January 1, 2021 (NYC)–Cobra Kai Season 3 dropped on Netflix today.   The highly anticipated release of the former YouTube property delivers an engaging and enjoyable continuation of the Karate Kid series.

While the series is corny and predictable, it is also still very watchable. It works, in part, because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.   There is an underlying recognition throughout the series that this is entertainment for the sake of entertainment. 

The Cobra Kai Series has clearly done more to excite interest in martial arts practice than any other project since the original film series that spawned this project.  I have heard from numbers of Dojang owners that can trace new student enrollments, even during the difficulty of the pandemic, directly to Cobra Kai viewership. That alone says a lot about how the series has connected with a generation that wasn’t even born when Daniel LaRusso fought Johnny Lawrence in the All Valley Karate Tournament. 

While the 3rd season continues to develop its new story line and trade off its origins, it also continues to create back stories which make the characters more multi-dimensional than those created in the John Avildsen film.  

The biggest weakness of the season is that it is a little light on training and fight sequences.  I expect the next season, which is already in the works, will have more of these scenes because of the already foreshadowed storyline. 

The strength continues to be the power of William Zabka to engage, interest, and entertain. 

Cobrak Kai Season 3 does not disappoint.  

-by Marc Zirogiannis