Namer. Mr. Miyagi's method of training Daniel is to have him wax and wash the cars, paint the fence and the sides of his house, and sand the walkway in his garden. Daniel is confused as he just sees it as chores and was expecting to learn how to punch and kick. When he blows up at Miyagi for what he viewed as a trick, Miyagi had him pantomime the same motions he carefully explained to him when doing the job, and then performed some basic kicks and punches. Daniel's new muscle memory kicked in and deflected those attacks with ease. Then Miyagi started focusing on teaching him basic attack forms and kata.
• We Have Reserves: There's no rule in the All-Valley Karate Championships against any dojo entering multiple students. Kreese uses this to his advantage with the Cobra Kai, much to Bobby and Johnny's chagrin by illegally eliminating Daniel from the competition. With no opposition left in the finals his dojo would win by default.
• Weak, but Skilled: Daniel did not have a long time to train for the tournament and it's clear he doesn't have the same athletic energy as any of his opponents, but Miyagi focused on teaching fundamentals and efficient move sets. As such everyone else is wasting energy while he makes precision moves to earn the necessary points to win his matches.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Er, where did Freddy go? He seemed set up to become a good friend of Daniel's but he just... disappeared. His other friends peer pressure him into ditching Daniel in the soccer practice scene after the beach fight. He can however briefly be seen watching the tournament right at the end and is presumably part of the crowd that lifts Daniel onto their shoulders after he wins.
• What the Fu Are You Doing?: While sparring with Mr. Miyagi, Daniel tries fighting like a boxer, doing fancy footwork and jabs. Miyagi easily trips him and orders him to stop dancing around.
• When You Snatch the Pebble: Subverted. Daniel can catch a fly with chopsticks on his first go, when even Miyagi can't.
  Miyagi: You Beginner Luck.
• Would Harm a Senior: When the elderly Mr. Miyagi intervenes in the Halloween beating, the Cobra Kai gang has no issue attacking him five on one. During the confrontation at the dojo, Kreese also threatens to hunt down Miyagi if Daniel doesn't show at the tournament (though it's not until the opening moments of the sequel that Kreese actually attacks Miyagi).
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Daniel stays on the ground after getting gut-kicked by Johnny in their first fight; Johnny thinks he's won and taunts him, but then Daniel hops to his feet and pops him in the nose. The gambit doesn't pay off; Johnny just beats him down even harder.