The first female sensei to be introduced in the series of Cobra Kai, Kim Da-Eun, made
an impactful debut in Season 5 and also helped shed light on the origins of the Way of the
Fist.
The way she taught Silver's students has shown us that Master Kim Sun-Yung would go to any
extreme to have the students demonstrate their proficiency.
Despite being allied with Terry, she is not easily impressed by money.
What is her true motivation?
What drives her to assist Cobra Kai?
This is Why Kim Da-Eun is important.
Let's talk about the legacy of her family, her relationship with John Kreese and Terry
Silver, her status as a fighter, and more.
It should go without saying that there are spoilers, so if you haven't seen Season 5
yet, go watch that first and then come back.
Let's recap on what we know about Kim Da-Eun so far.
Feel free to skip ahead to avoid the recap, but be warned – you may miss some important
details later on in the video.
Not much known is about Kim's early life outside of the fact that she is the granddaughter
of Kim Sun-Yung, a master of Tang Soo-Do in which Cobra Kai was founded in.
Master Kim taught Captain Turner who trained John Kreese and Terry Silver, and the two
also would train with Master Kim directly in 1980, where Kreese would take blame for
Da-Eun knocking over a vase so she could hide and watch the sparring match.
39 years later, Terry Silver flies Kim Da-Eun and the best senseis in her dojang to help
with his goals to expand Cobra Kai and to seek entry into the Seikai Taikai.
Da-Eun has Tory test the best fighters of the newly acquired Topanga Karate, which leads
to a successful recruitment of Devon Lee and other students.
To train for the Seikei Taikei auditions, Kim proposes to Terry that they split the
boys and girls into pairs to see who the best leaders are in the dojo.
None of the girls are able to land a successful point on her, though this exercise allows
Devon and Tory to finally work together, and shows Devon's promise as a future top student.
When Miyagi-Fang announces their intention to also compete for the Seikei Taikai, Kim
Da-Eun expresses her disappointment with Silver and agrees to keep training the students,
but tells him to be more prepared next time.
Kim coaches Tory to finish the fight quickly, but when her fight is up next, she is nowhere
to be seen.
Devon is then chosen to fight Samantha LaRusso, who scores a point due to the ref being bribed
by Terry, but soon loses the fight thereafter.
Da-Eun tells Devon that she has to prepare her as a future leader of the dojo, and the
next day puts the class through intensive training because of Tory abandoning the exhibition.
When Robby attempts to expose Terry Silver, Kim Da-Eun notices Tory staring at him as
he leaves, concluding that she left the dojo because of him.
After class, Tory is forced to stay and break a stone dummy, as punishment for abandoning
her dojo.
Kim Da-Eun accuses Tory of being weak and choosing Robby, which causes Tory to break
the stone in anger and also her hand.
Later that night, Da-Eun suggests that Devon can be a leader since Tory can't be trusted
and voices her concern for Silver's rivalry with Miyagi-Fang.
This is interrupted as Chozen, Mike Barnes, and Johnny Lawrence show up to confront Silver
directly.
Kim Da-Eun notices that Tory, Robby, and others are attempting to hack into Silver's camera
system at the dojo, and is sent to investigate.
Amidst the chaos, Kim Da-Eun confronts and traps Tory, who is saved by Sam.
The fighting comes to a halt as Silver is exposed for admitting to Tory that he bribed
the referee, who shows up soon after and challenges Daniel LaRusso to another fight.
However, Daniel defeats Silver while Kim Da-Eun looks on in disappointment, as the students
discard their Cobra Kai gear as they all leave.
Kim is not seen as Silver is arrested and is taken to jail.
Let's first talk about the legacy of the Kim family.
As I mentioned before, Master Kim Sun-Yung's style of Tang Soo Do is the foundation of
those who practice Cobra Kai's style.
He taught American Soldiers, notably during the Korean War as Captain Turner learned it
from him directly, who would teach this to John Kreese and Terry Silver.
As Chozen explains, Master Kim taught a controversial style that was based on deception.
“No honor, no mercy.”
This would explain why Captain Turner would pass down these same ideals directly to his
soldiers, as that was the way he was taught.
Notably Sato, Miyagi's childhood friend and former rival, even had a rivalry with Master
Kim, though the reason for this wasn't disclosed (though if I had to guess, it may have had
something to do with honor).
Notably at the start of the 80s, Terry Silver and John Kreese would go on to sharpen their
skills by training under Master Kim directly.
It should also be noted that Hayden Schlossberg mentioned that he would be on the same level
as Mr. Miyagi, as they would be evenly matched.
The reason that all of this is important is that this is the primary motivation that drives
Kim Da-Eun to join forces with Terry Silver – to share her grandfather's teachings with
the world, despite how controversial they may be.
