Many people think the kid in the movie learns Kung Fu and not Karate from his master however they are wrong. Okinawan Te Form Karate also known as The Hand Of God has several similarities to Kung Fu including the famous Raised Stance from Crane and circling deflective swipes that resemble the countering grasps of Chinese Wrestling, referred to as Wax On / Wax Off in the movie and often mistaken as being from Wing Chun due to Bruce Lee's use of them in his variant of the style. All of the moves that both the kid and his master do is 100% Karate.
Where the confusion might arise is that American Karate is about 70% Taekwondo and not actual Karate. This is due to influences from martial arts champions in the 60s and 70s such Chuck Norris who used Taekwondo because the highest scoring attack in competitions is a kick to the head and Taekwondo in particular has a very high focus on this.
In fact if you look carefully you might notice that the rival Karate school in the Karate Kid actually teaches Taekwondo and not Karate. As well as certain identifiable unique moves to Taekwondo especially in the tournament fight at the end, the decor of the dojo is Korean, not Japanese and the outfits and belts the teacher and students wear is using the Korean grading system instead of the Japanese. Most likely they found an actual Taekwondo school to help them with the movie and thought nobody could tell the difference.
Mr.Miiaki (Okinawan spelling of the name) himself has a very Okinawan name, which many mistake for the Chinese name Miang. The two names have completely different origins. Miang is a name given to people from the Miang region in China where as Miiaki literally translates as "Old Goat" in Okinawan Japanese which was originally a nickname for a troublesome old man (obviously intentional in this movie) that became a pet name and eventually a family name in the Okinawan region.
Many of the Okinawan people served in wars during the communist period as Miiaki had done and the socialist period as Miiaki's son did at the cost of his life. However the Okinawa region itself was opposed to the wars and was forced to fight for Japan due to conscription. They were never supporters of the Nazi side and really hate it when they are grouped together the rest of Japan in this respect. Okinawa was even responsible for aiding America in taking over Japan during World War 2.
Okinawa and mainland Japan do not see eye to eye. There have been several wars between them. Okinawa still doesn't see itself as being part of Japan at all. In their eyes they are an independent country sat between Japan and China. If you call an Okinawan person Japanese they tend to get all offended and point out that they are Okinawan as Miiaki did in the movie.
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6 years, 4 months ago
30 Nov 2017 13:08 CET
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