Wax On, Wax Off

Wax On, Wax Off

If you haven't heard the famous words of advice, "Wax on, wax off", given by Mr. Miyagi to his young karate student, then you missed a classic movie. I'm referring to "The Karate Kid," starring Ralph Macchio as Daniel-san. Pat Morita played Daniel-san's sensei who taught him karate while making him perform seemingly unrelated chores like painting a fence, sanding a deck and waxing cars. Mr. Morita died of natural causes on Thanksgiving Day, at the age of 73, in his home in Las Vegas.

"The Karate Kid" earned Pat Morita an Acadamy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Three sequels followed the first "Karate Kid" movie and Mr. Miyagi's "crane kick" from the end of the first movie was mimicked by a whole generation of young fans!

Before "The Karate Kid", Pat Morita appeared on "Happy Days" as Arnold. He also made appearances on "Sanford and Son", "Mash", "The Odd Couple", "Murder She Wrote", "Bay Watch" and "Magnum P.I." just to name a few.

Morita's life story would make an interesting movie. He was born in California to immigrant fruit pickers. When he was a child Pat was hospitalized with spinal tuburculocis. Unfortunatly, when he got out of the hospital it was bad timing. During World War II, he was sent to an internment camp along with thousands of other Japanese-Americans.

I grew up watching "Happy Days", and being a martial-arts student myself, I loved "The Karate Kid" movies! Mr. Miyagi was an unforgettable character and a GREAT teacher. Another Hollywood legend passes away...Pat Morita will be missed.