Yes, sensei

Screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen describing his original idea for "The Karate Kid, Part III" to Craveonline.com last October: "I wanted to have them flash back to 16th-century China and do a historical flying people movie. I wanted to do a Hong Kong kung-fu movie... As Mr Miyagi tells Daniel in the first movie...the first Miyagi was a fisherman, he got drunk and he fell asleep and his boat drifted to China and he spent 10 years there and learned karate... I was going to tell the saga in reverse. Daniel and Mr Miyagi are in a boat. It all happens when Daniel gets hit on the head and he has a dream. He’s in a coma or something... It docks and Mr Miyagi and Daniel follow the first Miyagi ancestor into China."

As RMK points out, this concept was too radical for Hollywood in 1989, 11 years before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" showed that a wuxia film can have international appeal.