it's not just to reignite his old
passion for karate or to avenge his old
nemesis
daniel larusso one of the reasons why
johnny lawrence
reopens his old dojo kobrakai is that he
believes that by doing so he can give
today's youth
exactly what they need the way of the
fist
after saving his teenage neighbor miguel
from a group of bullies
johnny realizes how soft many of today's
children actually are
this image is confirmed to him when a
group of social rejects
arrives at his dojo who are desperate to
toughen up
so they can awake the snake within and
strike back
at those who have humiliated them
luckily
johnny provides the recipe that does the
job
the offensive no-nonsense karate that he
was taught as a kid
based on a simple philosophy strike
first
strike hard no mercy the philosophy of
kobrakai
works wonders with these kids as they
become stronger and more resilient
the nerdy kid eli for example turns from
a shy
anxious boy into a ruthless fighting
machine and miguel
manages to defeat his bullies and gets
together with one of the popular girls
named sam larusso who happens to be the
daughter of johnny's rival
daniel larusso johnny lawrence was once
a bully himself
in the first karate kid film we can see
how he misuses
the karate skills that he has learned as
a cobra kai to harass the new kid in
town
daniel unfortunately for johnny daniel
is trained by the okinawan mr miyagi
and defeats him during the finals of the
all valley tournament
the immensely popular netflix series
cobra kai
tells us a story that takes place 34
years
after the original karate kid film which
now focuses on johnny
instead of daniel who are both men in
their 50s now
danielle seems to have a perfect life a
beautiful wife two kids a nice house
and a successful car dealership chain
johnny on the other hand
lives in poverty has a drinking problem
works odd jobs to pay the bills or
doesn't pay the bills at all
and has no relationship with his son
robbie
but by opening his dojo johnny fights
his way out of misery
like true members of cobra kai do and
creates purpose for himself
by becoming a teacher and role model for
a student
cobra kai represents the active
aggressive part of existence
and for many people its philosophy is
appealing because it's about pushing
boundaries
crushing fears and focusing on
achievement and conquest
things that far exceed the dojo as
johnny lawrence states gobrakai isn't
just about karate
it's about a way of life so aside from
physical fights
how can such a philosophy benefit our
very lives
and what are the downsides and dangers
of the way of the fist
this video explores the philosophy of
cobra kai
just a warning this video doesn't reveal
the whole plot but it does contain a few
spoilers
now there's no clear good and evil in
the series as opposed to the original
karate kid film
where we see this clear dichotomy
between good and bad
instead we see many areas of grey
showing that kobrakai and its members
are more than just a bunch of wicked
bullies kobrakai presents itself
as a counterweight to a generation of
softies or how johnny's old sensei john
crease puts it and i quote
our society has gotten weak kids today
are cuddled
they get trophies just for showing up
something has got to be done
someone has got to step in and stop the
ass kissing
and start the ass kicking that's why
we're here
the world needs kobrakai and quote
this approach proves to be very
appealing to kids that feel marginalized
by the scary world around them and see
joining kobrakai
as a way to get their power back the
cobra kai series has made a huge impact
on its audience
and online communities like reddit show
that people are attracted to what the
infamous cobra kai dojo
stands for kobrakai isn't just about
fighting it's about the stance we take
in life overall it's about confidence
discipline
resilience getting what we want it's
about getting away from the unhealthy
sedentary lifestyle of playing games on
our phones all day
while eating boxes of twinkies but on
the other hand
there are downsides as well to
kobrakai's way of the fist
we see that the bullied become bullies
themselves
we see anger and resentment and we see a
preference
for revenge and violence as solutions to
problems
and as ways to accomplish goals this
isn't a surprise
because kobrakai isn't about
self-defense but
self-offense as johnny puts it now let's
dissect
the cobra kai philosophy bit by bit so
we can see its cons and pros and if we
can apply it in our daily lives
strike first never wait for the enemy to
attack
the first tenet of cobra kai's
philosophy implies that there is an
enemy out to get us
and that waiting would give the enemy
the chance to strike first
it also implies that opportunities come
and go and that we should take them
before someone else does johnny compares
this to approaching a girl
you don't wait for another guy to
approach her so you need to do it
