Eight senseis have taught students Miyagi-Do karate in Cobra Kai and The Karate Kid movies. Along with Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do is one of the two primary dojos in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai saga. Miyagi-Do is the form of karate taught and utilized by the franchise’s heroes, starting with Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), as well as Julie Barnes (Hilary Swank). Originating in Okinawa, Miyagi-Do is the Miyagi family’s karate legacy emphasizing self-defense, spiritual enlightenment, and self-betterment.
Miyagi-Do is eternally remembered for the unusual methods that Mr. Miyagi used to train Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid. Miyagi ordered Daniel-san to perform mundane chores like painting his fence, sanding his floor, and waxing his car. The confused LaRusso was shocked to learn that those tasks taught him muscle memory to perform counters and blocks. Miyagi-Do is also famed for the crane technique Daniel-san used in The Karate Kid.Miyagi-Do has since evolved through The Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai has added new dimensions as more senseis teach the Miyagi style of karate to a new generation of students.
8 Shimpo Miyagi
The First Miyagi-Do Sensei
Shimpo Miyagi is the first Miyagi-Do sensei and the originator of the Miyagi family’s karate. As Mr. Miyagi explained to Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid Part II, Shimpo was a fisherman from Okinawa. In 1625, the combination of “strong wind, strong sake, but no fish” caused Shimpo to fall asleep on his boat and wake up off the coast of China. 10 years later, Shimpo Miyagi returned to Okinawa with his wife, two children, and the secret of Miyagi-Do karate.
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Sensei Shimpo Miyagi trained in Chinese marital arts, from which he derived Miyagi-Do’s “open hand” style karate. Shimpo established the Miyagi tradition of karate passed down from father to son. Miyagi-Do’s combat and defense styles include the crane kick technique, the pellet drum technique, and the kata Tensho, which is where Mr. Miyagi’s “wax on, wax off” comes from. While Miyagi-Do is primarily used for self-defense, later Miyagi-Do senseis developed a deadlier version to fight invaders to Okinawa.
7 Mr. Miyagi’s Father
Miyagi’s Father Taught His Son And Sato
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Mr. Miyagi’s father (Charlie Tanimoto) was introduced in The Karate Kid Part II. Miyagi returned to Okinawa with Daniel LaRusso to see his dying father after 40 years of voluntary exile in the United States. Like many Miyagi before him, Mr. Miyagi’s father was an Okinawan fisherman. As a boy, Mr. Miyagi begged his father to also train his best friend, Sato Toguchi, in the Miyagi family’s karate, a break in tradition that would have ramifications in The Karate Kid Part II and Cobra Kai.
“If I am dreaming, let me never awake. If I am awake, let me never sleep,” were the dying words of Mr. Miyagi’s father
After Mr. Miyagi left Okinawa to avoid a fight to the death against Sato (Danny Kamekona) over Yukie (Nobu McCarthy), Sato continued to learn Miyagi-Do karate from the elder Miyagi. Out of respect for his sensei, Sato paused his challenge to Mr. Miyagi so they could mourn him in The Karate Kid Part II. Evidently, Mr. Miyagi’s father and Yukie always knew how to contact his prodigal son, but refrained out of respect for his decision until Mr. Miyagi’s father was on his deathbed.
6 Mr. Miyagi
Taught Daniel LaRusso And Julie Barnes
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Mr. Miyagi, known as Nariyoshi Miyagi and by his alias, Keisuke Miyagi, is the sensei to Daniel LaRusso and Julie Barnes in the first four Karate Kid movies. Born in 1925 in Tomi Village, Okinawa, Mr. Miyagi was a decorated World War II hero with the 442nd Infantry regiment whose wife and son died in childbirth. Much of Mr. Myagi’s life is a mystery. Mr. Miyagi was a maintenance man at the South Seas apartment complex in 1984 when he met Daniel LaRusso. Miyagi trained Daniel-san in Miyagi-Do karate so he could gain the respect of his Cobra Kai bullies as the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament.
Related Cobra Kai: What Happened With Mr. Miyagi & The Sekai Taikai In The 1940s Cobra Kai gradually resolves all the mysteries surrounding what happened with Mr. Miyagi and the Sekai Taikai international tournament in the 1940s.
Mr. Miyagi continued to teach his best friend, Daniel-san, in The Karate Kid Part II and III, with LaRusso winning his second All Valley tournament in 1985. In 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi went to Boston and met Julie Barnes, the granddaughter of his late wartime friend, Jack Barnes. Miyagi trained Julie in karate to help her overcome her anger and to defeat her bullies, the Alpha Elite. Mr. Miyagi passed away in 2011 before the events of Cobra Kai, but he is revered as the finest person, the best martial artist, and the wisest sensei in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai saga.
5 Sato Toguchi
Taught Chozen And Other Students In His Own Dojo
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Sato Toguchi was the best friend and rival of Mr. Miyagi. The son of the wealthiest man in Okinawa, Sato followed in his father’s footsteps to become a wealthy and powerful industrialist who owned much of Okinawa. When Sato was a boy, Mr. Miyagi begged his father to also train Sato in karate. But Sato and Nariyoshi had a falling out because they both loved Yukie, but she was bethrothed to Sato. Rather than fight Sato to the death, Miyagi left Okinawa for the United States.
In 1972, Sato met and became rivals with Master Kim Sun-Yung (C.S. Lee), the founder of Cobra Kai.
