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“Go find balance,” Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel Larusso in The Karate Kid. One of the many lessons he taught in the original 1984 movie. A favorite among the Generation Xers who grew up on the classic underdog story. The movie launched the martial arts craze in the mid-80s, inspiring kids to take up karate and fall in love with the Ninja Turtles. The coming of age tale of a bullied teen who learns confidence and honor through karate still resonates in the Cobra Kai spin off series. The highly successful Netflix show has inspired a whole new generation of fans who have followed the further adventures of these characters. Just like the original movie, finding balance is at the core of Cobra Kai.
The series shows what happened to Johnny Lawrence after he lost to Daniel at the All Valley Karate tournament back in 1984. The bully who picked on the new kid gets defeated in front of a cheering crowd. His life has been in shambles ever since, becoming an alcoholic loser barely able to maintain a living. Cobra Kai becomes his ultimate search for redemption.
When we first met Johnny in season one, his life is way out of balance. He is a drunk with no family who can’t hold down a job and he rarely sees his teenage son Robbie. On top of that he is a sexist, misogynistic, bigot who is stuck in the past. He still drives a beat-up sports car and listens to 80s glam metal, a musical genre that capitalized on objectifying women. He doesn’t own a cell phone and has no social media. Johnny totally embodies the ignorance of the older generation. They never got therapy for any of their behavior issues and shedding tears was considered a sign of weakness.
Emotions were never discussed for Gen-X. This is the challenge for Johnny in Cobra Kai. He is scarred by his past, trying to escape it through alcohol but also cannot move on from it. When he learns of Daniel Laruso’s success, he is prompted to relive his glory days as a karate champion and re-open the Cobra Kai dojo.
Enter Miguel Diaz, Johnny’s first karate student. A Mexican teenager who is a bullied outcast. When Johnny first meets Miguel, he dismisses him as a lesser citizen and constantly insults him as a weakling. It’s only when Miguel rises to the challenge of the karate teachings, does Johnny value Miguel’s self worth.
Miguel is from the younger generation that Johnny despises. He hates the woke PC cancel culture millennial attitude of this new internet generation and considers them too soft and sensitive. Johnny doesn’t coddle Miguel, he ignores Miguel’s complaints and through his tough lessons, Miguel learns self confidence, becoming Johnny’s best student. Finally, he is more assertive and stands up to his bullies.
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It is through Miguel that Johnny starts to evolve as a character. Miguel teaches Johnny about being more sensitive and emotionally open. Johnny learns how to validate Miguel’s feelings, and this leads Johnny to reach out to his son Robbie. Hoping to reconcile their past relationship. Again, this is all about overcoming the troubled past.
Cobra Kai is full of nostalgia, yet it’s more than just mere fan service for 80s throwbacks. While the show capitalizes on easter eggs and bringing back legacy characters from the old movies, Cobra Kai pushes it further. The past plays an important key in Cobra Kai, as everyone is wrestling with their past. Johnny is haunted by his, as is Daniel. When he learns that Johnny re-opens the Cobra Kai dojo, Daniel is triggered as it re-opens old wounds.
Daniel Larusso has switched roles from the original film. He is now a rich successful business man. His life is off balance since Mr. Miyagi has passed away, ignoring those karate teachings and focusing on his money. Daniel is now the wealthy arrogant jerk that Johnny used to be.
This kicks off Johnny and Daniel’s rivalry. Daniel starts teaching the Miyago-Do way of karate and challenges Johnny’s Cobra Kai. Like old kung fu movies, the two schools compete against each other to see which fighting style reigns supreme. Cobra Kai is all about striking first and aggression while Miyagi-Do relies on defense.
This is when the series broadens and becomes a story about how the troubled past of the old affects the younger generation. Johnny and Daniel’s actions influence the kids in their dojos and a whole cast of new characters takes hold of the series. Miguel dates Sam, Daniel’s daughter, Robbie starts learning karate from Daniel, his father’s rival. This causes more shifts in the balance of their lives.
Cobra Kai also deals with classism, as the economic background of some of the characters also comes into play and how they deal with each other. Sam is Daniel’s daughter and comes from wealth, Miguel’s family are working class immigrants. Robbie spends much of his time on the streets doing petty crimes, while Tori also comes from a poor family and is forced to work numerous jobs to support her sick mother. This all leads to certain resentments that fuels conflicts between the characters.
The karate war goes further as the two dojo’s fighting techniques influence the kids. The aggression vs defense philosophies leaks into the lives of the students. Hawk and Kenny were bullied kids who end up becoming bullies themselves, using karate as a weapon. Robbie nearly paralyzes Miguel in a fight. Tori beats up Sam leaving her traumatized. Things get darker, as old villains resurface with Kreese and Terry Silver. Through this rivalry, more figures of the past come back to haunt Johnny and Daniel. The story gets complicated, as it turns out, maintaining balance is not easy.
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As their rivalry deepens throughout the series, Johnny and Daniel learn that the only way to restore balance is to work together. Not one fighting style is better than another, there is a need for both. Offense and defense are both necessary. This is when things start to shift for the better.
Miguel and Robbie started out as enemies, then became brothers. Sam and Tori become friends after squashing their beef. And in the final season, Daniel becomes Johnny’s sensei in the tournament’s climactic final battle. The scales finally start tipping in the right direction. Cobra Kai highlights the growth all the characters have made during the series.
Ironically, the main cause of all the bitter competition between everyone was their inability to communicate with each other. This lack of communication led to constant misunderstandings between all the characters, which just kept the conflict going. If only they took the time to talk to each other, so much pain could’ve been avoided. Something Gen X doesn’t have a very good grasp of, as they are the masters of emotional avoidance.
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This is all made apparent in the final episodes of Cobra Kai. Everyone is simply honest with each other. Robbie forgives his father, Johnny. Sam tells Daniel that she chooses not to fight so that Mr. Miyagi’s philosophy endures. Johnny reminds Miguel of how much he has overcome to be a champion. Robbie reminds Tori of what she’s fighting for by simply saying that he loves her. All very heart felt moments that were long overdue. Proving how far the characters have grown.
Still, this was ultimately Johnny’s story, when he finally gets to tell off Kreese, it is one of the most emotionally powerful TV scenes in recent history. Johnny letting decades of trauma and pain out on his former teacher and father figure is a cathartic moment, not only for Johnny’s character, but for the audience. Johnny is no longer the drunken loser he was in the first season, he is now a proud father with a family, doing what he loves, teaching karate.
This is the key to Johnny’s healing process. It is for Kreese as well, who embraces Johnny and gives him the emotional nurturing and validation he always needed. Proving also, that a villain like Kreese is also capable of change. Sometimes, all we need is someone to tell us just what we need to hear.
Cobra Kai came to a satisfying heartfelt ending. For seven years, this series combined old 80’s nostalgia with a modern comic twist. It proved that while the older generation can be abrasive, they still can be a positive influence on the young. At the same time, showing that Gen Z millennials can also teach Gen X about empathy and being emotionally honest, that no one is better than the other, and in the end, we all need each other.
Cobra Kai is a fun cheesy 80’s throwback series full of fan service. It may have leaned into campy, schlock at times, but it still had an emotional anchor. It was grounded in heartfelt dramatic weight as the characters came to terms with their past and grew into what they were meant to be. In the end, the story of Cobra Kai highlights some of the key fundamentals of Martial Arts. To have honor, respect, confidence, and to live in balance. Wax on, wax off, and no mercy.
