This blog discusses the inspiration for a few of the designs in our forthcoming Contenders collection in honor of the 35th Anniversary of The Karate Kid.

Pre-sales start on 3/31. Supplies are limited so make sure you jump on your favorite styles before they're gone.

1984. It was a good year.  It was the year that a new upstart dojo named Miyagi-Do Karate went all the way to the championship against the reigning 4 time champs, the Cobra Kai dojo, in the 1984 All-Valley Under 18 Karate Championship. 

It is now 35 years later and The Karate Kid movie returns to theaters on March 31 and April 2 to celebrate the story about a kid named Daniel Larusso who moves from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, California and finds himself learning karate from from a humble Okinawan immigrant named Keisuke Miyagi. The two forge an unmistakable bond as Daniel goes through his karate training.

Specifically, Miyagi has a very unorthodox way of teaching the ways of karate to Daniel.  To begin, he asks Daniel to start waxing his collection of antique automobiles, using a strict, circular motion. “Wax on … wax off … wax on … wax off …”  After many hours of waxing cars, Mr. Miyagi asks Daniel to sand the floor, and then paint a large fence … all while using strict and specific motions … “Side to side … up and down …” and so on. 

These chores not only become the cornerstone of Miyagi-Do karate but also through them Daniel learns life lessons such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. 

The bond between Daniel and Miyagi strengthens during what seem to be just basic chores. We learn more about Miyagi as opens up to Daniel that he suffered the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor.

In our new Karate Kid Collection, we honor Miyagi, his philosophy and heritage. and Here is our Vintage Miyagi t-shirt which includes Contenders unique take on the Miyagi-Do Karate logo:

VINTAGE MIYAGI HEATHERED RED

But, on the other side of this epic battle, there were the "bad guy" Cobra Kai's and their equally unorthodox (but for different reasons) sensei John Kreese. The Cobra Kai karate academy was established by Terry Silver, who gives the Cobra Kai dojo to his close friend John Kreese, who saved Silver's life in Vietnam several times when they were at war, as a gift of gratitude and friendship.

As opposed to Miyagi, Kreese instructs his students that an enemy deserves no mercy. He also teaches his students to use illegal strikes at the All Valley Tournament to disable their opponents, which makes the Cobra Kai a vicious opponent. Like Miyagi, Sensei Kreese has his own teachings and sayings that are drilled into his students in a military way.  We created a t-shirt as our nod to these Cobra Kai principles:

But, when these two sides clash at the 1984 All-Valley Under 18 Karate Championship, the huge underdog - the Contender - Daniel Larusso, aka Daniel-San, surprises everyone by going all of the way to the finals in the tournament. During his remarkable run in the tournament, we hear Daniel's girlfriend (who he did steal from his mortal enemy Cobra Kai Johnny), Ali Mills exclaim, "You're the best!". 

This leads to one of the best fight montages with that song you can't get out of your head once you hear it.  And, because we've been singing it for an entire year, Contenders decided to make a t-shirt out of it.  Here is one of our first baseball tee/raglans certain to be a fan favorite: