The Karate Kid 4 revealed that Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) wasn't the first student of Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita). In fact, Miyagi trained his best friend during World War II, decades before Daniel was even born. 1994's The Next Karate Kid is the third sequel to the 1984 original and it introduced new background information about Mr. Miyagi as well as his new protege, Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank).

The Next Karate Kid is set ten years after Mr. Miyagi met Daniel-san in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley and trained the teenager to defeat members of the Cobra Kai dojo. In this new chapter, Miyagi traveled to Boston to receive a Presidential honor: his Japanese-American World War II unit, the 442nd Infantry Regiment, was recognized in a pomp and circumstance ceremony. Miyagi, a prior Medal of Honor winner, received the commendation alongside Louisa Pierce (Constance Towers), the widow of Lt. Jack Pierce, one of the unit's commanding officers. While staying in Boston, Mr. Miyagi met Louisa and Jack's granddaughter, Julie, who was orphaned after both of her parents died in a car accident. Julie was bereft from grief and anger, so Miyagi decided to look after her. When the sensei learned that Julie had learned karate from her grandfather, Miyagi took an extra special interest and decided to continue her training in Miyagi-Do karate.

Related: Cobra Kai: Why Daniel Is A Better Sensei Than Mr. Miyagi

Karate Kid fans had previously believed that Mr. Miyagi didn't train anyone in karate before he met Daniel LaRusso, since the elderly Japanese man had been a very private loner for most of his life. But The Next Karate Kid disclosed that the younger Miyagi did have a prior student: Lt. Jack Pierce. As Miyagi told Julie, her grandfather saved Miyagi's life during the Second World War. To repay him, Miyagi trained Jack in Miyagi-Do karate, and Jack "loved karate". In 1944-1945, Miyagi was only about 19 or 20 and he had just fled to the United States from Okinawa in 1940 to avoid a fight to the death with Sato Toguchi (Danny Kamekona), his oldest friend-turned-rival. Since Miyagi was so young, Jack Pierce was very likely the first person he ever trained in Miyagi-Do karate, which Miyagi learned from his father.

Karate Kid Young Miyagi Jack Pierce

When Julie told Mr. Miyagi that her father taught her karate when she was little, which he learned from his father Jack, it cinched the sensei's desire to continue the teenage girl's training, especially since Miyagi had difficulty reaching her and breaking through her anger. After all, since Julie had learned Miyagi-Do already, it essentially meant that she was already Miyagi's student indirectly. Indeed, Julie brought several advantages to the table that Daniel-san didn't; Pierce was considerably more naturally athletic than LaRusso, and, since she already learned the basics, Miyagi wasn't required to start from scratch like he had to for Daniel. Miyagi's training methods for Julie, especially they spent two weeks in a Buddhist monastery, were both more advanced and more esoteric than how he taught Daniel.

As Karate Kid fans know, Mr. Miyagi was hesitant to get involved in Daniel's troubles and train him, and it was only after Miyagi realized how much adversity LaRusso faced with Cobra Kai that he took the boy in as his student. Otherwise, Mr. Miyagi had no desire to train anyone in his family's karate since he actually detests violence and regrets each instance he had to resort to it. But in The Next Karate Kid, Miyagi was a different man who found his life enriched by knowing Daniel; LaRusso had become more than his student and was his closest friend and Miyagi hoped to forge the same bond with Julie. Ten years after meeting LaRusso, Mr. Miyagi was more open to the idea of training Julie Pierce in The Next Karate Kid, and it continued how learning Miyagi-Do karate is a generational act passed from parent to child.

Next: Cobra Kai: Daniel Ignoring Johnny's Good Means Ignoring Miyagi's Teachings