Like the Karate Kids, Cobra Kai was also training hard for the Sekai Taikai, however, unlike their rivals who had several candidates to win the big tournament, most of the Cobra Kai students were just pawns, Shawn was very good due to his great physical strength, but his inexperience and lack of technique is a problem, Kenny is exactly the opposite, he is not that strong physically, but he is quite skilled, however, he is nowhere near the best of the rival dojo, Piper and Sarah are also good, but nothing special, and Kyler... Well, he's Kyler, both Kreese and Kim knew that Yoon and Min were the dojo's only hope, and Kim was very confident in her students.
Kreese: You were right, your students are excellent, better than all the others together, I don't know how I didn't have the idea to ask you to help me instead of Silver.
Kim: I understand, accepting Silver's proposal was my biggest mistake, but thanks to that mistake, I now have the opportunity to fulfill my grandfather's dream, I should have known that there is only one person in the world who could help me with that.
Kreese: And you think your students have what it takes to win the Sekai Taikai?
Kim: I don't think, I'm sure they do, like I said, when you suggested that I bring some of my students here I had the senseis in my dojang submit them to various tests, to see which students were most worthy of this task, but deep down, I already expected these two to be chosen, besides, I'm sure any of us can destroy Toguchi and whoever else they send to compete, we'll meet in the final and get rid of those bugs in a once and for all.
Kreese: I like your attitude, but if you don't mind I'd like to talk to your students in private, is that okay with you?
Kim: I don't see any problem, if there's one person in the world that I trust with my students, it's you.
The other day, all the students were chatting after the training.
Kenny: The senseis are going hard on us, no wonder, there's only one month left for the Sekai Taikai.
Kyler: That's right Kenny, and we all have to train hard, I don't want any of you to embarrass me at the tournament in front of my girlfriend.
Piper: Oh no, here comes Kyler with his imaginary girlfriends again.
Kyler: Oh, this one is very real, you'll see.
Kenny: I only believe it when I see her with my own eyes.
Kreese: All right everyone, dismissed... Except you two, Mr. Yoon, Ms. Min, I'd like to speak with you in private.
Before taking Kreese's orders, they both looked at Kim, and she nodded, saying that they should do what he said.
Yoon and Min entered Kreese's office, and they started talking.
Min: Is there a problem, sensei? did we do something wrong?
Kreese: Quite the contrary, you guys are doing great, and that's what I wanted to talk about, I wanted to personally congratulate you on your hard work.
Yoon: We're doing no more than our obligation, we will do everything for Cobra Kai to win.
Kreese: I'm really glad to hear that, but there's just one more thing I want to know, why? Why did you come from the other side of the world to help a guy you don't even know win a karate tournament?
Min: Well... After everything Master Kim has done for us, this is the least we can do.
Kreese: Interesting, tell me more...
Yoon's flashback
Well, for a long time, my family was poor, but we were always "good" people, my parents, my siblings and I often had nothing to eat at night, but we insisted on sharing our dinner with other people who didn't have anything to eat, as you can see, our life was not the best, but we were happy, my parents always said, something like "do good, and good will come back to you", and when I turned 5, it seemed that they were right, my father won the jackpot in the lottery.
Overnight, our life changed completely, we moved to a bigger house, and we went on with our normal lives, but everything changed, when I was 6 years old, one day, my twin brother and I were playing in the street like we always did, but without realizing it we ended up walking into a dangerous neighborhood, we only realized this when some guys showed up, and ordered my brother to give them his watch, he refused, and then I saw... One of the guys pulled out a gun, and before anyone could react, they shot him in the head!
I ran away as fast as I could, and told my family about what happened, it was a sad day for all of us, my father, my mother, my older sister, my younger sister, but no one, and I mean NO ONE suffered as much as me i didnt just lose a brother I lost my best friend since we were born we were inseparable and I thought we would be this way for life but I was wrong, it was only then that I realized the truth, people say that the world is a good place, where if we do good things everything will be fine... IT'S ALL A LIE! The world is a cruel place, and to survive in it, you need to learn to be cruel as well.
From that day forward, I distanced myself from my family, I only thought of one thing, getting back at those who took my brother from me, but what could I do? I was just a little boy at the time, one day, watching TV I saw a martial arts movie, and finally got my answer, I would have to learn to fight.
When I told my parents about my idea, they supported me, and I tried a few different martial arts, but I never lasted more than two weeks, I was always kicked out because of "unsportsmanlike conduct", yeah, I may have sent some other students to the hospital, without many options, my parents heard about Master Kim's dojang, so I decided to sign up to see what it's like.
Kim: Very well Mr. Yoon, let's see what you're capable of.
As she says this, she calls out another slightly older student to fight him.
Yoon: But... how am I supposed to fight if I haven't had any training yet?
Kim: If you want to learn the way of the fist, you need to have killer instinct, don't worry, I don't expect you to defeat him, but if you are able to hit him at least once, you can stay.
I was in doubt what to do, but I knew I had to do something, so just by instinct I ran to the boy and hit him, he got up immediately, and kicked me, and I saw red, he tried to hit me again, but I grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, he tried to get up, but I hit him with a kick in the face, so I jumped on top of the boy, and hit him with several punches, I literally knocked him unconscious, and soon after that, Master Kim smiled.
Kim: Excellent, just excellent for your first day, you sure have what it takes to learn the way of the fist, strength, determination, aggression, I can see there is a lot of anger inside you, but you have to channel all that anger, and concentrate it on your fist, and if you train here, believe me, you will be unstoppable.
