When Daniel is suddenly thrown into this world of karate tournaments and martial art training he is woefully prepared. His skill level compared to that of Johnny's is as stark as night and day as evident by the can of whoop-ass Johnny opened up on Daniel at the beach.
We know Daniel was mostly self taught and probably was still at a white belt level.
"Learn from book?", questions Mr. Miyagi.
Johnny on the other hand was a black belt. He was the defending All Valley champion, a two time winner of the under 18 Golden Trophy, was referred to as "Mr. Lawrence" by Sensei Kreese, and even had earned the right to stand at the front of the class and warm up the other students.
The question begs to be answered, was Daniels's training such that he would be able to bridge the gap between his own skill level and that of Johnny? Daniel only had seven weeks to prepare for the tournament. Was that really enough time to train to do battle with a bunch of angry black belts that want nothing more than to slake their thirst with your blood?
The conclusion I came to was no, not even close. Mr. Miyagi had his doubts as well as evident by his comments at Daniel's birthday party.
"I just don't know if I know enough karate.", laments Daniel.
"Hmmmm, feeling correct.", answers Mr. Miyagi.
Yes, Mr. Miyagi does go on to tell Daniel to trust the quality of what he has learned and not the quantity but it still shows Mr. Miyagi had his doubts.
