PhotobyBryan^ David^HallWhy the World
Needs Cobra Kai
If you’ve had enough of this namby-pamby, hand-holding, everybody’s-feelings-
must-be-respected attitude that keeps telling you that machismo and violence
are always unacceptable, maybe it’s time you started listening to that legendary
sensei from The Karate Kid. No, I’m not talking about Mr. Miyagi. Start paying
attention to the other guy, the founder of the Cobra Kai dojo: sensei John Kreese.
BY MARK JACOBSA
S HE TELLS HIS FAVORITE
STUDENT Johnny Law-
rence in Cobra Kai, the
YouTube series that con-
tinues the Karate Kid saga, “Some-
one’s got to step in and stop the asskissing and start the ass kicking.
That’s why we’re here. The world
needs Cobra Kai.”IT’S A SENTIMENT Martin Kove, the
Brooklyn-born actor who made thepsychopathic Kreese a cinematic
icon, agrees with — at least partially.
“I’m the kind of guy who cries at
supermarket openings,” Kove said.
“But at the same time, there’s no
question the world does need some
of that Cobra Kai attitude. Right now,
too many people are getting trophies
just for participation.
“As Martin Kove, part of me feels
you deserve some sort of commen-
dation just for trying. But the John
Kreese part of me says there’s no
place for that. You get your trophy for
winning; you don’t request one.”
The man who would be Kreese
started acting in elementary school
and continued onstage in New York
and then in television and movies
dating back to the early 1970s. He
managed to garner regular work,
often in tough-guy roles. Kove, who
prided himself on doing many of his
own stunts, got his first exposure to
martial arts while preparing for a role
as a Viking warrior in a film called
Lion of Ireland.
To learn how to wield a sword and
ax realistically, he went to the dojo of
Black Belt Hall of Famer Tak Kubota,
who started him off with karate, then
moved on to kendo. Although the film
never materialized, just a few months
later, Kove got a call to audition for a
movie called The Karate Kid.“THE CASTING DIRECTOR gave me
the script and told me I had a week
to prepare before meeting with
the director John Avildsen,” Kove
recalled. “Then they called me the
next day and said, ‘Avildsen wants
to see you today.’ I was livid, and my
wife said to me, ‘Why don’t you use
all that anger you’re feeling over
them not giving you time to prepare
and let it come out in the audition?’”
Kove went to the audition and
immediately began cursing out
Avildsen and the casting director for
not giving him sufficient time. As he
turned to leave, he snarled his trade-
mark line: “Mercy is for the weak!”
Avildsen, the Academy Award–win-
ning director of the first Rocky movie,
loved it, and Kove got the role.
“That can work for you in an audi-
tion — but only if it’s a John Kreese
type of role,” Kove said, philosophi-
cally.24 BLACKBELTMAG.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019FIGH
TBOO
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