Ralph Macchio Explains That 'Martial Arts Will Find Its Way' in Season 3 of COBRA KAI

Cobra Kai started up at YouTube in 2018 to great reviews and an instant fanbase of people who loved the Karate Kid movies back in the 80s, and new fans who liked the comedy and drama brought to the show. The series had a successful second season, and is getting another boost by moving over to the streamer Netflix, which has a much bigger subscription base.

The show takes the stars of the original film, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and his old classmate and nemesis, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and catches up with the pair all these years later. Daniel owns a successful car dealership, and Johnny is struggling to make ends meet. But they each find their way back to karate, and the old rivalry proves to be closer to the surface than they realized.

Season 2 left fans on a devastating cliffhanger, and has both men wondering if their fates will involve their reignited passion for the martial arts. In a recent interview with /film, Macchio opened up about where he feels things will go after the blows dealt in the last finale, saying:

Let’s put it this way: season 2, so clearly, both Johnny Lawrence and certainly Daniel LaRusso’s intentions were very, very good and positive from their perspectives. What happened is everything became unraveled. One of my favorite scenes is in that episode in the elevator where Johnny and Daniel are there side by side and have nothing to say, but totally understand everything in the aftermath of what happened with the Miyagi-Do kids and the Cobra Kai kids. I think martial arts will find its way. Martial arts is not so specific to punching and kicking and the physical aspect. There’s a big part of it, certainly in Miyagi-Do style, that is spiritual and it’s a mindset. So that will, I believe, enter the fold and the physical part of it will follow soon after. It’s just the wounds are just too far open right now with Amanda and Daniel and what’s happened with Samantha and Miguel and Robbie to dive back into the dojo. So we shall see.

That spiritual part of it will definitely be addressed this season, as the recent teaser shows Daniel struggling to realize that his sensei and spiritual leader had secrets that Daniel never knew. The third season has promised to take the viewers back to Okinawa, where Mr. Miyagi was from, to find out what it is that Daniel is missing about Miyagi, as well as himself.

I can’t freaking wait for the third season of Cobra Kai, and it’s killing me that we won’t see it until 2021, but it’s not far now. Catch up on the first two seasons of Cobra Kai, streaming now on Netflix, and let us know what you’re hoping to see come from season 3.