Summary
- Daniel and Johnny have accepted that both their teaching styles have merits and complement each other, despite their differences.
- Daniel follows Mr. Miyagi's comionate and patient approach, while Johnny believes in tough love and non-PC methods.
- Daniel teaches a centuries-old Miyagi-Do karate style, while Johnny's experience as a long-time practitioner gives him the edge in teaching Eagle Fang students.
Daniel and Johnny have both become karate senseis since their years in The Karate Kid, with each demonstrating their unique teaching strengths throughout Cobra Kai. Though the beginning of the Netflix series saw the pair pit their respective dojos against each other, they have since accepted that their old rivals have a knack for teaching karate. This took a while for Johnny and Daniel to understand since their methods look drastically different from one another—where one has a fault as a teacher, the other has a strength.
Though the Karate Kid rivals tried, for a time, to combine their dojos, they found that their teaching styles didn't mesh. Daniel follows the way of peace and self-defense, while Johnny believes in Cobra Kai's laws of "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy." Going into Cobra Kai season 6, the Netflix series' final season, the duo has finally accepted that there is a time and place for both ideologies. Daniel and Johnny are a sort of reflection of Yin and Yang, with each having their area where they are the superior teacher.
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10 Daniel Is A More Comionate Sensei Than Johnny
Danel's Approach To Teaching Is A Lot Like Mr. Miyagi's
Daniel LaRusso has done his best to carry on his old sensei's legacy, which means he works endlessly toward patience, acceptance, and comion. This is why he took in Robby Keene in Cobra Kai season 1, despite the kid's record of getting into trouble. Of course, Daniel isn't perfect. When he found out that Robby was Johnny's son, he had a momentary lapse in judgment in which he lost his comion. Still, since Daniel is constantly working to live up to Mr. Miyagi, he managed to get his head back in the right place. Since then, he's willing to teach karate to anyone who wants to learn.
9 Johnny Isn't Afraid Of Tough Love Where It Is Needed
Johnny's Name-Calling And No-Nonsense Approach Really Works
Since The Karate Kid made audiences used to Mr. Miyagi's way of doing things, Johnny Lawrence was a significant change of pace in Cobra Kai. Though 30 years older, Johnny is just as non-PC as he was back in the day, and he isn't afraid to call his students names or laugh them off if they complain of small aches and pains. This is far from Daniel's way of doing things and has caused strife between the two rivals. Still, Johnny's biggest successes, like Miguel and Hawk, prove that the method of tough love works.
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8 Daniel's Miyagi-Do Karate Is Centuries Old
Mr. Miyagi's Karate Style Originates In The 1600s
Daniel has the benefit of teaching an ancient style of karate in Cobra Kai. Though Johnny's Cobra Kai was only founded by John Kreese in the years following the Vietnam War, Miyagi-Do was established when Mr. Miyagi's ancestor, Shimpo Miyagi, brought the style back from Japan in the mid-1600s. From there, the style has evolved and ed from father to son for centuries. In Cobra Kai, Daniel and Chozen are among the few who still practice Miyagi-Do, which makes their dojo and teaching abilities unique compared to the surrounding dojos.
7 Johnny Has Been Doing Karate Longer Than Daniel
Johnny Started At Cobra Kai Years Before Daniel Met Mr. Miyagi
Even though Daniel beat Johnny in the iconic fight at the end of The Karate Kid, the Cobra Kai student had been practicing the sport far longer. In truth, Daniel was only a novice who owed his victory to his fighting spirit and a bit of luck. When it comes down to it, Johnny was the superior fighter—he just lost because of the bad guidance of John Kreese. As an adult in Cobra Kai, Johnny's experience still gives him the edge. Karate has been a big part of who he is since he was a young child, and though his relationship with John Kreese going into season 6 is complicated, the history here has a positive impact on Eagle Fang's students.
6 Daniel Has Mr. Miyagi's Example To Follow In Cobra Kai
Mr. Miyagi Is An Important Role Model In Daniel's Life
Several times through Cobra Kai, Daniel faced a problem with no idea how to solve it. The problems with Johnny, John Kreese, and then Terry Silver all left him feeling stranded, and it took a visit to Mr. Miyagi's grave—or to Japan—to set his resolve straight. Ultimately, having such a role model has been a major benefit to Daniel. His love and respect for his old sensei enables him to channel the man by ing the advice he gave him in years past. Though Mr. Miyagi died before the events of Cobra Kai, he has continued to guide Daniel throughout the series, making the man an even better sensei.
5 Johnny Isn't Restricted To His Old Sensei's Teachings
Johnny Can Teach Any Style & Through Any Method He Wishes In Cobra Kai
Though Mr. Miyagi's wisdom has been an enormous benefit to Daniel's teaching methods, there have been times that he has gotten so caught up in what his old sensei would have wanted that he got in his own way. This is a problem that Johnny is free of. Though he recognizes in Cobra Kai that John Kreese had some effective ways of teaching karate, Johnny also knows that his teacher did a lot of damage. Understanding this allows the Eagle Fang sensei to make his own rules and adjust his methods until he finds something that works. This means a valuable amount of flexibility and creative thinking that has made his students the powerful forces they are.
4 Daniel Gives His Students More One-On-One Instruction
Daniel Has Traditionally Had Smaller Class Sizes In Cobra Kai
Since Mr. Miyagi only taught one student at a time, Daniel has been far more comfortable in Cobra Ka, teaching fewer students than what is seen in Johnny's dojos. The process of learning Miyagi-Do requires a lot of one-on-one, so even when Daniel's dojo got more popular, he was often seen working with the students individually or breaking them into smaller groups. This allows for a certain level of connection between sensei and students, which increases the sense of peace that surrounds the dojo.
3 Johnny Has Experience Teaching Larger Classes
Johnny Successfully Transformed Dozens Of Students At The Same Time
In contrast with the few students of Miyagi-Do, Johnny has had great success working with large class sizes. After Miguel beat up the school bullies in Cobra Kai season 1, the dojo became extremely popular, which meant business was booming for Johnny. Things could have quickly fallen to pieces, but the sensei managed to instruct this massive group of students without anyone getting left out. Their skill developed rapidly, making Johnny one of the more successful (through evidence of the vast number of champion-capable students) of the various dojo owners of Cobra Kai.
2 Daniel Knows When To Ask For Help From Other Miyagi-Do Experts
Daniel Was Willing To Seek Help From Chozen
Johnny prefers to work alone, and though Daniel might have said the same thing once upon a time, he proved in Cobra Kai that he was willing to seek help. When things against Kreese and Silver seemed impossible, Daniel traveled to Japan to reconnect with Mr. Miyagi's spirit. While there, he happened upon his old enemy, Chozen Toguchi. It wasn't easy for him to do, but Daniel asked Chozen for his help, and the pair have become quite the powerful teaching duo. Since then, Daniel has been much more open to stepping back and accepting the help of others, and this has dramatically helped his students.
1 Johnny Proved He Is Willing To Change For His Students' Benefit
Johnny Realized That His Methods Were Hurting His Students After Cobra Kai Season 1
When Johnny jumped back into Cobra Kai, he had a flurry of success with his first students. However, he noticed after Miguel's All-Valley Tournament win that he had created some monsters. Using John Kreese's methods from The Karate Kid, the students had become overly aggressive, taking "No Mercy" to the point of cruelty. Disturbed by what he had done, Johnny made some changes. He itted that he had been wrong and sought to teach his students a better way. The importance of this can't be overstated, and by proving that he was willing to it when he was wrong and make changes, Johnny demonstrated what a great teacher he has become in Cobra Kai.
