Sekai Taikai karate tournament in Cobra Kai season 5 explained

Terry Silver plans to enter the Cobra Kai dojo into the Sekai Taikai, a global karate tournament so that he can spread the teachings of his master. However, Daniel and everyone involved with Miyagi-Do plans to stop him.

After sending John Kreese to jail and taking control of the Cobra Kai dojo, Terry Silver oversees a massive expansion and brings in an old acquaintance to help teach his students the way of the fist.

With his notorious plans close to his chest, Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence and Chozen do everything they can to stop him.

The way of the fist

When Daniel takes Chozen to see Terry Silver for the first time, Chozen says that he has seen Terry’s fighting style before. He says that Kim Sun-Yung, a Korean sensei thought many American soldiers during the Korean war but that his teachings weren’t exactly honourable.

Chozen tells Daniel that while Kim Sun-Yung was a master of Tang Soo do, he taught a more controversial style of fighting based on deception. It has no honour and preaches no mercy against its opponents.

Sekai Taikai karate tournament in Cobra Kai season 5 explained 1
John Kreese and Terry Silver learnt the way of the fist from Kim Sun-Yung.

Chozen advises caution and tells Daniel that he wants to go up against a serpent like Terry Silver, he must think like a serpent or else Terry will see him coming from a mile away. They plan to use his twisted style against him.

Plans for global domination

Terry invites Kim Da-Eun and the best senseis from her dojang to teach at Cobra Kai. She is the granddaughter of Kim Sun-Yung and just like Terry, she wishes to see her grandfather’s teachings come out of the shadow and be spread across the world.

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Terry Silver invites Kim Da-Eun to teach the way of the fist at Cobra Kai.

After banding together to take on the threat of Terry’s growing expansion, Daniel and Johnny visit John Kreese in prison to find out what Terry’s true intentions are.

He tells them that when he first started Cobra Kai, Terry wanted them to enter the Sekai Taikai, which is a prestigious karate tournament that invites dojos from across the world. Terry wanted to see the Way of the Fist taught to people on a much wider scale but Kreese said they weren’t ready for that just yet.

Now that Kreese was out of the way, Terry went ahead with his plans to gain global recognition for Cobra Kai by entering the Sekai Taikai.

Facing off for a place in the tournament

Terry invites the organisers of the Sekai Taikai to his dojo so that they can have a look at the facilities and the students and decide whether Cobra Kai is worthy of joining the tournament.

Daniel, Johnny and Chozen show up and talk up Miyagi-do and the fact that they have the two previous winners of the All-Valley tournament. The organisers agree to observe how both dojos operate and make a decision on which one will enter.

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Daniel and Johnny make their case for entry into the Sekai Taikai tournament.

After being impressed by Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do, they decide to have a one-on-one contest between the best male and female fighters of each dojo. While Kenny Payne beats Hawk in the men’s match, Samantha beats Devon in the women’s match after Tory abandons her dojo when she realises that the referee has been paid off yet again.

The organisers ultimately chose to have both dojos compete at the tournament, although Cobra Kai’s participation is in doubt with Terry Silver’s subsequent arrest at the end of the season.

Is the Sekai Taikai a real tournament?

While several martial arts tournaments exist on a global scale, the Sekai Taikai karate tournament is a fictional one that has been created for the sole purpose of the series.

This allows the creators to build their storyline around the tournament while setting rules that could be used to further the narrative much like the similarly fictional All-Valley Under 18 tournament that has stayed at the centre of much of the franchise.


Also Read: Cobra Kai season 5 ending explained: Does Daniel finally take down Cobra Kai?

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