Chapter Two: The New Karate Kid

…

Riding on his bicycle, Miguel pulled up to Mr. Miyagi's home.

In the front yard by the old boat and the lines of old cars, Daniel was waxing on and off with his old headband wrapped around his head.

Miguel jumped off his bicycle wearing a yellow shirt with short blue sleeves. "Hi there."

Daniel smiled. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Daniel LaRusso? Sam told me about you."

"Mm. She told me what happened. Lose the sunglasses we both know what you're hiding."

Slowly and shyly, Miguel revealed the bruises on his eye and nose.

Daniel sighed loudly. "Over thirty years and Cobra Kai hasn't changed."

"This place looks really old and worn down. What happened to it?"

"It was beautiful at one point. Like something out of a painting," said Daniel. "But no one's lived here in over thirty years. With the dealership and Sam spending more time than ever with her friends. I'm basically the only one who can restore Miyagi-Do to what it once was, and I barely have enough time to do that as it is."

"Well what is Miyagi-Do?"

Daniel chuckled. "We have a lot to talk about. What's your name?"

"Miguel. Miguel Diaz. I just moved into an apartment in Reseda. I live across the hall from this guy who invited me to a beach party. That's where I got my ass beat."

Daniel nodded. "That so? Guess history has an odd way of repeating itself. Anyway. You want to learn Miyagi-Do Karate?"

"Of course I do! Sounds awesome."

"Not as awesome as you might think. First lesson, follow me."

…

Karate Kid OST: Paint the Fence

…

"The secret to Miyagi-Do karate. Is your focus. Your balance. And it all starts with your perspective. This drill is your first lesson. To improve your perspective."

Miguel laughed in surprise, being handed a paint brush. "Hold on. I thought I was learning karate, not doing chores."

"It'll sink in how this matters. I promise. Let me show you."

Daniel walked over to the fence and dipped his paintbrush into the paint can. "You probably know Miyagi-Do karate best from all those super fast counters Cobra Kai's new champion pulled off at this last All Valley tournament."

"Yeah I saw all the videos online they were sweet!"

"It takes months and months and months of practicing your fundamentals to get that skilled with any sort of Miyagi-Do. And it starts, by repeating this."

Daniel brushed upward with the paintbrush. "Brush up."

Daniel inhaled quietly.

"Brush down."

He exhaled quietly.

"Brush up."

He inhaled again.

"Brush down."

Daniel exhaled.

"Now you try."

"Mr. LaRusso if we don't take this seriously, those guys will kick my ass pretty hard again."

"I can't teach you this karate any other way. Until you paint this entire fence line, from start to finish. We can't move on to the next lesson. But if you really want my assurance this is worth your time. Here."

Daniel led Miguel into Mr. Miyagi's home. "I moved these from my home dojo."

Daniel looked at the two All Valley golden trophies. "I might've not been the strongest or the most experienced fighter. But I earned these two championship titles. Trust me. You get it now?"

Miguel nodded slowly and was led back outside to the fence.

"Good. Remember. Brush up, breathe in, brush down, breathe out. Brush up, breathe in, brush down, breathe out. It's aaaall in the breath."

Miguel started to do so, making strong, simple strokes with his paintbrush. "Uh. Mr. LaRusso," he said quietly as Daniel started to walk into Mr. Miyagi's home.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry to hear about the tournament recently. I know it was. Hard for you, Sam told me."

Daniel was quiet for a moment.

"Just focus on your painting."

Sighing, Miguel did so.

He painted the fence board right behind the line of very old cars. He painted the fence boards around the northern part of Mr. Miyagi's old home. Then he painted lines and lines of fences around the dilapidated garden of Mr. Miyagi's house.

Miguel painted and painted and painted.

He made sure each stroke was thorough and complete. He even crouched a little bit properly enough to have a more stable and balanced stance.

Daniel smiled, without direction, Miguel was clearly very naturally talented at Miyagi-Do.

