Is ‘The Karate Kid’ Crane Kick Really Illegal?

Any fan of “The Karate Kid” is familiar with the legendary final scene, in which Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) face off in a final fight at the All Valley Karate Tournament, a tournament which has returned multiple times in Netflix’s spin-off series “Cobra Kai.”

Proponents of the popular long-held fan theory that Daniel is the true bully of the series might hold the Tournament as a prime example of Daniel’s degeneracy, however, given that there is some evidence to indicate that the crane kick Daniel used to knock out Johnny and win the tournament was actually illegal. Is that really true, though? Here’s everything you need to know.

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Ralph Macchio Weighs In On the Controversial Kick

In episode 1 of “Cobra Kai,” at Daniel’s car dealership, Daniel and Johnny meet for the first time since the 80s. There, despite Daniel’s efforts to keep it civil, they immediately start bickering, during which Johnny says of Daniel’s winning move, “It was an illegal kick.” He wasn’t the only one: in 2009 and 2013, “How I Met Your Mother’s” Barney Stinson popularized the claim by stating multiple times that Daniel’s kick was unethical and illegal.

In 2018, Macchio revealed to The Wrap that he agreed with fans who said the kick was illegal, saying that “no hits to the face was clearly something when the referee made the list of things what not to do.”

He went on to explain further, also giving his take on the “Daniel is the real bully” theory:

My theory on all of it — and I’ve seen the little documentary footage of the ‘Justice for Johnny’ and the concept that Daniel was the real bully and came to town and sucker-punched him and stole his girlfriend — I’m not so sure that case would hold water. It seems a little shady in some parts. But I love the fact that we made this movie in 1983, it came out in ’84, and in 2018 people are still debating it.

But was it really illegal, as Macchio claims? Well, the answer is a bit complicated.

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Hints To the Answer May Lie Throughout the Scene

The answer as to whether or not kicks to the face are allowed seems to be answered before the tournament even begins. As Daniel’s girlfriend Ali tells him on their way to the showdown that any hit above the waist – including the head specifically – counts: “Everything above the waist is a point: head, sternum, kidneys, and ribs.”

In addition, as broken down in a YouTube video by FLMFilmStudios, multiple contestants – including Johnny – kick their opponents in the face several times in the tournament before Daniel does.

However, as FLMFilmStudios explains, counter to what Macchio – and others – say, the referee never actually said “no hits to the face.” The closest it came was when he did not award a point to Johnny when he punched Daniel in the face. However, Johnny did punch, whereas Daniel, and several others, kicked.

It is worth noting, too, that years later, in “Cobra Kai,” adult Johnny very likely tells his student Miguel to crane kick his opponent in his own All Valley Karate Tournament. Miguel does so, twice, and gets a point both times, advancing him to the semi-finals.

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What Else Was Improbable In the 1984 All Valley Tournament

In the end, viewers will inevitably have to engage in some suspension of disbelief in order to watch the All Valley Karate Tournament, if only because so many other events that happen in that scene, mostly by Cobra Kai members, go against official rules, including poor sportsmanship. ScreenRant breaks it down:

In addition to the general sportsmanship requirements that would have cost Cobra Kai significant points for their behavior (the rules award points for things like “sporting attitude” and “good form“), the rules also explicitly forbid attacks targeting joints. The repeat strikes by Cobra Kai competitors to Daniel’s knee in particular would have resulted in warnings, penalties, and, eventually, disqualification.

In addition, the article explained, Daniel likely wouldn’t have been able to compete at all in real life, given his injury, which was only exacerbated during the fight: “There are provisions in the rules for injuries, including the requirement of an assessment to determine if each competitor is fit to fight. This includes provisions specifically for injuries resulting from ‘cumulative effect of injury sustained in an earlier bout’.”

Given all the evidence that fans can see in “The Karate Kid,” the answer to the long-held question of whether Daniel’s tournament-winning crane kick was illegal seems to be: probably not. But in the end, the fact that it is a fictional movie must be taken into consideration. And regardless, Johnny Lawrence is a bit of a hypocrite about it either way.

Season 3 of “Cobra Kai” has set the stage for another tournament-style showdown in the future, though how exactly it will turn out is yet to be seen. Be sure to tune into season 4 of the series when it is released on Netflix December 31 to find out.

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