First and foremost, I really like this movie. It is a classic movie that came out in my youth. I can remember really wanting to learn karate after seeing this movie and not just wanting to learn karate but learn it from Mr. Miyagi. Well obviously that wasn't going to happen so we scratched karate. So I'm watching this the other day and it dawns on me that there was no way that Daniel was going to lose the All Valley tournament. Just no way he loses and I'll tell you why.
First off, fear played a factor. He had been pushed around by the Cobra Kai fraternity and he had the incident where his bike let him down. These guys rolled on his ass every chance they got. So in the back of his mind he went into the tournament thinking about those beatings. He fought for his life in that tournament. In addition, the Cobra Kai's, more notably John Lawrence or Johnny, were in fear of losing to Daniel san. This guys a chump, a pushover. We've been whipping up on this guy all first 9 weeks of school. We can't let this guy win. They showed that fear in the tournament because they tried to hurt him, get him out of there. Sinsai John Kreese didn't want to take chances with Daniel so he gave them the green light to sweep the leg. He even got Jimmy to cheap shot him in the semis. Cost that young Cobra a spot in the finals.
Secondly, training. The Cobras trained indoors in an air conditioned building, with a padded floor. Sure those facilities are reminiscent of the facilities in the tournament but they are no match to what daniel san went through. Daniel went through a rigid regiment of training under Miyagi's teaching. Miyagi had him waxing cars, sanding a deck, taking rogue waves in the surf, and balancing on the bow of the boat. All outdoors, in the elements, in the heat. No AC, no padded floor, nothing. You think Jerry Rice worked out indoors in his playing days? Hell no, he was out in the elements, running hills and catching bricks. That's where Champions are made, in the pain of the training. Ole Miyagi worked him to the bone and just when he was about to quit he reaffirmed that training to him by demonstrating to him that all this crappy work has a purpose.
Lastly, Daniel had nothing to lose. Daniel was a transfer student from Riccita. He came from a single parent household. There damn station wagon had to be push started. He had a stupid bike. He wasn't a part of the well-to-do society that Johnny Lawrence rubbed elbows with and the parents of his love interest, Ali, thought very little of him. So he was profiled and discriminated against as well. Not to mention, Johnny was the two-time defending All Valley Champion. Daniel was an upstart from nowhere. A real underdog. If Vegas put odds on that tournament, Daniel would have been a 1 out of 100,000 odds. Maybe more, but he was a true darkhorse.
You may or may not agree with this and make no mistake, in a street fight, Johnny would whip his ass up one block and down the other. But in a confined arena with rules and regulations all of what Daniel went through to get there made him ready to take that Championship. Also, that Crane Kick worked in the tournament but you all saw what happened when he tried to pull that shit in the Death Match against Chosen in Karate Kid II.
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