as quickly as possible striking first is
about being aggressive
it's very much about the stance we take
in life
is it one of aggressiveness
offensiveness proactiveness
or one of passiveness defensiveness and
timidity
or as johnny states it if you're not
aggressive
then you're being a [ __ ] and you don't
want to be a [ __ ] you want to have
balls
the willingness to go on the offensive
also sends a signal that you're
confident about your strength
having the courage to approach an
attractive person for example
already shows that you're confident
enough to do this which generally makes
you more attractive
as is written by an ancient chinese
general sunsu
defense implies lack attack implies
strength end quote
the downside to this approach we see in
johnny's students
they start training karate to fight back
at bullies but eventually turn into
bullies themselves
they answer with violence when it isn't
necessary
we can see this with hawke who
repeatedly uses violence to solve
non-violent problems
as a reaction to this mentality daniel
larusso
opens his own dojo called miyagido as a
counterweight
miyagido is based on the principles of
his old sensei the legendary mr miyagi
who passed away years ago in the karate
kid films we see that mr miyagi
consistently refrains
from attacking first unless he is
attacked he
always chooses the way of peace this
approach
resembles the basic principle of karate
which is
that there is no first strike in karate
aside from karate when it comes to our
everyday lives
it depends on the situation whether or
not we should
strike first sometimes it's better to
anticipate
and to have patience sometimes it's
better to not strike at all
but when the time is right striking
first
can be rewarding but you can't strike
first
if you don't know how to strike which
brings us to the second
tenet strike hard
striking heart is about giving your all
the concept of striking heart doesn't
just apply to physical fights
it's an attitude we take in life in
regards to how we handle things
it represents a bold move doing things
well and effectively
in the case of johnny he strikes hard
when he decides
to open his karate dojo giving it
everything he's got
by sheer force he launches himself out
of his rut
giving your all means not quitting
without a fight
not taking no for an answer not
accepting defeat
we see an example of this in the series
when miguel asks
sam out on a date she answers that she
doesn't want to date for a while
after breaking up with her ex-boyfriend
kyler miguel is disappointed but instead
of giving
up he still manages to hang out with her
by simply not calling it a date
but overdoing this approach doesn't
always work
especially when people become pushy
which is rarely attractive
in many cases no literally means
no and this ought to be respected also
using force doesn't always get us what
we want
and isn't always the smartest way to act
the ancient philosophy of taoism
focuses on the power of softness showing
us that the soft can overcome the heart
for example water overcomes rock an
example of this
we can see in the grand canyon we can
also see this approach
in miyagido karate which uses a form of
meditation to assist in a fight
and soft non-violent flowing movements
to practice techniques
we can see the power of the soft
approach after johnny finds out that
there's a lifetime ban
on kobrakai from entering the all valley
tournament
initially johnny wants to go to the
tournament committee
and kick their asses but miguel
persuades him to use a more delicate
approach keeping calm and talking his
way through
this works out very well and kobrakai is
accepted
now softness doesn't always mean good
and hardness
doesn't always mean bad the soft
approach can be just
as evil as the hard approach some would
argue
that sneaky sly attacks are much worse
than those done directly
and in your face johnny makes that clear
when he finds out that his new student
aisha is a victim of cyber bullying he
calls
people who engage in this cowardly and
often anonymous way of bullying
spineless losers the series shows us
that cyber bullying can be taken care of
by the hard
direct approach striking back hard at
people who engage in cowardly ways of
bullying
often ends it abruptly because it sends
a firm message
that scares off those who are too afraid
to do these things in person
aside from physical violence we see that
a direct approach
is very effective in many different
situations
it helps us to bring a message across to
make things clear
to get things done without nonsense we
just need to know when to apply it
and when not to an example from the
third season
is the way johnny approaches miguel's
inability to walk
after he came out of a coma as he
concluded
that a soft woo-woo approach from a
specialist
won't do the job so johnny applied an
unconventional approach
