Showdown (also known as American Karate Tiger) is a 1993 action/martial arts film directed by Robert Radler. The film stars Billy Blanks, Kenn Scott, Christine Taylor, Ken McLeod, Patrick Kilpatrick, and Brion James.
The movie is reminiscent of 1984's The Karate Kid. Blanks has the Pat Morita role and Scott is in Ralph Macchio's; Taylor and McLeod have the Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka roles, respectively, while Kilpatrick is in Martin Kove's.
Plot
Billy Grant is a police officer who is called to stop a noise complaint at a local party. Along with his partner, Spinelli, Billy enters the house to find two men causing all sorts of trouble. When Billy attempts to stop things peacefully, one of the thugs attempts to assault Billy, who uses his unarmed combat skills to stop the thug. However, when he puts the thug down, the thug's head smacks hard against the stairs. The other troublemaker looks in horror and yells to Billy, "You killed my brother, pig!". Spinelli shows up and arrests the one thug. Billy attempts to revive the thug's brother, but he ends up dead. Feeling guilt for what has happened, Billy decides to quit the police force.
Seven years later, we see Ken Marks and his mother. They are new to the area and Ken's mother has been looking for work, hence the reason for the move from Kansas. It is Ken's senior year in high school and already, his first day has led him to embarrassment. He sees a girl, Julie, and he decides he wants to get to know her. When he learns she is in the same class, he is warned by Mike, who becomes his new friend, to stay away from Julie. During a visit at the library, Ken decides to meet Julie despite Mike's warning. Julie's boyfriend, Tom, is the high school bully and when he sees Ken talking to Julie, he is given a verbal thrashing. However, Julie defuses the situation when she explains that Ken is new and didn't know about him. After school, he is met by Tom and his buddy Rob, who once again bully Ken with Tom warning him to stay away from Julie. It is there where the janitor asks if he is okay. The janitor is none other than Billy. Billy takes Ken to his janitor's room and the two get to know each other briefly before Ken leaves.
That night, Tom and Rob are at their dojo when the teacher is revealed to be Lee, the troublemaker from the opening of the film whose brother Billy accidentally killed. Lee is seen a ruthless fighter when Kate, Lee's henchwoman attracts Tom's attention. Lee easily disposes of a student showing his aggressive behavior. The next day, Julie attempts to apologize to Ken for what had happened the day before. Tom once again sees Ken with Julie in class and starts having a fit before Rob and Rob's girlfriend Gina calm him down. When Tom catches Ken in the library, he and Rob chase Ken to the gym. Once again, they try to bully him but Billy comes to the rescue and is able to stop Tom and Rob. Billy quickly disappears and when Mike and other students show up. They think Ken has beat the two of them up but Ken constantly tries to deny it. It takes Ken going to the janitor's room to convince Mike that Billy was responsible. Ken is now worried that if the truth gets out, he will be in serious trouble. That night at the dojo, Tom takes his aggression from the gym fight out on Rob during sparring. Kate sees Tom's bruised face and takes him to Lee. Lee is unhappy with what happened and constantly smacks him. He threatens Tom that if he fails again, he will be lucky if he lets him live.
At lunch the next day, Tom confronts Ken when he has heard that he took the credit for his beating the day before. Ken tries to deny it and reason with Tom. However, Tom doesn't listen and proceeds to humiliate Ken by beating him down with his martial arts skills. When Ken is seriously hurt, Mike takes him to Billy. A stunned Billy asks what has happened and Ken, in a fit of rage and embarrassment, tells Billy that he told her mother he didn't want to move. Billy finally tells Ken that he needs to learn to defend himself, and that he will teach him. After school, Billy and Ken begin their training by making Ken do some of Billy's duties by cleaning toilets, dumping trash, and other janitorial duties before they get into the physical training. Ken, focusing on his training, tells Julie that as much as he wants to be friends with her, he can't out of fear for Tom's bullying.