At what point do students see "Way of the fist" and "No mercy" for they are: Sociopathic crap. It felt authentic in the OG Karate Kid, with Kreese working out his personal traumas on a bunch of kids looking for identity. But here we are, 40 years later, with modern teens still willing to follow this warped old man on his cultish Kamakaze trip to self-destruction. Worse, it's not just Kreese's sick mind that conjured this up. "No mercy" is the guiding philosophy of an ancient Japanese dojo, with a Sensei who mentored Kreese and has been churning out generations of psychopaths. Seriously? Aside from the obvious question of why parents would pay a school to transform their kids into monsters, Cobra Kai represents the opposite of any legit Karate teaching.
It sounds like I just tuned into Cobra Kai for the first time and am shocked. Not quite. I've watched every single episode and really enjoyed the reboot. Until now. I've finally had enough of the "No mercy" boogeyman being used as the bad-guy. Kreese is a lost cause, a homeless war vet with nothing left but hate. He's an interesting character. However, his bizarre influence over others is ridiculous. Having a bad day? Somebody piss you off? Don't bother working out your problems! Instead, let a delusional criminal instruct you on the Way Of Alienating Everyone In Your Life and set you on the path to a criminal record.
