Cobra Kai Season 6 focuses on the Sekai Taikai international karate tournament, which is everything Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) didn’t want for Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1 ended with Daniel and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) leading their team from the Miyagi-Do dojo in Barcelona, Spain, to the prestigious Sekai Taikai tournament. In Barcelona, they found John Kreese (Martin Kove) back as sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo, which now includes Tory Nichols (Peyton List).
The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part IIIlike this Cobra Kai season 1 and Cobra Kai Season 4 culminated in the All Valley Under 18 karate tournament. Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence are two-time All Valley champions and have passed on their success to their protégés, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) and Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand). In The Karate Kid films, Miyagi trained Daniel-san to win his All Valley competitions, despite the wise Okinawan sensei’s dislike for karate tournaments.
Miyagi didn’t want to participate in the Karate Kid movie tournaments
Miyagi made two exceptions for different reasons
Miyagi is famous for disapproving the use of karate in tournament competition in The Karate Kid films. Miyagi incorporated his family’s karate philosophy that the martial art was only for self-defense and self-improvement, not for earning colored belts. In fact, Miyagi avoided violence and lived a simple life. Miyagi made an exception to coach Daniel LaRusso for the All Valley tournament in The Karate Kid as a means for Daniel-san to gain Cobra Kai’s respect and stop being bullied. It didn’t matter to Miyagi if LaRusso won, as long as he put in a good showing for Cobra Kai.
Miyagi would have preferred Daniel not fight at All Valley if it could have been avoided.
In The Karate Kid Part III, however, Miyagi was determined that Daniel LaRusso would not defend his All Valley Championship, which caused a rift between them, and led to Daniel training with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and Cobra Kai. It was only when Silver revealed that he was manipulating Daniel into fighting Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) at All Valley that Mr. Miyagi agreed to train Daniel-san again. LaRusso beat Barnes, but this was the last time Mr. Miyagi took Daniel-san to a tournament. Miyagi would have preferred Daniel not fight at All Valley if it could have been avoided.
Why Daniel is all for Cobra Kai’s Sekai Takai despite Miyagi’s dislike of tournaments
Daniel-san wants to pay homage to Mr. Miyagi
Cobra Kai Season 6’s Sekai Taikai is an international tournament involving sixteen teams competing to be the “best in the world.” 128 young people fighting each other for pride and prizes is something Miyagi would have found repulsive. However, Daniel LaRusso has a different mindset. In Daniel’s mind, Mr. Miyagi deserves recognition, and LaRusso wants Miyagi-Do to win the Sekai Taikai to honor his beloved sensei. LaRusso believes that bringing Miyagi-Do to the world is the best way to respect Mr. Miyagi’s memory.
Although he took a thirty-year break from karate between The Karate Kid Part III and Cobra Kai Season 1, Miyagi-Do was the defining influence on Daniel LaRusso’s life. He also saw how Miyagi-Do benefited his children, Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Anthony (Griffin Santopietro). Daniel wants to stop being a sensei, and the Sekai Taikai is the vehicle for LaRusso to gift Miyagi-Do to the world. Or that’s what Daniel-san would argue to Mr. Miyagi if he were still alive, and Mr. Miyagi would probably disagree.