Unlike many other people who have been paid off and swayed by Silver's resources, Da-Eun
is bound to a reason slightly of honor in regards to her family's name.
Although many American soldiers were taught Master Kim's version of Tang Soo Do, I would
imagine that the Kim family was selective who they would associate with and train further.
This may be why he decided to train Kreese and Silver further in the ways of the style,
given the motivations of the two to show the world why their way was the best way.
It's very interesting that Master Kim being the root of Cobra Kai mirrors how Mr. Miyagi
was a root of Miyagi-Do and all the students thereafter.
My hope for Season 6 is that we dive deeper into the rivalry of Sato and Master Kim, as
it's interesting to note that we both got flashbacks this season of both senseis and
notable students that they would go on to train – Chozen Toguchi and Kim Da-Eun.
That brings us to my next point which ties closely to the previous one – Kim Da-Eun
as a teacher.
Although Kreese and Silver were up until this point most notable for principles such as
“No Mercy,” “Pain does not exist,” and “defeat does not exist,” Da-Eun dials
these principles up to 11.
Her first order of business is to see how worthy Tory is of carrying the Cobra Kai legacy,
testing “what was in her heart” to be as aggressive as she needed to be to inflict
as much pain as possible.
When this fails, she has no problem punishing Tory going easy on Devon, instructing her
to hit Devon harder, going so far as to strike her leg with the stick.
While we have seen students get punished in the past before, specifically with previous
Cobra Kai senseis, this is probably the most sadistic and abusive tactic we've seen.
Although Silver had notably not held back with Robby in the prior season when sparring,
Kim took it one step further and would not show any mercy on either Devon or Tory, inflicting
serious amount of pain on both of them at the same time.
There is history of all Cobra Kai senseis (including Johnny, though perhaps the least
aggressive and offensive out of all of them) attacking their students to extreme measures,
but again, I feel that Da Eun's display is the most vicious.
This is also a tactic she's using to put fear into her students, to the point where they
are afraid to learn from her.
Like her fellow Cobras, she is cold and direct in coaching Tory to beat Samantha LaRusso,
instructing her to make it quick.
Kim Da-Eun also does not take treachery lightly, as when she notices Tory looking at Robby,
she goes to an extreme measure by forcing her to break her hand on the Stone Dummy.
When accusing Tory of why she abandoned the dojo, she makes toxic remarks like “You
care about that boy more than your own dojo,” in an attempt to make her feel guilty for
abandoning the exhibition fight.
Interestingly enough, perhaps due to her father also training US soldiers, Da-Eun uses a militaristic
saying such as “dominance requires sacrifice” and “you would've won if you sacrificed
your pawn.”
Like her Miyagi-Do counterpart Chozen, Kim Da-Eun is also very perceptive.
Despite Terry being unsure about Devon Lee being a leader because she's "so green", Kim
sees the potential in her, due to Tory being so unreliable.
Da-Eun brings this up to Silver because the younger someone is, the higher the possibility
it is to influence them into the ways of Cobra Kai's teachings.
She also shares the same ability of manipulation that Terry has; trying to convince Devon that
she is the “future of Cobra Kai,” the same exact line Silver fed Tory.
How dangerous is Kim Da-Eun as a fighter?
If the teachings of Master Kim Sun-Yung are any indication (especially how brutal Da-Eun
is as a teacher), I would say that she ranks up there pretty heavily with the rest of the
senseis of the series.
Although we don't have someone of similar status that can take her on at the moment,
we do hear a slight indication of how strong she is.
She and her students would climb Chiri-san with one pack of water, but she would carry
two.
Given how controversial and fearsome Master Kim was, it wouldn't surprise me if he expected
more than the rest when it came to his family learning Tang Soo Do.
Like Chozen, Kim also is proficient in taking on multiple opponents at once, the same thing
she taught her own senseis.
She has the ability to deceive her opponents even when out numbered, either feigning focus
on one and then suddenly attacking the other, taking on both in a counterattacking and non-counterattacking
manner, and even using her own hair as a weapon.
One of my favorite moments is during the first fight she has with both Devon and Tory, she's
able to toss both of them at once to counter both attacks they throw at her.
When Sam attempts to help Tory fight Da-Eun later on, we also see more of this, showing
that Kim is highly versatile and an adept fighter in Tang Soo Do.
If she is willing to do more than what she expects of her students, I wouldn't be surprised
if Da-Eun would have no problem breaking the stone statue herself.
Like the other brutal Cobra Kai senseis of the past, Kim Da-Eun will go out in a fight
and use any means necessary, going so far as to step on Tory's broken hand to cause
further injury and to decrease the further use of it.
Given the fact that she most likely personally trained all of the Way of the Fist senseis,
that would speak volumes of how great her fighting ability is.
While not directly correlated to her fighting ability, there are a few things I'd like to
point out about her personality.
