Will the new Karate Kid: Legends movie inspire schools like the 1984 hit?

Photo credit: Alamy

If you grew up in the 80’s, many will remember the box office hit The Karate Kid and the huge influence it had to learn martial arts in this era. It wasn’t just in America but young British kids where making their way to the local dojo too. Now, 40 years on and there is a release of a new film Karate Kid: Legends, but will it have the same effect?

Karate Kid emerged as one of the most unexpected triumphs of the 1980s. Despite being a relatively low-budget drama centered on the relationship between a young boy and an elderly martial arts instructor, its global box office earnings of $131 million (£97 million) were truly extraordinary.

The film’s success even led to Pat Morita, who portrayed Mr. Miyagi, receiving an Oscar nomination. Over four decades since its original release, The Karate Kid is arguably more beloved than it was at that time.

This week, Karate Kid: Legends is set to hit theaters, following the success of Cobra Kai — a highly acclaimed television series that has rekindled audience enthusiasm for the franchise. However, the influence of The Karate Kid extended beyond the realm of entertainment. The film significantly affected the sport of karate — particularly in the United States — and contributed to its integration into the daily lives of many Americans.

At the time when the first movie was released, martial arts wasn’t as commercialised like it is today, with the global promotions like UFC and ONE, that when people heard of Karate it became a huge craze.

Furthermore, it was also in the late 80’s that the Kickboxer movie came out, that saw many clubs offer both Karate and kickboxing classes, especially as kickboxing was derived from sport Karate. Both Karate and kickboxing worked well together as they both offered a grading syllabus so students could choose their preferred discipline and aim to achieve their black belt.

However fast forward 40 years from the initial Karate Kid movie and the world of martial arts has changed. Karate is a martial art that is designed for self defence in a real life scenario, but people have learned that other martial arts can offer more skills which can teach people to fight competitively.

If you take MMA, when it first started in the early 90’s, it has evolved too. Originally it was discipline vs discipline but after three decades it has developed its own uniform style.

Muay Thai, BJJ and wrestling have played a big role in a creating an all round MMA fighter and now people seem to rather learn a combat sport over a traditional martial art like Karate, as even for self defence, attack can be the best form of defence.

When and how to watch Karate Kid: Legends?

The film is not yet available to stream as it is currently being screened at the cinemas. It has been released in the U.K since the 28th May.

Final thoughts

It is great the Karate kid franchise have released another new movie, and lets hope it revives the Karate craze. However, it is doubtful it will have the impact as the original as martial arts have evolved since the 80’s.

It is a shame Karate isn’t the chosen discipline for many kids nowadays as it does provide a great discipline and the grading system really does provide structure and a great sense of achievement.