What martial art is used in Cobra Kai?

Back in August 1984 – the movie Karate Kid was first released. It’s fair to say that after its release, Karate was never the same again as a martial art. In short, the success of Karate Kid was global and helped transform it into a mainstream phenomenon. One of the main features of the original film was the rival gym, Cobra Kai.

This was a rogue Karate gym that hit hard and didn’t care about the consequences. Due to their deviant nature, they caught the audience’s attention and this led to a Netflix TV series being released in 2018. This was called Cobra Kai and helped thrust the Karate Kid universe back into the limelight.

Unsurprisingly, this has led to a number of viewers asking about the martial arts used in Cobra Kai. Obviously, the dojo practices Karate. However, there are a lot of nuances in Karate and many different styles that practice differently from one another. For instance, you may have heard about the more mainstream styles such as Shotokan, Kyokushin, and Goju Ryu but have you heard of Isshin Ryu? This article will hopefully explain what style of Karate is used in the Cobra Kai TV show.

What Karate is used in Cobra Kai?

Funnily enough, Cobra Kai doesn’t use much Japanese Karate. Although you may assume this is the case, Cobra Kai mostly uses Tang Soo Do. As seen in our Tang Soo Do article, it’s a Korean martial art that was developed in the 40s and the likes of Chuck Norris have a black belt in the art.

Although Tang Soo Do is less known compared to Karate, it’s actually very similar and was inspired by the art. In fact, many people agree that Tang Soo Do was directly influenced by Shotokan Karate and Kung Fu. Therefore, to the untrained eye – it just looks like typical Karate. However, if you know Tang Soo Do then you will see a lot of movements that are specific to the discipline. Remember, Cobra Kai is fiction though, so there’s also a large dose of Hollywood moves thrown in to make it look extra fancy, if not a little unrealistic.

Choreographer Pat Johnson influences the Cobra Kai style

Looking back at the original Karate Kid movies, the main choreographer Pat Johnson was in charge of showing the cast how to perform Karate moves. As it happens, Johnson had a great reputation and was a black belt under Chuck Norris in Tang Soo Do. So, this is where the origins of Tang Soo Do in Karate came from. In this sense, you could claim that the style used in the movies was a mixture of Tang Soo Do and American Kenpo.

Even one of the main characters, Johnny Lawrence was actually graded by Pat Johnson in real life in Tang Soo Do. Obviously, the actor William Zabka would have trained during filming to make it look as realistic as possible. So, as ironic as it sounds, technically it’s not Karate that is performed in Cobra Kai.

Moving forward to the TV series, it seems that the Tang Soo Do legacy has continued. Here, many of the fight scenes use Tang Soo Do as they did in the films. One reason for this may be to continue its legacy, as the Cobra Kai TV series often nods towards the past. Another reason may simply be that the original cast already knows some Tang Soo Do. Lastly, it could just be that Tang Soo Do looks good on film and is dramatic and good on the eye.

What Karate style is meant to be used in Cobra Kai?

Interestingly, although Tang Soo Do dominates the scenes, it’s actually hinted that the style of Karate in Karate Kid is Goju Ryu. In the earlier films, it is mentioned that Mr Miyagi was trained in Goju Ryu back in Japan. He came from the Japanese island of Okinawa which is where Karate originated. Thus, he taught Daniel LaRusso Goju Ryu Karate.

At the same time, it’s hinted that the Cobra Kai dojo taught and trained something like Kyokushin Karate. This makes sense, as Kyokushin matches their style which is aggressive and intense. Ultimately though, there’s no concrete evidence as to what is used as it’s never really mentioned. With this in mind, it’s fair to say that the style shown on TV is different from the one taught to the actors if that makes sense.

Is Cobra Kai a real gym?

Technically speaking, Cobra Kai is not a real gym. Obviously, the Karate Kid universe is fictional and isn’t real. Having said this, there are some real gyms out there that are called Cobra Kai. The reason for this is based on the sheer success and popularity of the original Karate Kid movies. Since then, the culture surrounding the movies almost became meme-like back in the day.

As a result, quite a few gyms out there decided to call themselves Cobra Kai, as a nod to original films. Since the 2018 Netflix reboot, the term Cobra Kai has been thrust back into the limelight, which possibly explains why viewers may be confused about whether it’s a real gym or not. Having said this, if you watch the TV series then you’ll probably realize it’s fictional pretty quickly.

For the record, there are a number of different gyms that go under the name of Cobra Kai. These gyms aren’t just exclusive to Karate either. There are also BJJ, Muay Thai, MMA, and Kickboxing. You could argue that this shows just how widespread the culture of Karate Kid spread around the world.

Conclusion

To sum up, the style of martial arts used in the Cobra Kai TV show is Tang Soo Do which is a blend between Karate and Kung Fu. Therefore, it’s not too uncommon to see some Kung Fu stances being used. However, on the show, it’s assumed that Tang Soo Do isn’t taught, and instead it’s a mixture of Goju Ryu and Kyokushin Karate. Sound confused? You may be, but if you understand the variants of Karate then it’s not too hard to follow. Besides, the term ‘Tang Soo Do Kid’ doesn’t sound half as catchy as ‘Karate Kid’.

For those that have not yet seen the Karate Kid films of Cobra Kai series, you should definitely give it a try. Without taking itself too seriously, it also catches the culture of dojo life quite accurately whilst also showing the humorous side of 80s martial arts movies and traditional martial arts in general.

If you’re a fan of Cobra Kai then check out this Cobra Kai T-shirt, and remember…Strike first, Strike hard, and No Mercy!