cobrakaifandom

[cobrakaifandom]

Cobra Kai, Episode 1, Ace Degenerate

Note here that I have seen this episode and the rest of the episodes of Cobra Kai up to season 2 multiple times. It is that good.

The series is about Johnny Lawrence. It picks up in the Karate Kid universe to the present day, at least 2018. The first episode is entitled Ace Degenerate. It comes from what Johnny was called at the beginning of The Karate Kid movie,  while riding their dirt bikes on the beach, before Daniel Larusso enters their world. When one of his friends calls him Ace Degenerate, he says instead that he is an ex-degenerate. He says his senior year he promises to make everything come together and make it work. In 2018 it obviously did not.

His downward spiral started when he lost the All-Valley karate tournament in 1984 to Daniel Larusso, which the episode starts with. When Lawrence and Larusso were about 17 in 1984, 2018 they would be about 50 or 51. Johnny wakes up the present year, a functional alcoholic, has a thing for Coors Banquet. He drinks a stale one in the morning, has fried bologna and ketchup for breakfast, and goes to work as a handyman in his faded Pontiac Firebird. 

The class differences are changed here too. In 1984 Johnny lived in upper class Encino and Daniel lived in working class Reseda, where both interact at their high school. Now in Cobra Kai Johnny is working class living in a crummy apartment in Reseda and Daniel a successful businessman living in Encino.

Back to Johnny, it starts seemingly like a normal day for him. After a breakfast of fried bologna and stale beer, Johnny drives to his jobs in upper class Encino, tries to pick up a women in yoga pants while driving by in his car with the fading paint job, and she calls him a creep. He endures indignity after indignity. Cleaning out rats from a storm drain, kids squirting him with water, and nearly getting electrocuted. When a rude client complains about a job due to a misunderstanding, Johnny is fired for using the B-word. His day is not going good. While getting fired over the phone, he hears an ad for Larusso Auto and quickly turns off the radio. Earlier he saw a billboard for them too. Constantly reminded of him. 

Later that night he stops into a neighborhood convenience store to get his dinner, a slice of pizza the clerk grabs without putting on gloves. His day is not getting any better. Earlier that day he met a young man who both their crossed paths would change their destinies. Miguel, a Latino kid (later find out his family is from Ecuador), is at the store at the same time. Johnny leaves the store and eats his pizza outside on the sidewalk, and is mistaken for homeless by another homeless person. His day is getting worse. Then Miguel gets bullied by a group of high school kids who were there trying to buy beer. Johnny tries to ignore it, but when Miguel is thrown at his car hood, Johnny intervenes. Now this gang of four is shown to be the assholes they are. Not only beating up a kid who blows their fake ID spot to get alcohol, but insult Johnny for his working class appearance and background. Kyler, the leader of these goons, recognizes Johnny as cleaning his dad’s septic tank (also showing Kyler’s class background). When Kyler disrespects Johnny and pushes him, Johnny responds with something he hasn’t used in years, karate. He easily beats down all four of them. No good deed goes unpunished, as the police are called to the brawl and arrest Johnny. 

The next day Johnny goes home, Miguel attempts to thank him, asks what Johnny used, which he replies “karate, old school karate.” Miguel asks to be taught it, Johnny refuses and brushes him off. At his apartment someone is waiting, Sid, his stepfather. One can tell they do not have the best relationship, and Johnny cringes when Sid mentions his mother sexually. Sid disowns Johnny, gives him a last check, and Johnny tears it up because of his pride. 

Later that evening Johnny gets drunk and watches Iron Eagle, a terrible action movie from the 80s, showing on broadcast TV. The movie comes to a speech by Chappy: 

“God doesn't give people talents that he doesn't want people to use. And he gave you The Touch. It's a power inside of you, down there where you keep your guts boy. It's all you need to blast your way in and get back what they took from you.” 

The fight the night before, the karate, brought back memories of when Johnny was on top, a karate champion, something he excelled at. But then an ad for Larusso Auto pops up on TV, taking Johnny in a drunken rage. Johnny drunk drives to the old All Valley Sports Arena. He recalls losing to Daniel, and being berated by his sensei, John Kreese, for getting 2nd place, and being strangled by him. Then his car gets hit, and the perpetrators drive off. His car gets towed to...Larusso Auto. Johnny goes there next day, meets Daniel, and gets reminded more about his humiliation that day 34 years before. Then he sees a young woman who is Larusso’s daughter, the same one in the car that wrecked his in the hit and run. Daniel tells him that he didn’t have resentment against him but Cobra Kai. For Johnny, a new generation of Larusso’s is causing him pain. He decides to train Miguel, and bring back Cobra Kai. 