As he wrapped up the last part of the fence line behind the old boat Mr. Miyagi had for fishing, Daniel spoke.

"Okay. It's time for your next lesson."

Daniel handed Japanese sanders to Miguel. "You've learned the first part of Miyagi-Do. Which is paint the fence. Now you learn. Sand the floor. Then you'll learn, wax on, wax off."

"Are you serious? More chores? Again we gotta take this seriously! I'm in danger here."

Daniel sighed. "About, forty five minutes ago you told me you trusted Mr. Miyagi's karate when I showed you my two old trophies."

"I did but. Sorry, this just isn't making any sense to me. Why is this house so old and run down? Why, why." Miguel chuckled a bit. "Why has no one lived here in so long? What are all those cars doing out front instead of being sold?"

"All this will make sense later. For now, please. Just learn how to sand the floor."

Daniel sat on the same wooden platforms he sanded at Miguel's age.

"Here. You get a sander on each hand. Sand with your right hand. A strong, quick, full circle. Then your left hand, a strong, quick, full circle. Again, and again, with each hand. Until every single wooden part of this house is sanded. The benches, the platforms, and the boat. After you're done. You'll be ready for your third basic lesson."

"And then what?"

"And then it's lunch!" said Daniel with a smile.

Miguel scoffed, putting the sanders on his hands. "This is ridiculous," he muttered.

"God I love this part." Daniel said to himself.

...

By the time Miguel was done sanding the floor on every unsanded part of Mr. Miyagi's house, it was well past midday.

Daniel showed Miguel the proper way to wax Mr. Miyagi's cars with kata, and then Sam had arrived at one in the afternoon.

"Hi guys."

Sam smiled, holding a bag of food. "Mom made some spaghetti."

Daniel checked his phone. "Christ I'm late. About your mom. Speaking of which, I gotta go," Daniel said. "Either I make it to the dealership in the next half hour or Amanda will have my head. Have fun you two. No uh, sparring on the mat."

Sam and Miguel were confused.

"You know. Teenagers. Alone. Hormones."

Miguel was just shrugging and shaking his head in utter confusion. Sam was just as confused.

"I gotta go."

Sam watched her father speed walk to his car with a light chuckle. "Classic LaRusso style spaghetti."

"What makes it so special?" wondered Miguel.

"Nothing," Sam said as Miguel opened the bag and used a fork to start to eat the spaghetti on the steps of Mr. Miyagi's old home.

Miguel laughed and began to chew. "Yeah it's pretty good."

"So uh. How'd you feel about your first day at Miyagi-Do?"

"It was okay," Miguel admitted. "All I did was a bunch of chores so. Next time I face that douchebag with the mohawk. So long as I have a paintbrush in my hand, he's toast."

Sam laughed at this. "It'll take time trust me."

"I wanted to ask. Your dad seems like a very nice guy. But he seems pretty upset underneath it all."

"He has every right to."

Miguel had learned not to pry so he instead finished his lunch in silence.

"Thanks for the spaghetti." Miguel nodded before going inside Mr. Miyagi's home. "I think I left my phone here somewhere."

Mr. Miyagi's house hadn't changed at all in the decades since its owner had used it to train Daniel.

Miguel found something on his iPhone and soon he was sitting down in a living room table touching his bruised eye. "Ach." he gasped quietly in pain. "Damn."

Sam saw this and spoke. "Here."

"Wait um. What are you-."

Knowing exactly what she was doing, Sam mixed some herbs out of a bowl with water into a paste. Then she used a towel to apply the ointment directly to Miguel's eye.

"Dang." Miguel sighed in relief. "I wasn't. That was. Wow."

"You'll find Miyagi-Do more useful than for just karate. That was just a part of it."

Miguel smiled, holding the towel close to his eye. "So um. I'm sorry to pry. But what's been bothering your dad about the Cobra Kai so much? I got they're bullies and all. But."

