Many have seen the classic ‘80s movies The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Two, and The Karate Kid Three. These movies follow Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he struggles with bullies and learning to defend himself with the help of his new Sensei, Mr. Miyagi (Par Morita). In the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, LaRusso and the top bully of his school, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), make the finals where LaRusso beats Lawrence with a kick to the face. On May 2, 2018, Cobra Kai was released on YouTube Red.

Cobra Kai is set 34 years after the events of The Karate Kid and follows the story of LaRusso’s success as a car salesman, owning his own dealership, and the struggles that Lawrence faced after high school. Cobra Kai also follows the story of their children, who each have their own struggles and have or develop their own ties to Karate.

LaRusso has two children, a daughter named Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) and a son named Anthony LaRusso (Griffin Santopietro), while Lawrence has a son, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan).

At the end of season two, Lawrence’s student Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) at the re-opened Cobra Kai dojo that he belonged to in high school, is left fighting for his life after a karate brawl erupted at the school between Lawrence’s Cobra Kai’s and Daniel’s students at his dojo, Miyagi-Do, including Robby.

In season three, things are no longer the same. Lawrence’s old sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) has taken control of Cobra Kai and completely exiled Lawrence from the dojo. He has taken the path of teaching his students “the way of the fist”, violent and angry tactics focused in winning at any cost and showing no mercy. Meanwhile, LaRusso has closed Miyagi-Do in hopes that distancing himself and his dealership from Karate will help bring business back to his dealership. Tensions between the students flare even higher as the Cobra Kai’s blame Sam for the events at the high school. Miguel is recovering from the brawl but is left paralyzed from the waist down. Lawrence helps him through physical therapy as well as outside of physical therapy, gets him standing, then walking and eventually training again.  Sam and Miguel know that the only way to defeat Cobra Kai is to combine Miyagi-Do with Lawrence’s new dojo Eagle Fang Karate. The combined group is attacked by Cobra Kai at the LaRusso house, prompting Lawrence and LaRusso to take their issues to the Cobra Kai dojo and settle things with Kreese once and for all. Upon each of their arrivals, they are shocked to learn that Robby has joined Cobra Kai and intends to take down his father and his former teacher at the coming All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament.

Production of season four is hoped to begin in the coming months, but due to COVID restrictions and the focus on hand-to-hand combat in Cobra Kai, there is no definitive date for the beginning of production or release, however, it has been confirmed by Netflix that it will happen.

Enjoy the new season of Cobra Kai RHS!