A documentary on Noriyuki “Pat” Morita – the Oscar-nominated actor best known for reprising the role of Mr Miyagi in the Karate Kid franchise, and co-produced by a faculty and staff member at Qatar Foundation partner Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), will premiere on February 5, on all major global streaming channels.
For assistant professor Byrad Yyelland and chief safety officer Michael John Arrighi, the project brings their decades-long association with martial arts full circle, it was explained in a statement yesterday.
More than Miyagi: The Pat Morita story, will premiere on iTunes, Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, IMDB, DVD, and Blu-Ray.
Yyelland is the co-producer, and Arrighi the associate producer, for the 90-minute biopic.
The film, through interviews with celebrities including Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Henry Winkler, Esai Morales, Tommy Chong, and James Hong, traces Morita’s unlikely journey from being a bed-bound boy afflicted with spinal tuberculosis, through overcoming substance abuse, to his rise as a Hollywood star synonymous with martial arts.
“As someone who started learning taekwondo as a teenager, being able to co-produce a film on Pat Morita is the height of my association with martial arts,” says Arrighi, who was initiated into the Korean martial art at the age of 14 in Richmond, Virginia.
Having earned his black belt in 1976, he practised the sport for the next 15 years, exploring different techniques and styles, eventually winning the state championship in 1980.
Arrighi joined the police force in 1979, by the mid-1980s was on the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, and was training active and reserve units of the US special forces, including SWAT personnel and the National Guard.
After his police days, he participated in live hostage rescue/recoveries for which he was recognised and decorated; one notable event was the recovery of a Mexican businessman who had been kidnapped in Celaya, Mexico.
Prior to joining VCUarts Qatar, Arrighi was the director of Capital One’s Global Security.
He has also operated in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Mexico.
Arrighi says he first learned of the Pat Morita film from Yyelland, who was also trained in martial arts.
“I was gobsmacked when I first walked into Yyelland’s office at VCUarts Qatar, and noticed a black belt certificate on his wall,” says Arrighi. “It was signed by none other than Fumio Demura, the stunt double for Pat Morita on the Karate Kid movies, and the sensei who actually taught Bruce Lee to use a nunchaku.”
What Arrighi didn’t know was that Yyelland, at one point in his life, had given up all hopes of learning martial arts, much less receiving a certificate from Demura.
Growing up in Saskatchewan, in Canada, he first tried learning karate at 15, but quit as he was not comfortable with the level of physical contact that it called for.
He tried twice in his 20s and gave up again.
However, at 43 he persevered and in six years, earned his black belt.
A year later, he moved to Qatar in 2008, to join VCUarts Qatar’s Liberal Arts and Science department, as director of the programme.
It was at the suggestion of his Canadian instructor that Yyelland opened a dojo in Qatar Foundation’s Multaqa (Education City Student Centre).
In the meantime, Yyelland was introduced – via his Canadian instructor – to Demura, who visited Qatar in 2013.
In 2014, Yyelland collaborated with American director Kevin Derek to help produce a documentary on Demura, called The Real Mr Miyagi.
And when in 2017 Derek approached the VCUarts Qatar associate professor again, this time to help produce More than Miyagi, Yyelland reached out to Arrighi.
More than Miyagi
