"Sweep The Leg" : A Tribute To The Karate Kid

The movie The Karate Kid was showing on HBO the other night and I decided to watch it. It’s funny that today when I watch the movie, it’s like I’m watching Ripley's Believe it Or Not as I try to understand how Daniel Larusso played by the skinny, lanky, gawky Ralph Macchio won the karate competition over the taller and more burly Johnny Lawrence played by William Zabka . But it seemed oh so believable when I was 13 that Macchio became every girl’s dream boy and every boy’s hero. My sister even hung a big poster on our bedroom of Macchio wearing that gray worn out sweat shirt he made famous in the movie. How did this movie impact pop culture then? --- well, every teenage girl wished her name was “Ali, with an ‘i’…” every teenage boy wanted to master Mr. Miyagi's “crane kick” (just in case it comes handy) and everyone used coach Kreese’s line “An enemy deserves no mercy!” at one time or another.

The story of an underdog karate trainee who bags the match and wins the girl in the end is just too mushy to resist. The man who will fight for your honor … the hero you’ve been dreaming of… all for the glory of love…(syet...! goosebumps....you have no idea how many couples have this for their theme song).

As a teenager though, I found the character of Johnny Lawrence more interesting than Daniel Larusso’s. Johnny was of course the leader of the pack of a**hole school bullies and Daniel’s rival for Ali’s love. In my opinion, Zabka was far more good looking and sexier than Macchio in a Robert-Redford-kind-of-way. And even with blonde hair, he looked like somebody who can actually kick anybody’s tush--- probably even coach Kreese’s and definitely Daniel-san’s.

Spot the Difference

He has a strong resemblance to Rob Thomas, don’t you think??

William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence. Elizabeth Shue as Ali Mills. Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso.

I got curious about William Zabka and thought --- whatever happened to that guy? As big as the movie was in the 80s, I haven’t heard of him nor Macchio in the last ten or fifteen years. Of course we all know that Elizabeth Shue who played the rich blonde cheerleader Ali Mills in the movie has had a relatively successful career and has remained beautiful after all these years.

Out of curiosity, I decided to google both Zabra and Macchio. I was a bit sad that Zabra did not grow older as the dashing debonair (oh well). I learned though that he has become film maker of mostly independent films following his Karate Kid success.

Zabka - from Redford to Ritter? Shue - even more beautiful now. Macchio - didn't change much!

Further search led me to a music video on You Tube of a song called “Sweep the Leg” by a band named No More Kings. Written and directed by Zabka himself, the music video is sort of a comic tribute/parody of the movie Karate Kid. Zabra stars in the video and plays a distorted image of his own self, portraying himself as the “has-been” actor obsessed with his role in the Karate Kid movie.

“Sweep The Leg” is of course taken from a line in the movie delivered by Lawrence’s bigger a**hole coach John Kreese (aka Martin Kove). In the last few scenes, just as Lawrence with a bleeding nose and a wounded ego is about to throw in the towel, Kreese decides to cheat and tells Lawrence to: “Sweep the leg….! You have a problem with that?!!”, referring to the injured leg of Larusso. But then, we all know that Daniel wins and ends the match with THE “crane kick” (Really!) Cool, huh?! Hahaha! They should have applied for a patent for that kick.

I found the video hilarious and weird in a satiric way. What’s even funnier is that in this parody Johnny Lawrence wins the karate match! Yes...sweet revenge….! Watch out for the cameo appearance of Ralph Macchio at the end of the video.

Two more Karate Kid movie sequels followed the first but I vaguely remember them. Pat Morita's “wax on…wax off…” however still rings in my ear to this day. Even hearing Survivor’s Moment Of Truth still makes me want to stand up in a wooden pole and attempt a crane kick….

When you’re alone you ask yourself.. what are you searching for..? Deep in the night a dream is born …..one that you can’t ignore….

(somebody give me a wooden pole…! NOW!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s