"There was a time when he was happy. More than happy. Because he knew Lucas Schwarber."

"I heard about Lucas Schwarber! Student of your dad's karate! So, so, so famous. The first to win a championship unaffiliated and without losing a point in decades, youngest champion of all time-"

Miguel saw how Sam was staring at him blankly.

Miguel shrank and spoke quietly. "And he um. Turned to evil. And now he leads the Cobra Kai and um…"

"He wasn't just a student," said Sam.

…

Karate Kid OST: Fish and Train

…

"He was my dad's best friend at one point. Last year, he seemed like the best friend my family had made in a while."

The door to the LaRusso's house opened and in the doorway stood Lucas Schwarber smiling brightly. He looked completely innocent and harmless, a mere day after his fourteenth birthday.

His bicycle laid on the ground, new in Los Angeles. And Daniel only saw himself in Ali's son in that moment.

"They shared everything my dad shared with Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi's lessons."

"These lessons aren't just about karate." Daniel gave words of wisdom to Lucas in his home dojo. "These are lessons, for your entire life."

"Mr. Miyagi's karate."

On the fallen tree trunk where Robby would have practiced throwing hook kicks, Lucas going all out. He threw hook kicks, roundhouses, back fists, blocks, punches, and spun in the air to land on a single hand, balanced perfectly as he kicked with both legs. "Yaaa!"

Daniel smiled and nodded with pride.

"And Mr. Miyagi's fatherhood."

As Daniel fished quietly on a lake Lucas practiced kata. Seeing his stance was unstable, Daniel rocked the boat and Lucas fell into the water.

Both laughing, Daniel pulled Lucas out of the water.

"He taught him everything he taught me. About honor, and respect. And balance."

Lucas was moving at a degree of speed and skill Daniel was shocked by whenever they practiced kata. Either at the dealership or anywhere else. Even in simple exercises such as trimming bonsai or any sort of kata, Daniel couldn't believe the technique and focus a boy of fourteen had.

"He was a prodigy. But the same things my dad taught me. Lucas ignored."

Daniel explained to Lucas in his home dojo again. "Miyagi-Do isn't about scoring points. And winning tournaments, and looking cool and making damage or making the crowd roar."

"So of course. Whatever my dad told him not to do. He went and did exactly that."

In the exact opposite way of serenity and control he used at Miyagi-Do, Lucas trained daily with John Kreese.

He broke open wooden planks and boards with his bare fists and feet. He trained to strike not to defend, and nothing else. To score more than just a point. To strike back, against the world. For everything.

"The man who hated Mr. Miyagi and what he stood for more than anything became Lucas' teacher. The person responsible for tormenting my dad for ages back in the eighties. And they conspired together against Miyagi-Do and my dad."

Hundreds were off their feet, roaring in applause as Lucas became the most famous martial artist in the country as he won his championship.

"So yeah. Next time you call him famous. Think twice about what it cost."

…

Sam was walking to the wooden bowl of ointment she had made for Miguel and spoke. "You're never going to find someone crueler. Odder. And more selfish than Lucas Schwarber. He mastered the essentials of Miyagi-Do, just so he could fulfill the exact opposite of its purpose."

"So if Cobra Kai already knows everything there is to know about Miyagi-Do. How do we stand a chance? How do we stop them?"

"The truth is. We can't. But you don't need to." Sam said plainly. "Luckily for you. You only started to train about three weeks later than Hawk did. As awful as Lucas is, again, very luckily for you, he's not a bully."

Sam chuckled, wringing out a towel full of the ointment she was using. "Besides. One year is not enough time to learn everything you can about what Mr. Miyagi knew."

"But this um. Hawk guy. You two used to date?"

"We barely did. We went out like four times, for three weeks. And he thought we were boyfriend and girlfriend. That's what Cobra Kai does to people. You make mountains into molehills if it means lying and hurting people just to win. And molehills into mountains if it means justifying hitting someone for the smallest slight."

