Mr. Miyagi's Point of View Trivia Quiz

Daniel LaRusso and his mother have moved from New Jersey to Reseda, California, but being the new kid on the block isn't easy for Daniel. From the beginning, Daniel gets on the bad side of bully Johnny Lawrence (and gang), getting the worse end of a number of altercations.

After Johnny and his gang run Daniel off the road on his bike, Daniel throws his bike into the garbage in frustration. The next day after school, Daniel discovers his bike at his apartment door, all fixed and looking shiny new. Suspecting that their maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi, fixed it, he goes to thank him. When he comes to Mr. Miyagi's door, Daniel finds him trimming bonsai trees.

Mr. Miyagi invites Daniel in, and soon has him trying to trim his own bonsai, with the instruction, "Close your eyes, concentrate. Think only tree..." When Daniel asks "How do I know if my picture's the right one?" Mr. Miyagi responds with "If come from inside you, always right one."

Daniel has been spending a little too much time with Mr. Miyagi, trying to avoid further encounters with Johnny and his gang of thugs. Daniel would like to be able to go to the school Halloween dance, but is worried about being seen. Mr. Miyagi encourages Daniel to go find the girl that he likes (Ali Mills) with the line, "To make honey, young bee need young flower, not old prune."

Mr. Miyagi also helps Daniel come up with a costume that will enable him to stay invisible - a walking shower, complete with shower curtain.

With the game of one-upmanship, Daniel can't resist the chance to douse Johnny with a hose in the boys bathroom at the Halloween dance. Unfortunately, he isn't quick enough to get away clean, and Johnny and his gang (all dressed as skeletons) corner him and are about to give him a beating when Mr. Miyagi intervenes. In quick succession, Miyagi takes down all five of Daniel's assailants.

Back at the apartment complex, Daniel asks Miyagi to be his karate teacher - but he doesn't want to be involved. Daniel makes his argument that things won't get any better, and Mr. Miyagi agrees to go with him to the Cobra Kai dojo to confront the boys and their sensei, John Kreese.

Mr. Miyagi goes with Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo, and they watch while Kreese leads a ruthless sparring session. When Johnny notices the visitors, Kreese stops the session to confront them. Mr. Miyagi ends up brokering a deal where they agree to fight to resolve the situation, but that it will be at a neutral location... the upcoming All Valley Karate Tournament. And as a caveat, no one is allowed to fight until then - allowing the opportunity for Daniel to train for the tournament.

With a nonagression pact in place, Daniel is now free to begin his training with Mr. Miyagi, but things don't go quite as Daniel expects. Instead of the expected training, Daniel finds himself being given very different kinds of tasks, the first of which is waxing the vintage cars that Mr. Miyagi owns.

Daniel has completed two full days of 'training' - in this case waxing cars and sanding the backyard deck. When Daniel arrives on the third day, he finds Mr. Miyagi (for the second time) sitting and trying to catch a fly with chopsticks. When Daniel asks him about it, Mr. Miyagi responds with "Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything." And Miyagi also admits that he has never managed to catch one.

Daniel asks to try, and within a minute, manages to catch a fly with the chopsticks. Miyagi, disgruntled, says "You beginner luck." Daniel is quick to brag that he must be able to accomplish anything now, and Mr. Miyagi is quick to segue to his next training task for Daniel: "First you accomplish paint fence."

After a fourth day of 'training' that involved painting the siding on the house, Daniel blows up in frustration with Mr. Miyagi that he isn't learning anything. Miyagi quickly disabuses him of that assumption when he shows how all of the movements he has been drilling through the waxing, sanding and painting, have ingrained proper karate blocking techniques.

Moving on from the initial training at his house, Mr. Miyagi brings Daniel to the beach to work on his balance by walking through the surf. While at the beach, Daniel sees Mr. Miyagi do the crane technique on a post, balancing precariously while kicking high and switching his balancing leg.

When Daniel asks about the maneuver, Mr. Miyagi responds that he isn't ready for that yet, stating, "First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine."

With the tournament drawing closer, Daniel asks about learning punches and kicks. For a while, Mr. Miyagi forestalls him, knowing that developing a strong foundation needs to come first: "Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home."

When he says this, Daniel is balancing on the bow of a rowboat, trying to run through his exercises. Miyagi follows up by rocking the boat and tipping Daniel into the lake, hilariously observing, "Oh, Daniel-san, you all wet behind the ear!"

Not too long afterwards, however, Mr. Miyagi moves the training on to offensive techniques, beginning with the description of a focused punch.

With the tournament just days away, Daniel is concerned about his state of readiness, and he asks Mr. Miyagi what he thinks. In his way, Miyagi responds with a roundabout statement that says more than a direct answer would have, telling Daniel that he could "trust the quality of what you know, not quantity."

Mr. Miyagi celebrates Daniel's 18th birthday with a couple of amazing gifts, including a Karate Gi with his family crest on it, and a surprise gift of one of the vintage cars that Daniel spent so much time waxing previously. Shocked and amazed, Daniel chooses the yellow 1947 Ford Super De Luxe, and is ready to go and celebrate some more with Ali. But before Daniel goes, Mr. Miyagi recalls the lessons on balance, and expands that to a larger lesson on life.

Of course, all of Mr. Miyagi's lessons result in a successful tournament, with Daniel defeating the Cobra Kai crew, in spite of their efforts (and cheating).