Are you watching Netflix’s Cobra Kai? All eyes are set to the All Valley Karate Tournament where decades-long rivalries will finally collide in an intense contest for supremacy. Don’t miss it; this could be your moment.
Johnny Lawrence reopens Cobra Kai with Miguel Diaz as its inaugural student, but some students take his aggressive philosophy too far – particularly Robby Keene who falls spine-first onto a stair rail during his initial fight at school. But if you’re not a fan, there are plenty of other dojos out there for you to choose from.
Miyagi-Do
Miyagi-Do may be a misnomer; its members actually belong to Cobra Kai. Established by Terry Silver – who founded DynaTox Industries – when John Kreese saved his life during the Vietnam War, Terry Silver promised that in return he would open a Cobra Kai karate school for John Kreese to run.
Unfortunately, Silver was not known to be honest. He soon started abusing his position as Sensei by hiring multiple senseis and taking money from students in his care. At one point, he even tried bribing All Valley tournament organizers so Cobra Kai would win; eventually his cheating in competition led to its loss to Daniel and eventually all his students leaving him and the dojo altogether.
Cobra Kai was not entirely destroyed when students regrouped to form Eagle Fang Karate with Johnny Lawrence’s new dojo (https://www.msn.com/cobra-kai). Together, both dojos worked to stop Silver’s evil plan to rule all karate practitioners worldwide – something most may say is an impossible feat, but they are a rather determined team (as most viewers would agree).
LaRusso may be the most recognized member of the dojo, but his other members experience the most dramatic character development. Tory has been struggling against her inner snake since Season 2 while Sam has dealt with Miguel being her target all season.
Eagle Fang
After losing Cobra Kai to John Kreese, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) opens Eagle Fang Karate as a way of righting some of his wrongs. Attracting an array of bullied children and social outcasts who find comfort under his guidance; many thrive under Miguel Diaz’s aggressive philosophy but others take things too far, especially during an incident at school.
Eagle Fang (which you can read more about here) differs significantly from Miyagi-Do, which favors more restrained and balanced techniques, in that its focus lies more with proactive and even aggressive principles. Eagle Fang dojo encourages its students to strike hard from the outset; originally held at Johnny’s local public park due to a lack of funds but eventually shifting to an abandoned metal works factory.
Eagle Fang students could easily identify each other during All Valley tournament qualifiers by wearing red outfits with blue accents – easily distinguished from Miyagi-Do’s all blue attire. As soon as a fight took place between one team and another it became evident by color alone that was fighting who.
Eagle Fang had almost fallen out of contention by the quarter finals, but Miguel’s victory propelled the dojo into the semis where they would face Demetri.
Samantha faced off against Robby in one semifinal while Tory squared off against Silver in another semi. All three fights were close and well contested, ultimately coming down to that had the most effective strategy. Demetri used his tech town skills to hack Silver’s servers and expose his questionable business practices before defeating Silver for Miyagi-Do. Eagle Fang members still felt proud of their students for making it this far in competition, with Tory and Devon promising that training efforts will intensify going forward; you can expect them back again soon in Cobra Kai!
Cobra Kai
Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos play major roles in Cobra Kai, each featuring student characters that play an integral part. Though players from dojo Cobra Kai cannot select which dojo they would like to represent in game play, they can recruit several of its star students and senseis. This includes Miguel Diaz, Robby Keene and Hawk from Cobra Kai as well as Johnny and Daniel from Miyagi-Do.
After saving Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) from bullies, Johnny becomes inspired to open up his own karate school under the Cobra Kai name and its philosophy: “Strike Hard, Strike First and Show No Mercy”. Silver quickly objects to this idea and proposes a rivalry match in which the winner would gain new students for their dojo.
Both schools recruit several students from one another’s dojos, including Eli and Kenny from each, to compete in the All Valley Karate Tournament, set up according to Johnny and Daniel’s agreement.
As the tournament advances, tensions begin to escalate as each dojo gains ground in competition. Silver attempts to bribe the referee in order to guarantee Cobra Kai wins; but is unsuccessful. Eli and Kenny compete closely, ultimately with Kenny emerging victorious.
Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz was one of Cobra Kai’s most ardent supporters until John Kreese’s no-mercy approach turned him into an unpleasant individual. Hawk eventually left and joined Eagle Fang under Demetri, although whether this occurred prior to season 3 ends is unclear; given that he stood beside Demetri in its final scene on screen it seems likely.