[cobrakaifandom]

Fan Fiction of Cobra Kai. A News reporter covering the brawl at West Valley High.

So this is what I gathered from the police reports official statements, press releases, and social media accounts and videos posted online from those involved. A brawl happened on the first day of school for students at West Valley High. It involved several students, thousands of dollars in damages, and one student paralyzed. 

It also involved many students who attended two karate schools in the Valley area. (Someone mentioned to call them dojos, ok, remember that). 

One of the dojos involved Daniel Larusso, you know, of Larusso Auto. We have seen the ads and billboards, a middle aged man using karate to “chop prices” on cars and “kicking the competition.” Well, it turns out that Daniel Larusso actually was semi-famous for a while for winning two karate championships back in the 80’s. So he actually knows karate. His dealership is a sponsor of the All Valley Karate Tournament each year, which has a high attendance even though it has dropped as of late. And this year he coached a finalist in this year’s tournament. This summer he opened his own dojo, Miyagido Karate. Saw the ad with Japanese motifs on Youtube too. 

The other student involved in the brawl were from another local dojo, Cobra Kai. And they have a connection to Larusso and Miyagido. 

I went to the dealership to talk to Mr. Larusso but he is not talking to the media right now. 

It seems like Cobra Kai is under new management. The previous owner was John Lawrence, now there is a different instructor, John Kresse. There seems to be a split in Cobra Kai, as former students are not there anymore. 

At the same karate tournament this year the Miyagido student (who Daniel Larusso reportedly jumped in to coach) fought against a student from Cobra Kai. Oh yeah, that student he enrolled unaffilated but later came under the coaching of Daniel Larusso and Miyagido Karate. The Cobra Kai student was Miguez Diaz. The same name of the paralization victim. 

There is something deeper here. 

This incident has resulted in the expulsions and suspensions of many students. 

The school district implemented a zero tolerance policy. There is also rumors that this is based on a previous incident earlier this year that involved a fight in the lunchroom there. It comes up in a few youtube videos posted, particularly one entitled “Karate vs. Bullying. There was no reported punishment on this incident. From these videos this involved karate too. And a close look at the videos show that the protagonist was the same Miguel Diaz. The winner in the tournament, and the one who was paralyzed. There was no incident report, or at least a significant report on this incident, which shows Diaz easily disposing some potential bullies. This is the same boy who won the under 18 karate tournament, as documented in the karate newsletter the board distributes. There was no police report of this the incident, still trying to get the incident report in the school. 

I tried to talk to the Diaz family, but they are not talking to the media either. Traced their addess to an apartment in Reseda. From what I can tell the son and mother are citizens, but there seems to be another person living there too. Or at least for as long as I have been watching there. An older woman, maybe the mother’s mother, son’s grandmother, going in and out of the apartment. Maybe she is undocumented. With the current climate on migration it would not be surprising the Diaz’s would not want to be getting unwanted attention through a lawsuit. 

There are lawsuits going on. Against the school, Larusso and Miyagido, Cobra Kai, and Johnny Lawrence. There can take awhile. In the meantime there are other things going on. 

[cobrakaifandom]

Cobra Kai Season 2

Just binged the entire season 2 of Cobra Kai. All 10 episodes. All I can say is awesome. Cannot wait for season 3. 

This is our modern day Shakespeare tale. 

[cobrakaifandom]

Bring back Karate Kid Part 2 nostalgia. The 2 rules of Miyagi-Do. But is what they’re doing straying from Mr. Miyagi’s teachings? Need to get back into balance? A worried look on Daniel’s face. Let’s hope he doesn’t pull a Zarkadian on this one. 

[cobrakaifandom]

Johnny tries to bring balance to the Kai.

[cobrakaifandom]

The Cobra Kai Teaser

Here is what I thought would come from season 2 of Cobra Kai before the teaser came out. First, that Daniel and Robby would start Miyagi-Do Karate dojo. Check. Johnny cannot quite move on from his past, a recurring theme from season 1. Check. His past comes in a big form with the emergence of Kreese. 