…

"Dude. Dude." Robby repeated as we stretched on the mat at the dojo.

I didn't respond.

"Luke you okay?"

I kept stretching myself at the knee. "I'm fine."

Robby sighed. "Are you still on about that Latino kid? He got was coming to him man. I don't agree he deserved to get embarrassed so badly at the beach but still he had a chance to walk away. Hawk told him to back off and he didn't listen."

"Whatever." I said.

It was week four of Cobra Kai training in the original Lankershim dojo in North Hollywood.

I was still a blue belt, or fifth gup, Robby a green belt, or sixth gup. And Hawk a tenth gup a white belt. Everyone else did not have uniforms yet.

It still pissed me off Hawk bragged that kicking Miguel's ass was some sort of accomplishment when he had literally just gotten his white belt.

"Everybody fall in!"

Everyone bowed onto the mat if they weren't already stretching and then knelt onto their shins as Johnny and Kreese started class.

"Ait!"

Everyone bowed their heads forward, touching their foreheads for a second on the mat before standing back up to show respect to the dojo.

Johnny then spoke like he did at the start of every class to go over basic dojo creed.

"What do we study here!?"

"The way of the fist sir!"

"And what is that way!?"

"Strike first! Strike hard! No mercy sir!"

"Fear does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"

"No Sensei!"

"Pain does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"

"No Sensei!"

"Defeat does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"

"No Sensei!"

"Prepare! Aits!"

Everyone jumped onto their feet so quickly the sound of everyone's knees slipped loudly against the mat in a collective sound.

Johnny spoke. "Now karate mostly employs striking as its main form of combat. But you gotta know how to fight on the ground sometimes too, even in tournaments here and there. To become a Cobra Kai, you gotta push yourself. And keep pushing yourself until you're badass enough, to call yourself a Cobra."

Johnny again pointed at me to prove a point. "Not even he's a Cobra yet. What, you think cause you win one tournament and you're on the cover of a magazine you're badass? None of you are badass. Until I say you are! It doesn't matter what belt you are, or how good you are at fighting. Until you've broken past your limit and found a new one. Again and again and again."

"Will you become a Cobra Kai. So, today we're going to be doing what I call limit testing. None of you will stop grappling with each other until I tell you to stop. If you get nauseous or pass out, good! If you gotta vomit, bathroom's past the water fountain over there." Johnny pointed at the little doorway beneath the archway.

"So pick a partner! Ait!"

Since we hadn't talked in days, I walked towards Charlotte and soon Johnny stood in my way. "I appreciate you wanting to test your limits with your girlfriend," Johnny said very quietly in a way I had to restrain myself for laughing at. "Save the clothes off wrestling for out of class okay? Here you keep your uniforms on and take this seriously."

She was not my girlfriend technically. But he was right.

I smiled in very thorough embarrassment. "Yes, Sensei."

"Keene. Over here." Johnny said, calling his own son by his last name in a way I refused to laugh at.

I rolled with Robby for the time being.

I was stuck in a seatbelt lock under him, carefully I had my chin tucked to avoid being choked out while trying to find an out.

I taunted him quietly as everyone grappled. "You know I bet Nichols was willing to roll with you. Careful around the chest area." I chuckled. "Probably your favorite spot to try and gain a hook in, saw you looking bro."

"Shut the hell up Schwarber," I swore I heard Robby laugh as Kreese walked past us.

"Cut the chatter Keene, focus on your training," he said sternly.

I found an escape and quickly was able to slither away.

I quickly went for a wrist lock at close range but Robby reversed and he soon was in my guard, tied between my legs. I couldn't get a triangle on him, reverse to a different angle. Nothing.

After about five minutes of both of us struggling to change to any different position, I gave up and moved away. He was too tired to continue wrestling for a moment.

