Stay connected to your favorite content
I theorise that a lot of Mr Miyagi's teachings revolve around his own experiences, or are fuelled by them. I think that the tradition of passing it from father to son had to do with a father wanting to protect his son from the horrors of the world. I believe each son (and daughter?) experienced some kind of hardship, and learned from it. Yes, their father probably preached to them, but they didn't understand what was being preached until they went through it themselves.
The Miyagi-Do way is tied to living and learning. It's why the training process is doing basic everyday chores as a routine, instead of outright practising moves from the first jump. It is why peace and balance is so important to them.
I think rebellion plays a role in this as well. In the 3rd film, Daniel is being harassed and assaulted by Mike Barnes, so he wants to be retrained. Mr Miyagi is against it, so Daniel rebels against him and trains with Silver. Mr Miyagi forgives Daniel and then agrees to retrain him.
Mr Miyagi was against the tournament, but gave in once he saw for himself how severe Daniel's situation was. I'm pretty sure he had his suspicions, and went to the dojo to investigate for himself.
I think what happened here is that Mr Miyagi could see where this was going. Following the Sekai Taikai storyline, he probably met plenty of competitors like Mike Barnes in his time. I believe that's why he was against using karate for tournaments. There's no point wasting your life away competing in a sport that you will always look over your shoulder for. Once you lose after getting so close to the top, you will begin to lose yourself. That almost happened with Mike.
If we're really going to be real about it, we should address that he killed his opponent. Going back to the fight with Sam and Tory for the captain spot, Daniel rightfully stops the fight whereas Johnny says it should've continued because it was what Tory 'needed'. Anyone with a brain should know that what Johnny said wasn't correct.
Grief does not belong in competition. Mr Miyagi lost his wife and son during his enlistment. He left Okinawa, was fighting for his life in a war, and lost his wife and child. What does he do? Goes to the deep end. After becoming a thief, he might as well get into fights, right? Joined the Sekai Taikai, and look how that ended? All that frustration and anger he had at the world ended with someone's death.
I headcanon that this event was a turning point to him turning back to his ancestral teachings.
The other side of Miyagi-do is rooted in rebellion.
Rebellion can come in all kinds of ways. It can be extreme, or even the small stuff. Mr Miyagi told Daniel that one day he would make his own karate. This gives the idea that each Miyagi son made it adaptable to fit themselves. Yes, they all have the same lesson, but how they use it will be different.
One example that I will bring up is that the Capoeira we have now is different to one that was created centuries ago. It is a martial art from Congo that the Brazilian slaves had to disguise as dancing. Break dancing was inspired by Capoeira. Like a language, it changes over time.
Mr Miyagi trained Daniel and Julie Pierce even though neither of them were his children (biologically). Thing is, Miyagi-do wasn't supposed to be taught to anyone outside the family, maybe not even to women (considering how sexist things were back then). Mr Miyagi requested his father make an exception for Sato. Sato went on to teach it to Chozen.
Thus, the balance of Miyagi-do. Peace and rebellion. Going against conformity, tradition, and living a life of learning. Yeah, that's all I got for this essay.