Johnny Lawrence

Intro 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso and his mother Lucille move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi. At a beach party the following day, Daniel meets and befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader, drawing the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the Cobra Kai dojo, where an aggressive form of karate is taught. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang (Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy, and Dutch) continually bully Daniel. At a Halloween party, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose as payback, Johnny and his gang chase Daniel and brutally beat him until Miyagi suddenly intervenes and easily defeats them. Amazed, Daniel asks Miyagi to teach him karate. Although Miyagi declines, he agrees to accompany him to Cobra Kai to resolve the conflict. They meet the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran who callously dismisses the peace offering. Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the upcoming Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championship tournament to compete against Kreese's students on equal terms and requests that the bullying ceases while Daniel trains. Kreese agrees to the terms but warns that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will continue for both of them. Daniel's training starts with days of menial chores that seemingly only serve to make him just a worker for Miyagi. When he becomes frustrated about it, Miyagi demonstrates that repetition of these chores has helped Daniel to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Through Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns both karate and essential life lessons, such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. He applies the life lessons Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali. On Daniel's 18th Bday