“Cobra Kai” has always been more than a bit inspired by sports anime. The legacy sequel TV show is set in a heightened reality where karate is the ultimate rule of law, where teenage karate gangs terrorize the San Fernando Valley and the cops are powerless to stop them. This is a world where every feud and every transgression is resolved only through a karate tournament.
It makes sense, then, that the entire three-part final season of the show would focus on a tournament arc — the ultimate sports anime trope. Enter the Sekai Taikai, the worldwide karate tournament involving every major karate dojo in the world. In part 2 of the final season of “Cobra Kai,” the Sekai Taikai has made for some delightful drama, like the return of the franchise’s ultimate big bad, Terry Silver, and a surprising contestant death.
With how much attention is being given to the tournament, many fans are wondering whether reality is meeting fiction here. Is there a real Sekai Taikai, and how true-to-life is the portrayal in “Cobra Kai?” Grated, it’s not like “The Karate Kid” franchise is renowned for its accuracy to the karate scene in the Valley, but things have changed since 1984.
Is the Sekai Taikai real?
Sorry to disappoint, but the Sekai Taikai isn’t a real tournament, at least not in the way shown on “Cobra Kai.” That being said, the idea of an international karate competition is true to the real world. There’s the Karate World Championships, a global karate event held every two years, with the first edition taking place in Tokyo in 1970 and the most recent one taking place in Budapest in 2023.
Much like the Sekai Taikai, there are different events in the competition and contests for both men and women. Unlike the Sekai Taikai, however, there actually is a big Japanese presence in the Karate World Championships (which makes sense since the martial art was birthed there, something “Cobra Kai” somehow conveniently forgets). Also unlike the reveal that Mr. Miyagi killed some guy during a fight in the Sekai Taikai, there doesn’t seem to be any history of people dying on the mat at the Karate World Championships.
Even if “Cobra Kai” isn’t an exact portrayal of our reality, that doesn’t mean it can’t have an impact. “The Karate Kid” was responsible for karate becoming hugely popular in the United States in the ’80s, so perhaps “Cobra Kai” can make more people interested in the Karate World Championships.