When first fighting Tory and Devon in the training exercise, Da-Eun never bows, nor
takes her eyes of the opponent.
She does a slight nod later on, but this would indicate that Chozen is right about Master
Kim teaching no honor and no mercy.
She doesn't even bow to the Seikei Taikai representatives when they bow upon leaving,
further indicating this.
She has no problem telling Silver in how she feels about the petty rivalry he has, telling
him he needs to be more prepared, and even sneers at Daniel, looks at Silver in disgust
as Sam scores the first point, and also while he's losing the 2nd fight he has with Daniel.
Here are my final thoughts about Kim Da-Eun, and what we can expect from her in the future.
I'm going to touch on a few points about what I'd think what would happen, as I did in my
Cobra Kai Season 6 predictions video.
Da-Eun still has a motivation enter the Seikai Taikai – to spread her grandfather's teachings
to the world, which is why she agreed to help Silver.
It is possible that she could still enter under the Cobra Kai moniker with what little
students remain alongside her own, or use her own students and enter under her dojang's
name.
I feel there is a possibility where she would be willing to help Kreese with his legal problems
and uses his assistance so he can also establish his own legacy, as I assume Silver framing
Kreese will be knowledge to the public very soon within the Miyagiverse.
As we saw in the flashback, Kim had a friendly enough relationship with Kreese, even asking
about him when she got off the plane.
I also feel that this would be the perfect time to bring Julie Pierce in as an ally to
Miyagi-Fang, and perhaps another female sensei (if she is one) to fight Kim directly.
I'm not entirely sure if they would have Daniel, Johnny, Chozen, or even Mike Barnes fight
Da-Eun one-on-one, as Cobra Kai has always been ambiguous when it comes to male vs female
fighting, but at this point, anything is possible.
I would also love to see a deeper dive into the history of the rivalry between Sato and
Kim Sun-Yung, and how that affects Chozen and Kim.
Either way, only time will tell what will happen to Kim Da-Eun in Season 6.
Before I go, I want to give a quick shoutout and thanks to my partners and affiliates.
I now have official merchandise!
Go to stryfethewarrior.art, or click on any of the merchandise below the comment section!
If you're trying to prevent Miyagi-Fang from breaking into your server and exposing your
diabolical scheme, then you'll need some strong security to protect your information.
Go to nordvpn.com/stryfethewarrior or use coupon code “stryfethewarrior” to get
a NordVPN 2-year plan with a huge discount.
You can use NordVPN to unlock Netflix and your favorite entertainment websites that
are not available here in the US.
You can connect up to 6 devices at the same time with one account.
There is no data-logging whatsoever, and it works even in China!
NordVPN works with Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS and Android, has a Chrome extension which
is very user friendly and UNLIMITED bandwidth.
If you're not happy with it for any reason, there's a 30 day money-back guarantee.
With 7 All-Valley championships under it's belt, it's no wonder why NordVPN is a winner.
If you use this code, you also help directly support my channel!
So go to Nordvpn.com/stryfethewarrior or use coupon code “stryfethewarrior" at checkout!
Last but not least, I'm sure I have a good majority of gamers in the audience, but did
you know you can grab some excellent games while supporting charities at the same time?
If you haven't already, you should check out HumbleBundle!
They've raised over $200,000,000 in charity since 2010, and feature a different charity
site wide every month.
If you see a bundle you like, you can pay for what you want and in return get computer
programs, games, e-books, etc. and the proceeds support charity!
Go to humblebundle.com and use my referral link in the description at checkout!
As always, these referral links help support the channel, so thank you NordVPN and Humble
Bundle!
Let me know what you think down below – how dangerous is Kim Da-Eun?
If you enjoyed the video, be sure to like it, subscribe, share it with your friends,
and comment, as these all help my channel grow.
Also if you like the dynamic of Cobra Kai, I highly recommend watching Tiger and Bunny.
It's an anime about two superheroes overcoming their differences with a very similar dynamic
that we see between Daniel and Johnny.
Season 1, half of Season 2, and 2 movies are available on Netflix right now, with new episodes
of Season 2 dropping next month on October 7th.
I have 2 videos out right now on who I believe to be the show's Johnny and Robby, so check
em out!
Be sure to check out and subscribe to my second gaming channel.
I'm trying to get this channel to 1000 subscribers, and supporting this channel also helps me
support my main channel.
I'll be uploading more clips to this gaming channel, so stay tuned for that!
Keep up with me on my socials via Instagram and Twitter.
Shoutout to my YouTube Members, I appreciate the support.
If you'd like to directly support the channel, consider becoming a Member, and enjoy perks
such as VIP Channels Access in Discord, preview videos before release, 15% off of merch, members
only livestreams and chats and more, ALL for only 99 cents!
Thanks for watching, stay beautiful, stay awesome, and we'll catch you around next time.