I eventually got Robby in a guillotine choke, but just barely managed to slip away.

After nearly fifteen minutes of rolling we were pretty exhausted. Even with how much cardio I did for the All Valley, that was the point of this drill.

Grappling was a vacuum of stamina. I was already really tired and Johnny spoke, noticing this.

"Okay. Hawk, Keene, switch."

I quickly caught a little bit of my breath and did not take it easy on Hawk.

I pinned him to the mat from side mount, and soon at full mount, he did not stand a chance against me.

He was on the verge of tapping out pretty quickly, I was using the lapels of his GI to press against his neck in a simple submission to choke him.

"What do Cobras do?" I asked.

"Slither." Hawk gasped as he failed to do so and after he tapped my arm repeatedly, I let go of him.

I was pretty sick of him thinking beating up Miguel was such an accomplishment. Miyagi-Do probably actually would stand a chance now in a tournament or otherwise because of this one dumb action of his.

"Come on, you have to slither out man. I thought after you beat up that random guy on the beach you were tough."

Hawk gasped for air loudly.

Doug and Mikey, despite always praising Hawk for this, chuckled nearby. Even Robby broke a smile despite being too nice a guy to partake in most insults.

Johnny walked over realizing I had taunted Hawk. "Schwarber, what was that?"

Seriously? I wasn't choking him out anymore than I should've, nor hitting him.

"He keeps acting like that was some big accomplishment." I wiped the sweat off my forehead beneath my headband. "It's not, he's not that experienced yet and he's acting like a champ. He beat up some random guy, not a black belt."

"Okay, it's my job to determine what does and doesn't merit being an accomplishment or a punishment. Next time you feel you need to put your classmates in their place, you come to me. You don't do it on the mat."

"Yes Sensei."

"Forty pushups on your knuckles."

I could see Kreese shift where he stood. From the look on his face, he didn't like what he saw.

…

Robby led strikes today, I had a feeling I had messed up twice with Johnny in the same day.

During combat, Johnny excluded me. Which was very odd as I need to spar regularly to stay in shape.

Doug and Hawk had a pretty one sided fight, he won three to nothing. Aisha beat Charlotte three to one. And Edwin and Bert was actually a joke to watch.

Only after Kreese muttered quietly to Johnny did he let me get in the combat square.

"Alright. Keene, Schwarber, line up."

If Johnny and Kreese were having a pissing contest match between their top students in the way I knew Kreese and Silver did with Robby and Kenny respectively in the fourth season. This was it.

Everyone knelt on their shins around the combat square as Robby and I faced off.

We bowed to Johnny, he just nodded. And then we bowed to each other.

"Ready?"

"Fight!"

Robby tried to strike first I was well out of range already.

I was anticipating a round kick and timed my jab punch properly to land over the top with it as Robby attacked.

With my front hand, I landed directly and somewhat hard directly on Robby's chin as I jumped into the blow.

Dieter and Big Red raised red flags for me.

Robby barely staggered after the blow and Johnny spoke. "Point red! Ready, fight!"

Robby was fighting smarter this time, he successfully dodged combinations to the chin and chest area as I came in with a few kicks and a punch or two.

Robby managed to trap my leg the moment I started another pump kick combo and pinned me to the mat. He moved faster than I anticipated and scored instantly with a kick on the chest.

"Score's one one. Readyyy. Ait!"

Robby fell for a pretty easy trap of mine seconds after combat resumed. One I even failed to score with during the final of the All Valley tournament.

I threw a quick one two straight punch combination over the top and Robby quickly raised his hands in time to block. As I was still in range for him to grab me or counter punch or kick and began to do so, I struck first and faster, and instantly took advantage of the hole I had created in Robby's guard and hit him with a round kick as hard as I could in the chest.

The loud impact of my foot hitting Robby alerted everyone how cleanly I had scored.

"Stop! Stop." Johnny repeated, standing between us. "Two one, Schwarber! Ready, and fight!"

