In The Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) won the All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship —  but the dirty truth is he and his sensei, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) cheated multiple times. Directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen, The Karate Kid was released in 1984 and it's one of the most beloved, inspirational sports movies of the era. The Karate Kid spawned 3 sequels from 1986-1994, a 2010 remake starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and the continuation series, Cobra Kai, which is about to enter its third season.

Daniel participating in the All Valley Karate Tournament was the brainchild of Mr. Miyagi as a way to solve LaRusso's biggest problem: after moving to Los Angeles from Newark, New Jersey with his mother Lucille (Randee Heller), Daniel became enemies with the Cobra Kai after LaRusso started dating Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), the ex-girlfriend of Cobra Kai's top dog, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The violent Cobra Kai bullied Daniel, who tried his best to retaliate, but he was outnumbered and regularly beaten up by the karate gang. Luckily, Mr. Miyagi, who was the handyman at Daniel's apartment complex, was secretly a karate master and agreed to train the boy to compete against Cobra Kai in the All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship, a plan Cobra Kai's abusive sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove) agreed to.

Related: How Old Daniel Is In Each Karate Kid Movie (& Cobra Kai)

However, Miyagi and Daniel's participation in the All Valley Karate Tournament was actually full of shady dealings. When signing Daniel up on the day of the event, Mr. Miyagi lied repeatedly on the entry form: He claimed he owned a non-existent dojo called Miyagi-Do Karate when the truth is Daniel was his only student, whom the old sensei was training for free. Miyagi also lied that Daniel was a black belt when LaRusso had only been training for two months (besides some karate lessons he took at the YMCA in Newark). Worse, Miyagi literally stole a black belt out of a duffle bag and handed it to Ali to give to Daniel. Besides all of the deceptions just to enroll Daniel in the tournament, LaRusso was technically ineligible to compete anyway because it was the All Valley Under 18 Tournament. Daniel had just turned 18 a few days before, a fact Miyagi was well-aware of since he celebrated his student's special day with him and gave LaRusso an antique yellow Ford Super Deluxe convertible for his birthday.

Daniel vs. Johnny in Karate Kid

But the real crime is that Daniel returned the following year and defended the All Valley Championship against Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), despite the fact that he was already too old to be the "Under 18" champion. Daniel was born on December 18, 1966, so by the start of The Karate Kid Part III, Daniel had turned 18, graduated high school, spent the summer in Okinawa with Miyagi, and was supposed to start college in the fall. Technically, Daniel's tournament career should have ended with his victory against Johnny in 1984, but The Karate Kid Part III ignored the original film's details so that the sequel could have a final confrontation that mirrored Daniel vs. Johnny — despite the event again clearly announced as the All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship in The Karate Kid Part III.

In Mr. Miyagi's defense, the legalities of the All Valley Tournament were irrelevant to him. Daniel's participation in the event was just a means to an end, and the wise, old sensei was gambling that a good showing by LaRusso against the Cobra Kai would earn him respect and stop the bullying. Winning the championship was immaterial to Miyagi and he initially didn't think Daniel would make it all the way to the finals. But, of course, Miyagi fully supported his student when total victory was within Daniel's grasp. However, Mr. Miyagi didn't want Daniel defending the title the next year.

Meanwhile, Daniel doesn't seem to care about the machinations that allowed him to win the 1984 karate championship because, in his mind, he deserved to triumph over Johnny and, later, Mike Barnes. In Cobra Kai season 1, Daniel is part of the All Valley Tournament Committee and he tried to use his clout to prevent Johnny's new Cobra Kai from entering the event, which is ironic considering the way Daniel and Mr. Miyagi cheated to enter the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament in Karate Kid.

Next: Karate Kid: What Happened To Daniel LaRusso's Father