THE ACTOR SAID he modeled many of
Kreese’s physical mannerisms on the
movements of Karate Kid fight coor-
dinator Pat Johnson, but he added
that the negative characteristics of
Kreese are all his own.
“Where parts of John Kreese start
surfacing in me in real life, it’s not
always healthy,” Kove admitted.
“But when I find myself being taken
advantage of, John Kreese just sort of
comes up through my gut.”
Despite the negatives, Kove
insisted that his cinematic alter ego
is not entirely evil — he’s just mis-
understood. As he’s done with other
roles throughout his career, he devel-
oped an entire back story to explain
the karate instructor’s more socio-
pathic tendencies.
“He was a karate champion in high
school and college, then went to fight
in Vietnam,” Kove explained. “That
was the first time he wasn’t allowed
to win. He saw his friends blown up
in front of him. So ‘show no mercy’
became his way of life. That’s why
John Kreese is the way he is — because
of what he went through in Vietnam.”
KOVE’S PORTRAYAL of the driven
karate instructor was so memorable
that he was offered additional roles
in martial arts films, which he said
is the reason he continued to train
with various instructors. He credits
Okinawa-te teacher Gordon Dover-
sola and his student Branden Pender,
in particular, with helping him pre-
pare for some of the martial arts films
he’d go on to make. Many were less
than memorable as Kove admitted
to having an unfortunate tendency
to take roles in bad movies, thinking
he could make them better simply by
giving a superior performance.
Despite some of the more forget-
table films, fans never forgot his John
Kreese character. Kove first realized
how significant a part of pop culture
he’d become when, several years after
his last Karate Kid movie, he appeared
at a fan convention.
“People were showing up with
T-shirts that had lines from the movie
like ‘Sweep the leg,’” he said. “I didn’t
realize how much people still wor-
shiped that movie.”
With Karate Kid’s cult status, it
seemed inevitable that someone would
keep going and keep fighting in large
part because of his use of cannabidiol
pain-relief products.
Introduced to them by a pair of
friends who had launched a product
line featuring CBD lotions, creams
and oils, Kove said they have been
a blessing. He even lent his name to
the line, which now goes by “Marty’s
Cobra Kove.”
“I haven’t seen a nickel from this,”
Kove said. “It’s just something that
works for me, and I’d recommend it
to any martial artist or athlete out
there that suffers from pain or injury.
I haven’t found any side effects. I
don’t smoke marijuana, so that was
the first thing I wanted to know, but
I haven’t noticed a buzz from it at all.
And it’s turned out to be terrific for
injuries that bothered me.”
If Marty’s Cobra Kove products
work as well as the actor claims, cus-
tomers could find themselves repeat-
ing that immortal John Kreese line:
“Pain does not exist in this dojo!”For more information about Martin
Kove’s line of CBD products, visit
martyscobrakove.com.try to revive the original cast for one
more go-around. But the way it’s been
done in Cobra Kai has added a whole
new dynamic to the mythos. Instead
of the black-and-white world of Karate
Kid, Cobra Kai is designed to appeal to
a 21st-century audience. Everything is
painted in shades of gray. Even John
Kreese, who’s back and just as hard
and manipulative as ever, has a greater
depth than we’ve seen.
“I wanted them to write him with
a little more versatility and vulner-
ability this time, and the writers were
already ahead of me,” Kove said. “You
can only play a pure tough guy for
so long before it gets boring. People
refer to John Kreese as a villain, but I
never saw him that way. Just because
you can’t lose in his dojo doesn’t
mean he’s not honorable. It’s just that
in his world, mercy costs too much.”HIMSELF A BIT OF A TOUGH GUY,
Kove, now 73, continues to do many
of his own fight scenes in the show.
But years of stunts gone awry have
taken their toll on him. He’s had two
shoulder replacements and a knee
replacement, but he said he’s able toIf Marty’s Cobra Kove products work as well as the actor
claims, customers could find themselves repeating that
immortal John Kreese line: “Pain does not exist in this dojo!”OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 BLACKBELTMAG.COM 25