Also known as

Ralph George Macchio Jr.

Description

American actor best known as Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid (1984) and its sequels, and in Cobra Kai (2018-2025). Apart from four jiu-jitsu lessons as a child, he had no martial arts experience before The Karate Kid; before filming he was trained in Okinawan Goju-ryu karate by fight coordinator Pat E. Johnson. He performed the majority of his own stunts in the films and, decades later, on Cobra Kai.

Teachers (1)

• 
  Pat E. Johnson

  sports_martial_artsGoju-ryu Confirmed

  Confirmed

  First-person account naming both teacher and style, corroborated by Johnson's own account of training him intensively for the film.

  The evidence establishes the claim: it is sufficient and consistent, and any conflicting evidence is resolved.

  (1984)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  2 sources expand_more

  fact_check

  First-person account naming both teacher and style, corroborated by Johnson's own account of training him intensively for the film.

  visibilityFirst-hand

  “Apart from four jiu-jitsu lessons when I was 10, I had no martial arts experience. Before filming, I was trained in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate by Pat E Johnson, who coordinated the fight scenes and played the head referee in the tournament at the end of the film.”

  — Gilbert, Ben. (2023-09-18). 'Everyone was doing the crane kick': Ralph Macchio on making The Karate Kidlink history info

  “For The Karate Kid (1984), Johnson told Sports Illustrated in 2018 that he trained actors Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio "separately, really hard.”

  — Barnes, Mike. (2023-11-06). Pat E. Johnson, 'Karate Kid' Choreographer, Trainer and Referee, Dies at 84link history info

Sources

Identifiers