I missed a leg sweep leading into a spinning roundhouse, he avoided both. I evaded a reverse punch over the top towards my chin and then I walked directly into a very well timed back kick as I started to jab.

"Stop! Tied up. Two to two. Next point wins!"

We both bounced in our stance.

"Ready! Fight!"

I blocked a pair of roundhouses right off the line, and mixed a clean bit of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai together to score a nice punch combination.

Robby's kicks were actually very fast and very strong, he timed them together nicely. He would throw with his rear leg and as soon as his foot landed back on the mat, his new rear leg previously his front leg, would throw a round kick again.

As I blocked and dodged on the edge of the combat square now, I noticed I did sometimes too, just not as often as he did.

After deflecting a round kick to the head off my rear hand, I lowered Robby's lead hand by making him block a reverse punch directly to the ribs.

As he started to punch while both of us were in range, I used the now open space directly between my front hand and Robby's chin to score with a very fast but controlled punch and landed decisively first.

"Stop! Winner." Johnny raised a hand in my direction and spoke politely and quietly. "Shake hands guys good match."

"Nice one," Robby said to me.

"Yeah, you too."

…

After class, Johnny was going through some paperwork in his office as Kreese walked in.

"I noticed you punished Schwarber for teaching Hawk a very important lesson."

"Do you have a problem with that?" asked Johnny quietly.

"Can't say I don't." Kreese said. "Hawk beats up some wimpy random kid. And you give him a white belt for it."

"I gave it to him because-"

"I know why you did it. In the exact same position, on possibly even the same beach where it happened, you were glad someone was finally in your exact shoes."

Johnny frowned. "Hawk needed to know standing up for himself was the right thing to do."

"But Schwarber's right. His head is expanding pretty fast. Out of all the new recruits, he's the very first to earn his uniform. I think he took that the wrong way, and the boys know it. Not right to punish them for doing the right thing Johnny."

"Schwarber shouldn't make decisions I have to."

"Why not? He's more of an assistant to this dojo than anyone ever was, before this dojo was even open. He gave this dojo the acclaim it needed to gain new students the day it opened." Kreese pointed at Johnny for a split second. "He put Hawk in his place when he needed to be reminded of what true skill, experience, and strength mean. Why punish him?"

"Because I'm the only one who punishes and taunts in this dojo," Johnny said.

Kreese sighed. "The day will come when it'll hit you just how much Schwarber respects the old ways of karate. How creative he can be in how he fights, how skilled and smart. And how much this dojo needs that. If we're not careful, he can seek other Senseis. All the dojos in the whole Valley already wanted him training with them the moment he took his title. Imagine now."

Kreese pointed to the Black Belt magazine issue framed on the wall with Lucas on the front cover with his arms crossed wearing his white Cobra Kai GI, blue belt, and Johnny's black headband and a calm tough look.

"The old ways. Including Miyagi-Do." Johnny said.

"You keep repeating that. You still blame me for letting that happen?"

"Of course I do. He'd never do that unless you didn't properly earn his trust."

Kreese nodded. "Or. He just turned fifteen. And kids do things like that because they can."

Johnny shrugged. "All those other dojos aren't much good. The Vidals have completely stepped away from Locust Valley Karate. None of the other Senseis have the kind of championship winning experience I do. But-"

"LaRusso does. You forget Johnny. How much like Daniel LaRusso that kid fights. He just has no problems using far more contact and fighting far more aggressively when needed. His style combines, yours, and LaRusso's, very well I might add. As I said, you can't forget that." Kreese said before starting to leave Johnny's office.

"His counters are just far more aggressive and even faster than LaRusso's ever were," added Kreese as he walked out. "Think about that the next time you see him practicing that damned kata in the mirrors."

…

…

…

A/N:

Hey guys another chapter here. Thanks for the reviews and support guys see you all next time.