When Mr. Miyagi agrees to train Daniel to defend himself in "The Karate Kid," the young man isn't fully aware of what he's getting into. On day one, Mr. Miyagi tasks Daniel with washing and waxing his vast collection of classic automobiles. The lessons continue with other chores such as hand-sanding the deck, painting the house, and painting the fence — both sides! Mr. Miyagi gives specific instructions on how each job is to be done, and unbeknownst to Daniel, he's being taught karate through muscle memory. Also, Mr. Miyagi finally gets that to-do list taken care of.
Fans of the franchise have come to know this style of martial arts as Miyagi-Do. Though this ancient style, passed down through Mr. Miyagi's family for years, doesn't exist in the real world, it serves Daniel well for three films. We learn more about where the Miyagi family karate comes from in "The Karate Kid Part II," when Daniel accompanies Mr. Miyagi back to his home village in Okinawa to say goodbye to his dying father.
In real life, Miyagi-Do mostly resembles the karate style of Goju-Ryu, roughly translated as "hard-soft." Dr. Hermann Bayer, an expert on Okinawan Karate, told Den of Geek in 2021 that "Karate legend Miyagi Chojun gave the name 'hard-soft' to the style in the mid-1930s." The balance of sturdiness and softness present in the style fits well with Mr. Miyagi's own philosophies on balance.