So what can we get from this teaser? Seems like Kreese has become a part of Cobra Kai with Johnny. It looks like Kreese is injecting more of the dark side of Cobra Kai into the next generation of students, a more aggressive style, while Johnny tries to keep it at bay, preserve the good that came out of it. 

There is a new romantic interest for Miguel with a new Cobra Kai student, Tory. One thing we have to watch for is how the show looks into Miguel as a developing character. He won the tournament and the trophy, but at what cost? In the last episode of season 1, “Mercy,” he looked around for Sam, who broke up with him because of his new aggressive attitude, only to find she left before the end. They had trouble before in their relationship because of Sam keeping him a secret from her family, for Daniel has an animosity for his dojo. It doesn’t look like they made up yet. And it seems like Sam and Robby are developing feelings for each other. Oh yeah, Sam also gets back into karate, becoming a Miyagi-Do student. 

One thing that doesn’t seem to come out in this is the relationship between Robby and Johnny. Seems to still be a distance between the estranged father and son, and their relationship hasn’t reconciled. What will happen when the rest of Cobra Kai finds out Robby is his son? Especially Miguel. There is one part where both him and Johnny are leaving their apartment building together. I’ll talk more about their relationship later. It is clear Johnny is a father figure for Miguel, who never knew his dad, and Miguel is a way for Johnny to have a “do-over” on his role as a father that he failed Robby at. The break of this relationship will be devastating. 

The theme song, a version of Cruel Summer, originally by Bananarama in the 80′s and now sung by the artist who did the somber song in episode 3, is fitting. It appropriately describes the aftermath of the tournament, held May 19th, and the many tensions in the air that will pop up with this epic rivalry. 

[cobrakaifandom]

There would be no reason for Johnny to know Terry Silver. Johnny quit Cobra Kai, as did pretty much all the other students, after Kreese tried to choke him in KK2. He mentions here he left too. By the time KK3 came out he was through with Cobra Kai. The loss of his mentor Kreese, and the exposure of the real nature of a man he looked up to as a father figure, led Johnny to the sad state he was at just before starting up Cobra Kai again. 

Okay I’m not going crazy but there seems to be continue talked that Johnny lied about Kreese in this moment but now there was a question if he lied about knowing Terry Silver. It was cleared up quickly but this is one of the moments Johnny is so genuine and fighting for his students. I don’t think he lied maybe I missed something. I love this scene so much I can’t believe he lied. Lying and just having bad information are two different instances. Just some out loud thoughts.

[cobrakaifandom]

This is a great scene, mainly because it contrasts Johnny’s approach to the consensus pushed by liberal SJW types. Such as the guidance counselor in Episode 3, who lectures teenagers about cyberbullying, naively thinking they will not do it after that, and even exposes Eli getting hurt from the teasing it caused because of his lip. In contrast to “safe spaces” and the life, Johnny confronts what is in front of him and everyone else. He correctly asserts that people do not do what they are supposed to do, and just because people aren’t supposed to tease you for a physical deformity doesn’t mean they will not. Because people are assholes, as seen by the Kyler and Yasmine click. Johnny says Eli should “flip the script”, be more than just a geek with a weird lip. And Eli does that. Gets a mohawk, new clothes, and a new attitude. And transforms into Hawk. This is a right approach for anyone, especially oppressed and marginalized people. One cannot rely on good intentions or the benevolence of authority, one must defend themselves, and assert themselves too. Defending yourself, in all ways, builds your power. 

[cobrakaifandom]

This is from Cobra Kai, Season 1, Episode 5, “Counterbalance.” Robby is looking at the Cobra Kai website Miguel made to help promote the dojo. Here is the text that appears on it:

About Cobra Kai:

Cobra Kai is the best karate dojo on the valley. We live and train by a code: Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy. Do you think you have what it takes to learn the way of the fist?

Click on our sign-up page for one free class.

About Sensei Lawrence:

Sensei Johnny Lawrence is a former All Valley Tournament champion. In fact, he didn’t lose a single point his junior year. He currently resides in Reseda, and when he’s not teaching karate, you can find him jamming out to 80’s rock in his Firebird.

Miguel has some skills at web development. He said in a previous episode he made the site during his study hall. The text here is what he got about Sensei Johnny Lawrence from his conversations with him and his own knowledge about Lawrence’s life. This small little detail is interesting in showing how Miguel brings out the positive aspects of Johnny. 

[cobrakaifandom]

Kicks get chicks.