It was clear that I surpassed Master Kim's expectations, she wanted me to at least hit my opponent, but I did better, I defeated him, not only did I defeat him, I made it very clear who was the better fighter, and a few minutes after that, I saw a girl the same age as me, but apparently she had been training here longer, she came to me and congratulated me for what I did.
Min: You were great, I've been training here for 3 years and I've never seen her praising a student on the first day.
That day, my life changed completely, my relationship with my family was no longer the same, so I totally dedicated myself to karate, and I used what I learned anywhere, including at school, I got into some fights, I think I may have become a bit like my friend Kyler, and after a while everyone feared me, and I was happy after so long, I realized that I finally found my place in the world.
You must be wondering what happened to the guys who killed my brother? Well, I never saw them again until I turned 16, that's when I found out they were still living in that same neighborhood, so I came up with a plan, to finally do what I swore to do 10 years ago.
I stole a gold necklace from my sister, and used it as a bait to lure one of the thieves to an empty street, when he arrived I hid and attacked him, taking the gun from his hand, and hitting him with numerous punches, until my hands burn, i saw blood on my hands, but that only made me more determined, i kept attacking, while i heard my enemy's screams, begging for mercy, after unleashing my wrath on him, i finished him by breaking his neck, and two days later, I did the same to the other one.
Yoon: My brother's death is avenged.
End of flashback
Yoon: Master Kim has supported me since I joined her dojang, she made me stronger, and made it possible for me to avenge my brother's death, I am eternally grateful to her for that.
Kreese: I totally understand what you went through, I also lost someone very important to me when I was young, and just like you I avenged her death, aside from your similarities to Mr. Park, I'd say the two of us are very similar Mr. Yoon, you, just like me, see the world for what it really is, a battlefield where only the strongest survive. What about you Ms. Min? What is your history?
Min: It all started when I was 3 years old...
Min's flashback
My mother died while giving birth to me, and I don't have many memories of my father, all I know is that he was a student at Master Kim's dojang, and also that he took care of me until I was 3 years old, then, the only thing I know is that he died.
After his death, Master Kim agreed to let me live with her at the dojang, but make no mistake, living with her was not easy, even though I was only 3 years old, she subjected me to the same training as the other students, to make matters worse. I was her youngest student, and I often had to train with 6 to 8-year-old boys, and knowing our style, I think you can imagine how that turned out for me.
Min: Master Kim, do I really have to train tomorrow?
Kim: Of course you do, we have to train every day here.
Min: But... all the other students are much bigger and stronger than me, I'm too weak to compete against them.
When she heard the W word she just freaked out.
Kim: DO NOT SAY THAT! Never, EVER repeat that word, weakness does not exist here.
Min: But... What can I do? I'm just a little girl.
Kim: Well... have I ever told you about my grandfather?
She saw that I was confused, so she told me the whole story.
Kim: My grandfather Kim Sun Yang opened this dojang, he created the way of the fist, my father, just like yours died very young, so my grandfather raised me, I had to train day after day with no rest, since I was your age, with his death there were doubts about who should take over the dojang, I believed it should be me, for obvious reasons after all he was my grandfather, but the other senseis didn't agree with that, firstly because at the time I was only 20 years old, there were others who had trained here longer than me, and mainly, because I am a woman, many of them refused to have me as a leader, so what did I do? I went there and I proved myself, I proved to them all why I should to be their leader.
Min: I get it but... what are you trying to tell me?
Kim: What I mean is, if you expect to have an easy life, you're in the wrong place, dominance requires sacrifice, you have even more potential than your father, do not waste it.
After she told me this, it was only then that I realized that if I wanted to survive in this world, I had to become stronger, the world would not go easy on me, so I started to dedicate myself more to my training, master Kim even gave me extra training after the other students went home, and over time, it became clear how much I improved, I was able to beat much bigger and stronger students with ease, I even heard that she plans on promote me to sensei as soon as I turn 20, but that's not all.
I don't know where I would be today, or who I would be if it wasn't for her, she gave me a home, and a purpose, she was a lot more than a sensei to me, she was basically a mother.
End of flashback
Kreese: Your loyalty is admirable, but no more than your evolution, you started out just as a little girl who could barely throw a punch, and today you are able to dominate several students alone, I'm impressed, it's people like you that Cobra Kai needs.
Min: Despite all that, even after all my hard work, I feel that Master Kim isn't proud of me at all, most of the time all she tells me is "Not bad" or sometimes "Good, but you can improve".
Kreese: I'm sure she'll be proud of you once you win the Sekai Taikai, and that goes for you too Mr. Yoon, you will be remembered forever, and you will win, because defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Yoon and Min: NO SENSEI!
Kreese was confident in his students, I mean, the two together add up to 27 years of experience in karate, not only would they win but they would simply CRUSH the Karate Kids at the Sekai Taikai, however, Kreese didn't feel well, after all those were not his students, they were Kim's, and they weren't the students he wanted to make champions either, that was something he only wanted with two of his students, unfortunately he screwed everything up with them, at this point his only hope is that his former students will forgive him one day.
That's right everyone, end of another chapter, I know you may not like the idea of two flashback chapters in a row, but I had to explore the past of the new students more, but don't worry, the next chapter will follow with the events of the story, in addition, we will have a rematch between two great rivals.
About this chapter, I think it was clear which students Kreese was referring to, now the question remains, will he redeem himself in the end and make peace with his students? And how do you think Kim will react when she finds out about Kreese's relationship with Tory? What do you think will happen? Find out IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.