The real Karate Kid has always been Johnny Lawrence: member and sensei of Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang karate dojos. The wildly successful “Cobra Kai” reached its series finale on Netflix on Feb. 13, but the show was far from the start of Lawrence’s journey.
Lawrence’s story begins with “The Karate Kid” (1984) movie as the arrogant rich kid of the San Fernando Valley, persistently giving the new kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a hard time. This continues until LaRusso finds himself training in Miyagi-Do karate, ultimately beating Lawrence (William Zabka) in a heated valley-wide championship with the iconic and illegal crane kick.
Losing that battle led to Lawrence’s downfall. His sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove), abandoned him. Without a stable home life, he found himself in a sense of estrangement and failure. He turned to alcohol and was completely uninvolved in his son Robby’s life.
After “The Karate Kid,” Lawrence’s character made guest appearances on other popular television series, such as “How I Met Your Mother” on the episode “The Bro Mitzvah” (Season 8, Episode 22).
This episode illustrates Barney Stinson’s bachelor party. Known for his elaborate plans, his friends Marshall, Lily, Ted and fiancée Robin teamed up to give him the night of his dreams… or nightmares. Stinson’s friends gave him everything he wanted in the worst way possible. He stays at a bad hotel, spends too much money, almost loses his wife and meets LaRusso, the “Karate Kid.”
Stinson is surprised to find that this was an elaborate set-up to give him the best bachelor party possible. He returns to his luxury apartment, gets his fiancée back and in a dramatic monologue, realizes that he already met the real Karate Kid.
Zabka, whose life has fallen apart, found work as a clown for Stinson’s Bachelor party in this episode. This episode intertwines the character and the actor’s life, as if Zabka’s life faced the same tragedies as his character after losing the All-Valley championship, Cobra Kai and, ultimately, his life.
However, this all changes when he reopens his dojo with the opening of the television spin-off “Cobra Kai” and revives his rivalry with LaRusso, founder of his own automotive company. He takes on new students such as Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) and Tory Nichols (Peyton List). He trains them the same way he was taught but realizes over time that he is corrupting his own students. To resolve this, he adjusts his methods of training and attempts to distance himself from the evil roots of the Cobra Kai dojo.
He starts the dojo Eagle Fang, ultimately merging with Miyagi-Do. This best trains their students to place well and win the All-Valley tournaments and allows his students, Diaz and Nichols to become the male and female champions of the Sekai Taikai, under the Cobra Kai name.
While many “Karate Kid” characters are brought back, this series focuses on Lawrence. Over time, Lawrence repairs his relationship with his students, LaRusso and his son. He finds love with Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio), becomes Miguel’s stepfather and the father of his new baby Laura Diaz.
With a point system in place, the Cobra Kai dojo tied with their latest enemy, the Iron Dragons. To determine what dojo would win the Sekai Taikai, the senseis from Iron Dragon and Cobra Kai dojos competed.
This would be Lawrence’s final heated battle; with everything he worked for on the line. Lawrence regained control of Cobra Kai, so his studio and name were one punch away from becoming internationally recognized champions. Even more importantly, Lawrence’s sense of failure would be abolished with this victory.
There was more on the line than expected. This tournament almost cost him his family. The Iron Dragons play dirty. Fighter Axel Kovacevic (Patrick Luwis) broke Robby Keene’s (Tanner Buchanan) leg and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) plotted to kidnap Lawrence’s wife and daughter, to prevent this victory.
Silver and the Iron Dragons found their attempts unsuccessful, as virtually all of Lawrence’s goals came to life, and he got his much-deserved redemption, further solidifying him as the real Karate Kid.
Helen Burke can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Instagram @helenburke06.
