CHAPTER 174

"Miyagi-Do." Robby stated plainly. Johnny couldn't help but let out a laugh at that.

"Excuse me? You want me to use Miyagi-Do? Against him? Their own sensei? How the hell is that going to work?" Johnny grumbled.

"Look, Miyagi-Do is a multi-layered style. In the exact same way that Cobra Kai is. Kreese taught me that Cobra Kai splits into two main parts. I'm sure he taught it to you too. It's about the lunge and the bite."

"The Cobra strike. Yeah, I know. I've heard it like a million times. How does that help me?" Johnny asked. Robby nodded.

"The way I always interpreted it is that the bite is the strike itself. About where to place your arms and legs when striking to maximize power and speed. But the lunge… that's all about the mentality in my opinion. The lunge is all about channeling all of your anger, slaughtering all of your fear inside and attacking without any hesitation whatsoever."

"That's… deeper than I ever took it, but sure." Johnny nodded. "I still don't get how that's supposed to help me though."

"Miyagi-Do is exactly the same." Robby explained. "It's half about the actual blocks and techniques themselves, and it's half about mentality. In fact, probably 90% of it is about mentality, where your mind is during the fight. It's definitely the hardest part of Miyagi-Do to master, and it takes a serious amount of effort to do, but I think you need to do this if you want to win: clear your mind, dad. Clear it of all of the hate inside you. Of all of the pain. All of the built-up resentment. Having a clear mind, having balance, is the most important thing in all of Miyagi-Do. Do that, and the right techniques will naturally come."

"How am I supposed to do that? What you're talking about… it takes time. I've heard Larusso talking about balance too. How am I supposed to master this in the 30 seconds we have left before I have to keep fighting."

"Easy." Robby replied confidently. "Mr. Larusso taught me that the best way to find balance is allowing the good to flow through your mind whenever you feel the bad taking over. Right now, you're filled with pent up anger and aggression. Remove all of that by thinking about the things and the people you love: Laura, Carmen, Miguel, me, the rest of the students, any of yout friends, whoever it may be. Whenever you feel the anger bubbling up, think of any of them. That's what works for me."

As Robby said this, his eyes flickered towards Tory, who was standing a few feet away. Thinking about her was Robby's sure-fire way of fighting off his anger. It was how he managed to keep the lingering mental demons from Cobra Kai at bay. He hoped that Johnny was able to find peace in the same way with one of his loved ones.

Sure enough, Robby had it spot on. After all, who knew how to help Johnny better than the boy who shared 50% of his DNA with him. As Johnny thought about all of the things Robby had mentioned, he could feel the uncontrolled inferno raging inside his body being doused by cool, refreshing water. He felt himself being pulled back to reality, away from the trauma-ridden 17 year old he had been in 1984 and back into the mature (well, mature-ish) man he had become. The loving father he had become. The loyal partner. The passionate sensei. All of his best memories with his loved ones came rushing back to him in an instant, overtaking any of the anger inside him. He could see them all - all of his loved ones - so clearly now in his head.

Miguel

"I'm going to be your sensei."

Robby

"I'm going to stay. I want to make things right and I want to help you."

Carmen

"I took the test. We're having a baby."

As all of the memories flooded back into Johnny's head, his mind became more clear than it had ever been. He finally saw the forest from the trees and saw the circumstances he was in properly for the first time.

At that moment, after hearing everything that had unfolded in the past minute, Miguel also took a few steps forward to coach Johnny alongside Robby, Barnes walking away to give them space. Miguel and Robby coaching Johnny… it was an extremely emotionally powerful moment for all of them. Johnny had spent years trying to get onto the same page as both of them at the same time, and then spent almost as long trying to get them themselves on the same page. Well all of that work had finally paid off, as Miguel and Robby stood in perfect harmony, eager to coach their father and stepfather to a win on the grandest stage of them all.

"Robby's right with everything he said." Miguel chimed in. "But we don't know whether you're going to win or lose the trophy, sensei. Mr. Larusso is just as good of a fighter as you are. But in my eyes, whether you go home with the plastic trophy or not, there's a more important battle that you need to win. You're not just fighting against Daniel. You're not just fighting solely to win the Taikai division. You're fighting for more than that. You need to show the world, show yourself, that losing in your All-Valley back in the day did not break you."

"Exactly." Robby nodded. "It might have taken quite a while, maybe even close to 40 years, but you're back here and you're back stronger. You're back not only as a fighter, but as a sensei too. You're surrounded by students who look up to you like a dad. You're sons are also standing right opposite you, with your wife in the crowd and your daughter and inlaw watching from home. You're not the same person you were in 1984, the person who let winning or losing define him, and I think that that's more important than any trophy you could win."

If there was one thing Robby knew, it was that fact. The boy had tasted defeat more times than he could possibly count, more times than he could have foreseen in his worst nightmares. But if there was anything he had learned, learned from his father no less, it was how to move on from losses. Originally, that lesson had started as a "scared straight" type of thing, where he wanted to do everything he could NOT to end up like Johnny. But in the recent past, Robby had found himself following his father's lead, learning from example.

And now, sure enough, things had come full circle with Johnny himself learning from his son, from both of his sons. He had been shown first-hand from them how he had evolved since 1984, how he had shed the teenager mentality that life was only about trophies and winning. There were more important things, and that was the people around him.

But that didn't mean that Johnny was going to slow down at all in the last 3 rounds of the fight. If anything, now was the time for him to amp it up. Now that his mind was clear, Johnny found himself able to think and strategise more freely. He was now longer burdened by the pressures of NEEDING to win at all costs, but could instead look around and realize how blessed he was to even be in this situation, and therefore want to go out of this tournament on his own terms, even if that was as runner up. But he wouldn't be runner up. He knew that he had what it took to win this.

