Why Johnny's Sensei Status Doesn't Make Sense To Cobra Kai Fans
In the world of entertainment, not everything makes sense, but, sometimes, that's OK. Cobra Kai fans, for example, probably wonder why Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) would ever think a convenience store cashier would take it one faith that he's old enough to legally drink because he has a blue mohawk. Sure, he ended up completing the purchase anyway — by virtue of a fake ID — but the pure hubris was more than a bit silly. Perhaps, of course, it was meant as a way to illustrate the overconfidence Hawk receives from his new look and attitude, which is, naturally, what we meant all along... Really, we're just still wondering how and why he has his own bird sound effect.
But seriously, concepts like plot armor or other gaping holes in a narrative — even when filmmakers acknowledge their plot holes — tend to leave us scratching our heads. One particular aspect of Cobra Kai's sensei, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), that makes the least sense is, unfortunately, central to the show's concept and could have brought the thing full-stop from the very beginning.
How is Johnny Lawrence allowed to teach children on Cobra Kai?
One of the things about Cobra Kai that makes the least amount of sense is the fact that Johnny Lawrence is allowed to teach children at all. While absentee parenting and alcoholism shouldn't disqualify someone from opening a karate dojo, we're pretty sure assaulting minors would, which is something Johnny does in the very first episode. As user mezza_nz pointed out in a Reddit thread, "Yeah, police and law is strange in Cobra Kai. Like Johnny was charged with assaulting teenagers and then he's allowed to teach teenagers? Yeah that wouldn't happen."
Regardless of the real facts of that encounter, in which he was defending himself — and Miguel, unintentionally — from Kyler (Joe Seo) and co. when his future student gets shoved into his car, he was arrested as a result of an altercation with teenagers. User OptiKal_ elaborated, saying Sensei Lawrence "wouldn't be allowed within 500 ft of a school," and we're pretty sure conditions of his release on bail likely would include no contact with minors.
While we're at it, if Johnny Lawrence has no business teaching karate, is the Karate Kid himself, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), qualified to run his own dojo on Cobra Kai?