using a dirty magazine fire going to a
rock concert
and eventually the continuation of his
karate training
the next one is no mercy life shows no
mercy
so neither do we
johnny explains that life isn't fair and
if we look at it
many bad things happen for no reason to
innocent people
that's why it makes no sense to show
mercy because the world doesn't show
mercy to us
according to this logic from a strategic
viewpoint
we can say that by showing mercy we
create a weakness
that can be exploited by the enemy this
is especially true when your opponent
fights dirty
the last scene of the second season
shows this
when during a fight miguel shows mercy
to his opponent
robbie and this doesn't end well for him
this key moment
amplifies the idea among the cobra kai
members that showing mercy
is indeed a bad thing to do ironically
robbie trains at miyagidou and mr miyagi
values the idea
of showing mercy to one's opponent
because and i paraphrase here
for a man with no forgiveness in his
heart life is a worse punishment
than death miyagi points to something
essential here
he implies that mercy is a form of
forgiveness
withholding harsh treatment as
retribution
for one's enemies wrongdoings can be
seen as a compassionate way to
acknowledge one's humanity
including their mistakes compassion is
essential
if we truly want to forgive someone and
if we don't
it becomes very difficult to let go of
past experiences
as we keep holding grudges against
people until some sort of defeat
takes place as chris puts it
the fight isn't over until your enemy is
finished
you show your enemy no mercy and quote
we build up resentment which causes
suffering to ourselves
as it's like drinking a glass of poison
and waiting for the other person to die
this is clearly the case with johnny who
resents daniel so much
that he smashes his television when it
shows one of his car dealership
commercials
this is not healthy and we often go on
to self-destruct
because of it johnny regulates his
disbalance by substance abuse
he can't let go of his grudge against
daniel after all those years
and he can't let go of his childhood
sweetheart ally
he is in pain because of this cobra kai
members don't let go of the past
but instead use it as fuel in a way that
the sith
in star wars seek to channel their anger
into power
unfortunately this process goes together
with hate and suffering
miyagi doe on the other hand teaches
compassion
as daniel states to robbie and i quote
kobrakai isn't the enemy there are no
enemies
your dad his students they're just like
you and me
they've just been taught the wrong way
end quote
showing mercy is being compassionate
regardless of how we are treated
ourselves
even if it feels right to take revenge
all in all the philosophy of cobra kai
can be useful as a metaphor
for daily life it's about doing things
and doing them well
when you give a handshake give a firm
handshake
when you start a project give it your
all when you work on a task
do it as best as possible it's also
about discipline
taking what you want not accepting
defeat and dealing with your opponents
without mercy it's direct firm
effective however it's not always the
best way to live by
its mainly aggressive stance can ruin
opportunities
alienate people and cause unnecessary
destruction
and because of its gang mentality the
way of the fist
isn't very compassionate towards people
outside
the group often referred to as enemies
its contempt for forgiveness leads to
hate and all its consequences
including holding grudges and the
inability to let go
mr miyagi emphasized that we need
balance in our lives
in taoism there is a concept called yin
and yang
yin refers to the so-called feminine or
passive aspects of existence
and yang refers to the so-called
masculine
or active aspects of existence
balance means that we learn to
appreciate both sides of the same coin
in many cases the passive approach has
better results
many times violence can be prevented
we're better off yielding
accepting taking a break not intervening
on the other hand we do need the active
approach to survive
to achieve things thus both yin
and yang are part of life and ideally
these forces are balanced out
cobra chi for that matter represents
predominantly
one part of that balance the yang or
the masculine active side so for the
sake of balance
kobrakai is complemented by
characteristics that are more
yin eventually johnny becomes aware that
kobrakai needs nuance he becomes open to
change
as he begins to see that showing mercy
is sometimes a good
thing depending on the context he then
tells his students
not to take the philosophy strike first
strike hard
no mercy to the latter i quote
it will make you strong it will make you
formidable
it will also make you an [ __ ] because
that's just black paint on a white wall
but life is not black and white more
often than not
it's gray
thank you for watching
[Music]
you