A few moments later, the referee started calling the fighters back to the center of the mat, but before Johnny went, he faced Robby and Miguel once more, a grateful smile on his face as he looked at the two incredible young men he stood opposite. If there was just one win that he had achieved in his entire life, it was getting to share some of his life with them, knowing that as they went on to do great things in the world, he could say that he had the smallest of handprints on both of their lives.

As the three men grinned at one another, they all moved at exactly the same time, to do exactly the same thing. They all bowed deeply to each other, a mark of the great respect and affection they had for each other.

"Go win this thing, sensei." Miguel encouraged him. Nodding, Johnny turned on his heel and walked back to the center of the ring, where Daniel was waiting, very apprehensive given the first 2 rounds that had occurred. However, as soon as Johnny neared him, Daniel could tell that this wasn't the same rage-fuelled Johnny Lawrence he had been in the first and second round. Whatever Robby had left his corner to say… it had clearly worked. The Johnny Lawrence that he knew was back. The motivated sparkle in his eye, that had previously been clouded by his wrath, had returned.

"I'm sorry, man." Johnny said to Daniel as he approached him, hold out a hand to him. Immediately, Daniel shook his hand.

"Let's finish this thing properly, shall we?" Daniel smiled at him. 3 more rounds. 3 more chapters to write before sealing the Larusso-Lawrence rivalry once and for all. But these last few rounds, contrast to the ones before, would be completed with a smile on both of their faces…

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THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The 3rd and 4th round were just as even as the first two, even if both competitors were fighting at a level they had never even reached before. Even in their mid 50s, they were still improving, still peaking. Johnny's motivation to win for his family drove him, and Daniel's motivation to win for Mr. Miyagi did likewise. It was no longer their demons, their former selves, that were fighting for them. They were both at peace, in the present, so their best selves were able to take the reigns for the first time.

But by the time the 5th round came around, fatigue and exhaustion began to play a massive role in the fight. Both men could hardly stand, after taking more hits than they could possibly count. Their defenses were the first to crumble, requiring more mental and physical strength to maintain than their offense, and this led to an all-out slugfest for the final minute of the fight.

Both men were landing hits left, right and center. It was almost impossible to win, as their arms were hurting and aching so much that they could barely lift them to block anymore. Wild swinging punches were the only things they could gather the strength to do, and that led to a couple of close calls for both fighters. Johnny had stumbled a few times. Daniel had too. They had no idea who had landed more hits throughout the fight, and therefore who the judges would pick if it came down to a decision. Because of this uncertainty, they both pushed themselves to try and get the knockout either way, wanting no level of doubt or questionability to their victory.

RING! RING! RING!

But unfortunately, it just wasn't to be. They were so equal in level that neither of them was able to make it to that final blow. Neither one of them was better than the other, and this fight had only proven that. Everything that Johnny had done, Daniel had done too. And vice versa.

By the end of it all, both men were barely able to stand. It had been like nothing either had done before. Even the street fights they had gotten into, never did they ever last as long as 25 minutes. Almost half an hour of fighting an equally matched fighter… it was a nearly impossible feat for them, that both had managed to get through by the skin of their teeth.

If there could have possibly been a draw in the Sekai Taikai, there would be no fight more suited than this one to hand that result to. But that wasn't the case. There was no draw. It was win or lose with nothing in between, and they were about to find out who had just won gold…

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As Daniel and Johnny stood in the ring after the fight, announcers and cameramen streamed in to try and perfectly capture the moment where one of them was crowned world champion. They stood a few feet apart, practically trembling with anticipation. They had literally no clue in the world which one of them had won, and the audience gave away no sign that they had any insight based on their performances either. In the crowd of 100,000 people, not a single one of them hadn't been enthralled by the match. It had been a nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat matchup from the word go, with neither competitor giving anything away at any point. There were very much two sides in it in every single round, which was why as the announcer returned from the judges' table upon hearing the result, the crowd all went dead silent, just as eager to find out the result as Daniel and Johnny themselves.

"Wow, what a fight! A big congratulations to both of you!" The announcer exclaimed. "Ladies and gentlemen… After 5 rounds, we go the judges for a decision!"

Despite not knowing who won yet, the audience couldn't help but erupt into raptures. They couldn't wait to hear who won, which of the blood and sweat-soaked gladiators had come away victorious.

"Judge number 1… Judge number 1 gave the fight to Daniel Larusso!" The commentator began.

Upon hearing this, almost exactly half the arena went wild. The man they were supporting, the Miyagi-Do sensei, was halfway there to victory. He only needed 1 of the 2 remaining votes to win this thing altogether.

Clearing his throat, the crowd dropped dead once more and the announcer continued.

"Judge number 2… Judge number 2 gave the fight to Johnny Lawrence!" He exclaimed.

It was time for the other half of the arena to celebrate. Johnny had leveled it up, 1-1 now being the score, with the next vote taking all of the glory. By this point, by the time the noise in the arena died down again, the sounds of the fast-beating hearts of the whole arena echoed around for all to hear. No one was more nervous than Johnny and Daniel themselves. They could hardly watch as the announcer slowly began to read off the last vote to reveal the winner.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… THE WINNER BY MAJORITY DECISION…" The announcer paused for an agonizingly long time to build the suspense even further before reading out the name that the 3rd judge had picked as winner, and therefore the overall winner of the match. "JOHNNYYYYYY LAWWWWWRENCE!"