Crane kick

The crane kick or "crane technique" is a karate move made popular by the Karate Kid movies. It is used and/or referenced in "The Karate Kid", "The Karate Kid, Part II", and "The Karate Kid, Part III". To use the move, the user puts both arms to his sides, raises his arms, and collapses his wrists over his head. The user simultaneously raises his left knee up to about stomach level. He waits for his opponent to come forward, then the user leaps off his right foot, simultaneously dropping his left foot to the ground, and kicks his opponent with his right foot.

The kick was used against an opponent only twice in the films. Once, in "Part I", by Daniel La Russo (Ralph Macchio) in the final round of the "All Valley Karate Tournament" against John Lawrence (William Zabka);ref|Final and second, in "Part II", by Daniel in the ancient castle in Okinawa, Japan against Chozen (Yuji Okumoto).ref|Chozen Daniel's instructor and friend, Kesuke Miyagi or affectionately, "Mr. Miyagi," (Pat Morita) taught Daniel the kick. Mr. Miyagi states that "If do right, no can defence."ref|Defence.

"Karate Kid"

The crane kick is introduced during Daniel's training for the All Valley. Daniel is practicing balance against the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. Upon walking in from the Ocean, Daniel sees Mr. Miyagi on a stump practicing the crane. Daniel asked his teacher what was he doing:

cquote|Daniel: What were you doing on those stumps?Mr. Miyagi: Called crane technique.
Daniel: Does it work?
Mr. Miyagi: If do right, no can defence.
Daniel: Could you teach me?
Mr. Miyagi: First learn stand, then learn fly.ref|Crane

Mr. Miyagi states that he learned the kick from his father. The film never shows Mr. Miyagi teaching Daniel the crane, but there are scenes showing Daniel struggling to practice the crane on his own.ref|practice

Daniel used the crane in the final round of the All Valley against Johnny, when the score was two-two (first to three would win). In the fight's final moments, Johnny's Cobra Kai instructor and students were cheering Johnny relentlessly to "get him [Daniel] a bodybag" and to "Finish him!" Daniel assumes the crane position, and Johnny aggressively charges Daniel. Daniel holds until the last moment before springing his foot in Johnny's face for the tournament-winning point.

"Karate Kid, Part II"

The crane is used and referenced once in Part II. In one of the final scenes, Daniel is forced to fight Chozen, (Sato's (Danny Kamekona) finest student) in an honor match to the death: Daniel fighting for the life of Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), who is being held at knife-point by Chozen; and Chozen for the dishonor Chozen believes has been cast upon him by Daniel throughout the movie. Before entering the arena, Mr. Miyagi warns Daniel: "This not tournament. This for real." Although Mr. Miyagi states that if properly done, the kick cannot be defended, Chozen defends the kick, by grabbing Daniel's right foot, and twisting Daniel to the ground. The argument can be made, however, that Daniel did not do the kick "right," and therefore the kick was defended. Comparing the fight scenes from Part I and II, it appears that Daniel starts his kick much sooner against Chozen, possibly accounting for the kick's failure. Another explanation could be that Chozen was prepared for the kick, based on his background and training on Okinawa.

"Karate Kid, Part III"

The crane is referenced once in Part III. Daniel is training to defend his All Valley title against "Karate's Bad Boy" Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan). Daniel seeks out the help of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), a karate expert who, unknown to Daniel, was a founding member of the Cobra Kai dojo and a Vietnam War buddy of John Kreese (Martin Kove), sensei and instructor at the Cobra Kai dojo. Silver has a hidden agenda to hurt Daniel and to exact revenge for Kreese against Mr. Miyagi. Silver solicits Barnes to fight for the Cobra Kai and to destroy Daniel in the tournament. Barnes accepts in exchange for an interest in Cobra Kai dojos.ref|Barnes

During Daniel's training, there is a derogatory reference to the crane technique:

cquote|Silver: . . . I'm teaching you techniques you don't have. Techniques you need to win the tournament. What, do you think you can rely on that crane crap?Daniel: I did pretty well with it last time.
Silver: Wake up and smell the coffee. Last time you weren't fighting [Barnes] .ref|Crap

Daniel ultimately submits to Silver's aggressive techniques and does not use the Crane in the tournament. Daniel, however, reunites with Mr. Miyagi, and uses kata (a technique Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel in Part III) to defeat Barnes in the final round of the tournament.

Footnotes

# [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/k/karate-kid-script-transcript-miyagi.html Script Part I]
# [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYE4fNQKTs4 Final Round of the All Valley]
# [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoofK0bXrkU&mode=related&search= Castle fight]
# [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/k/karate-kid-script-transcript-miyagi.html Script Part I]
# [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlQOmO44_bA Practicing the crane] , at 3:26 and 3:56.
# [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/k/karate-kid-3-script-transcript.html Script Part III]
# [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/k/karate-kid-3-script-transcript.html Script Part III]