Mr. Miyagi was an aikidoka?

(I realise this may seem like a silly topic, but there's some good conversation to be had here, I think...)

I don't know if it's the time of year or what, but, the Karate Kid films seem to have all been on TV here the last couple of weeks. Naturally I had to watch them all.

In the few scenes where Mr. Miyagi himself fights, has anyone else noticed how he seems to exercise Aikido principles alone and very little of the 'karate' he teaches?

In particular, Mr. Miyagi seems to like tai sabaki to get the Hell out of trouble's way, letting the bad guy hurt himself / his fist by means of his own momentum / strength.

I also swear he relies wholly on nikyo in the final fight scene in The Next Karate Kid, which was on TV today. There was a very nice double-nikyo in particular.

Anyone else notice this? Thoughts on The Karate Kid films as a positive vessel for aiki principles?

The principles are fairly universal to most martial arts and eastern philosophy, IMO.

AFAIK, Pat Morita is an actor, not a karateka or an aikidoka.

Mary Malmros wrote: AFAIK, Pat Morita is an actor, not a karateka or an aikidoka.

And - as far as I know - practiced never any martial art at all.

But:
Most of the techniques we practice in aikido can be found in other arts aswell.

Carsten

...He was a great entertainer and actor. Mr. Morita conquered many obstacles in his life...and has recently passed away. He is missed by many.

28 November 2005 Noriyuki ("Pat") Morita, actor: born Isleton, California 28 June 1932; thrice married (three daughters); died Las Vegas 24 November 2005. As the wise and wily martial arts expert Mr Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984) who becomes the mentor ("sensai") to a bullied, fatherless teenager and teaches him not only self-defence but gives him valuable spiritual and moral lessons, Pat Morita created an indelible portrait of warmth and wisdom that won him an Oscar nomination and a role with which he will forever be identified. Already an experienced actor and stand-up comic (sometimes billed as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, usually as Pat Morita), he was particularly known for his portrayal of the excitable Arnold, owner of the drive-in malt shop in the television series Happy Days (1975-76 and 1982-83), and he was the first Japanese American to star in a television series (Mr T and Tina, 1976). But it was as the diminutive "Miyagi sensai" to Ralph Macchio's "Daniel-san" that he achieved international fame - the film was a huge box-office success and Morita starred in three sequels, two with Macchio and the last with a female pupil played by Hilary Swank. Morita had survived a difficult childhood. Born Noriyuki Morita in Isleton, California, in 1932, he was the son of migrant fruit pickers who followed the harvests and lived mainly in shacks with dirt floors and leaky roofs. At the age of two Morita contracted spinal tuberculosis and spent nine years in a sanatorium encased in a body-cast and unable to play with other children. "So I made puppets out of socks to entertain the nurses and other kids," he later recalled. "Who knows? If it weren't for my disease, I might not be where I am today." When he left hospital at the age of 11, it was after Pearl Harbor, and he was sent to join his family who, along with 110,000 other Americans of Japanese ancestry, had been put in an internment camp: I was picked up at the hospital by an FBI agent wearing dark glasses and carrying a gun. I think back to the ludicrous nature of it all: an FBI man escorting a recently able-to-walk 11-year-old to a place behind barbed wire in the middle of nothing! After the Second World War, his family eventually settled in Sacramento and opened a restaurant serving Chinese food (because of lingering Japanese prejudice). After graduation, he joined an aerospace company, but at the age of 30 decided to pursue a career in comedy. Billed as "The Hip Nip", he gained a reputation in clubs, then was asked to fill in for an ailing headliner at an Hawaiian theatre. Finding an audience of war veterans, many disabled, observing the 25th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, he began by telling them he wanted to apologise, on behalf of his people, for screwing up their harbour. The audience roared with laughter and cemented the comic's reputation. Morita made his screen début in the pastiche of Twenties musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing (with Jack Soo) one of two Orientals assisting Beatrice Lillie (as a white slave trader) in her nefarious activities. More than 20 other films preceded his casting in The Karate Kid, including Midway (1976), in which he played a Rear-Admiral indecisive about whether to arm his planes with bombs or torpedoes. He auditioned five times for his star-making role, which he won despite the producers' wanting a Japanese rather than Japanese American actor - they were considering Toshiro Mifune. To make him sound more ethnic on the credits, they asked Morita to use his given name, Noriyuki, rather than his stage name of Pat. He proved perfect casting, catching the enigmatic character's endearing quirkiness (in one scene he teaches Macchio how to catch flies with chopsticks) and vulnerability (in a memorable drunk scene - partially written by Morita - he confesses his enduring sorrow that his wife and child both died during the child's birth at an ill-equipped internment camp). Morita lost the Oscar to the Cambodian actor Haing S. Ngor (for The Killing Fields). He made over 70 films after The Karate Kid, including the comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) in which he played a taxi-driver, Mahi Mahi, and he was the voice of the Emperor of China in Disney's animated feature Mulan (1998). Television appearances included recurring roles in M*A*S*H, Sanford and Son and Baywatch, and countless guest roles. At the time of his death he was making a film called Princess. Tom Vallance

well in the next karate kid movie, starring jacky chan (who'll play the old man's part), you'll know for sure the guy knows martial arts.

as for Pat, he played the part very well and there's a lot of wisdom that i see in karate kid. i know it sounds corny. But that wooden toy in the 2nd movie (back to japan), that principle is so fundamental to a martial art i know.

Let me please clarify something of my original post; I refer solely to Mr. Miyagi the character, not Noriyuki Morita.

Seeing Jackie Chan take on the role will certainly be interesting. I wonder if anyone knows if the emphasis will be on flashy martial arts or in keeping with Mr. Miyagi's philosophy of non-violence? Either way I can't wait to see it.

A bit of movie trivia...

Pat E. Johnson (9th dan Tang Soo Do under Chuck Norris) did the fight choreography and stunt coordination and had a bit part as the referee in the first 3 movies.

Fumio Demura was Morita's stunt double in all four movies.

The concepts of Aiki are considered to be founded in natural movement, the physics of which are not exclusive to Aikido. It certainly would make sense that they are found in a variety of martial arts. I cannot think of a more eloquent example of this than the Karate-do of Kenji Ushiro Sensei.

I think there is this school of karate which is loosely translated as Willow tree or something like that... apparently the original line of descendants has passed on and an American sensei was given the lineage.

To be honest, that is one of the most aiki karate I've seen. I've also seen a local karate master doing very jelly like blocks. Nothing at all like the traditional stiff and low stance moves you normally associate with karate especially those of Okinawan roots. It looks more like tai chi or Systema even.

As for moves like kotegaishi, shihonage, nikyo and all that... yeah well. Karate has those moves. And so does Tae Kwon Do... strange but true. Of course what they stress upon and how they do it is kinda different than aikido.