Rewatching the Karate Kid

During a recent shopping trip I found a gem in the walmart video bargain bin - The Karate Kid. This is one of my young boy movies, that my wife doesn't quite understand. Some of my young movies don't stand up to the rewatching as an adult test though. The Goonies does, Top Gun sort of does, My Science Project barely does and Rad doesn't. The Karate Kid definately does and it adds more watching as an adult, and even more so as a father. In fact there are many great things about this movie, but today I'm only going to write about one. Mr. Miyagi. ...

I've heard it, and probably said it, many times, "I wish I had a Mr. Miyagi!" The movie is a great example of the importance of great mentors.

Originally posted by Mr. Miyagi:

No such thing a bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.

What I've never heard, and I only found myself saying after rewatching the movie is, "How can I be Mr. Miyagi?" If more people ask this question of themselves then instead of saying, "I wish I had a Mr. Miyagi!" Then we will have more people saying, "My Miyagi is {insert mentor's name here}! And (s)he changed my life". We all have something to share and teach so we need to be open to the possibility of being Mr. Miyagi. And hopefully one day our own Daniel-san will make their way into our lives and allow us the joy of being the Mr. Miyagi.

Daniel: You're the best friend I've ever had. Miyagi: You pretty okay too.