1932-2005 "The Morita Years"

It's been a week since my discovery of some terrible news. It's only now that I've found the strength to come to grips with it and say goodbye to an old friend. The one and only Pat Morita, best known for his mesmorizing portrayal of the wise and dry witted Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid series, decided it was time to join God's elite as he peacefully slept in his Las Vegas home on Thursday November 24. Morita was 73. I think it's safe to say this about Morita; He was the Asian-American grandfather we always wanted, but never had.

Dead or alive, Morita was the only man ever who could take Chuck Norris.

There was something about the man that made you believe in yourself. We've all felt like Daniel-San at somepoint in our lives; rejected, alone, bullied, and helpless. But Miyagi changed that about Daniel; he changed that about each of us. He gave us confidence, he made us believe in ourselves, mainly because he believed in us. When we didn't want to go to the school Halloween party because we didn't want to be seen, he came up with a costume that would make us invisible to everyone, except to the girl of dreams. And when we were getting the crap beat out of us after that party by 4 merciless members of the Cobra Kai, he leaped a fence, saved us, and then kicked the crap out of the Cobra Kai members with a total of just four freakin fatal blows. People even had the audacity to say he didn't even know karate. My resoponse to that is those idiots never watched that scene, or the scene later in the movie where he stands alone on a booie doing the crane on the beach. Miyagi stole that movie, he stole them right out of thin air! When he said things like "wax on, wax off" you "waxed on" and "waxed off." We did what he said cause we had faith in his system. We believed this guy because he believed in us. We didn't understand why he was making us do his house chores like sanding the deck, painting the fence, and painting the house, but it all made sense on that fateful night in Miyagi's backyard. Daniel-San probably wouldn't have made it 3 months in LA if he hadn't had Miyagi there coaching him. Morita quite possibly could have been the greatest character actor of all time. The Karate Kid would have just been another crappy 80's movie had Morita not graced the cast with his presence. Because he did that, The Karate Kid is now one the greatest movies of all time. If you haven't paid your respects to this man, you to go and do it now. Whether you know it or not, this man impacted your life in someway. Oh yeah and lets not forget about Miyagi's ability to perform miracles almost as random and real as that of Jesus. Everytime Daniel-San got hurt, Miyagi could just clap his hands, rub them together, and touch the injured area and WABAM, Daniel-San was handing out a can of wupaa in no time! Seriously, Morita was awesome. He will be missed. Morita truly was one of kind. The world's a lesser place without him, but heaven's one heckuva karate dojo now. He's up there doing what we was born to do; teaching other neglected people the art of karate, the Miyagi way. RIP Pat, rest in peace.

Daniel: You're the best friend I've ever had.

Miyagi: You pretty okay too.

You were the best friend I ever had too Miyagi. Thanks for the memories old buddy....