Sato did not see Mr. Miyagi again until The Karate Kid Part II in 1985. In the interim years, Sato opened his own dojo and taught Miyagi-Do to American soldiers as well as his nephew, Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto). After Sato reconciled with Miyagi and had a change of heart, he improved the living conditions of Tomi Village in Okinawa. The redeemed Sato also helped Chozen regain his honor, prevented him from committing suicide, and guided his nephew to become a better person.
4 Daniel LaRusso
Opened Miyago-Do Dojo To Combat Cobra Kai
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Daniel LaRusso officially became a Miyagi-Do sensei when he reopened the dojo to combat the spread of Cobra Kai in the San Fernando Valley. Although karate was central to his teenage years, Daniel put fighting behind him as an adult. LaRusso has a family and lives an affluent life running LaRusso Luxury Motors with his wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler). But when Johnny Lawrence (William Zabra) rebooted Cobra Kai, Daniel felt he needed to open Miyagi-Do to teach Mr. Miyagi’s brand of karate to the kids of the Valley.
Related Mr. Miyagi’s Final Lesson For Daniel LaRusso Explained Daniel LaRusso is questioning everything he knew about Mr. Miyagi in Cobra Kai season 6, part 2, and his late sensei has a dark lesson for him.
As a sensei, Daniel-san mixes the methods he learned from Mr. Miyagi with his own innovative touches. LaRusso’s finest student is his daughter, Samantha (Mary Mouser), and his son, Anthony (Griffin Santopietro), also became profiicent in Miyagi-Do. In Cobra Kai season 6, Miyagi-Do became a blend of Daniel’s pupils and former students of Cobra Kai, and LaRusso shares sensei duties with Johnny as well as Chozen Toguchi. Daniel-san’s focus is always preserving the essence of Mr. Miyagi’s teachings even as Miyagi-Do evolves.
3 Chozen Toguchi
Continued Teaching Miyagi-Do In Okinawa
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Chozen Toguchi became a successful Miyagi-Do sensei in Okinawa. Chozen was introduced in The Karate Kid Part II as Daniel LaRusso’s Okinawan enemy. Chozen is also the nephew of Sato Toguchi, who trained the younger fighter in Miyagi-Do karate. The teenage Chozen was arrogant, prideful, and violent. Chozen felt he lost his honor when he refused to help Daniel save villagers during a typhoon. Chozen was further disgraced when he challenged Daniel-san to a fight at the O-Bon dance and lost.
Related Cobra Kai Season 6’s Death Is The Ending Karate Kid 2 Avoided For Chozen Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 ends with a tragic death that echoes what could have happened to Chozen but didn’t in The Karate Kid Part II.
However, with the help of his Uncle Sato, Chozen redeemed himself in the years after The Karate Kid Part II. When Daniel met Chozen again in Cobra Kai season 3, Toguchi was a changed man and successful sensei. Now wise, gentle, and infatuated with Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), Chozen became Daniel’s trusted friend and fellow Miyagi-Do sensei. As a sensei, Chozen retains a harder-edged style than LaRusso, and he likes to employ weapons like his favorite sais. Chozen is arguably the best all-around fighter among Cobra Kai’s current senseis.
2 Johnny Lawrence
Merged Eagle Fang Karate With Miyagi-Do
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Perhaps the most unlikely person to become a Miyagi-Do sensei, Johnny Lawrence has somehow reconciled his preferred “badass” fighting style with Miyagi-Do’s virtues. Johnny Lawrence grew up as a disciple of sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Cobra Kai, but he fell out of karate after losing to Daniel LaRusso at the 1984 All Valley tournament. Decades later, Johnny reopened the Cobra Kai dojo to turn his life around and managed it successfully, turning Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) into an All Valley Champion.
If only Mr. Miyagi could have lived to see Johnny Lawrence proudly wearing the bonsai tree and orange sun emblem of Miyagi-Do.
When Kreese stole Cobra Kai from Johnny, Lawrence opened his own dojo, Eagle Fang, before merging it with Miyagi-Do so that their combined students could compete in the Sekai Taikai international tournament. Johnny is Daniel’s opposite as a sensei, emphasizing offense and ultilzing offbeat and somewhat abusive training methods. But Johnny also cares deeply for his students, especially his son Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) and soon-to-be stepson, Miguel. If only Mr. Miyagi could have lived to see Johnny Lawrence proudly wearing the bonsai tree and orange sun emblem of Miyagi-Do.
1 Mike Barnes
Miyagi-Do Sensei For A Day In Cobra Kai Season 6
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Mike Barnes is another unlikely Miyagi-Do sensei, but he did train Johnny and Daniel’s students in Cobra Kai season 6. Introduced in The Karate Kid Part III, Mike Barnes was known as “Karate’s Bad Boy.” In the 1980s, Barnes was feared for his violent style, and he was often banned from tournaments. Mike was hired by Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to be Cobra Kai’s entry to the 1985 All Valley tournament and to defeat Daniel LaRusso. Barnes was part of Silver’s elaborate plot to separate Daniel from Mr. Miyagi and break LaRusso’s spirit.
Mike is still karate’s bad boy even as a temporary Miyagi-Do sensei.
However, Daniel-san defeated Mike Barnes in the All Valley finals, ending Mike’s karate career. In the years before Barnes resurfaced in Cobra Kai season 5, Mike married and opened a successful furniture business. Yet Barnes found himself embroiled in Daniel and Johnny’s war against Terry Silver. In Cobra Kai season 6, Lawrence and LaRusso brought Mike Barnes into Miyagi-Do to be an impartial sensei for a day, with the mission of determining which students should compete in the Sekai Taikai. Barnes’ training methods are creative, to say the least, proving that Mike is still karate’s bad boy even as a temporary Miyagi-Do sensei.