Miyagi-Do's Sekai Taikai Team: All 6 Fighters Explained

July 19, 2024, 1 p.m.

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Miyagi-Do's Sekai Taikai Team: All 6 Fighters Explained

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Warning! This article contains spoilers for Cobra Kai Season 6

Summary Miyagi-Do faced tough decisions in selecting its Sekai Taikai team, leading to unexpected twists and drama.

Robby and Sam emerge as team captains, while Miguel faces setbacks but remains determined to fight in the tournament.

Controversy arises with Devon's cheating, Tory's betrayal, and Eli's last-minute inclusion, setting the stage for an intense competition.

Miyagi-Do was forced to select a team of six to compete in the Sekai Taikai, and Cobra Kai season 6, part 1, devoted a lot of time to their selection. Of course, some of Daniel and Johnny's combined students were shoo-ins and were chosen to represent Miyagi-Do in Spain pretty quickly. Robby, Miguel, Sam, and Tory had already been established as the dojo's top fighters, and they proved this further during a series of tests. However, this left two positions on the Sekai Taikai team wide open, with a handful of Miyagi-Do fighters desperate to be chosen.

Johnny and Daniel couldn't agree on who would take the final two spots on their Sekai Taikai team (big surprise), so they recruited Mike Barnes to decide for them. The old Karate Kid Part 3 villain ran the Miyagi-Do students ragged until only two were left standing. Ultimately, this means Cobra Kai characters like Anthony LaRusso and Kanny Payne weren't chosen. What's more, further (heartbreaking) drama meant that Tory Nichols left Miyagi-Do to join up with John Kreese's new Cobra Kai. It was certainly a lot of excitement, but Cobra Kai season 6, part 1, managed to end with its final team.

Related Cobra Kai Season 6 Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play All the karate action and 1980s-inspired nostalgia are back in Cobra Kai season 6, with a soundtrack that perfectly sets the tone for the finale.

6 Robby Keene

Robby Is the Boy Captain Of The Miyagi-Do Team

Robby, the runner-up of two All-Valley tournaments, was one of the automatic selections for Miyagi-Do's Sekai Takai team. Though he has only been studying karate for a few years, Robby is unique because he has trained under all of Cobra Kai's senseis. He got his start in season 1 training with Daniel LaRusso, switched to Cobra Kai to train under John Kreese, and later joined the combined Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang following Terry Silver's hostile takeover. This makes him one of the more versatile competitors.

Though Robby didn't have to compete much with his fellow Miyagi-Dos to get a spot at the Sekai Taikai, he had to face Miguel to determine who would be the team captain. It was a close match, but Robby was driven by the frustration that he always seemed to come in second place in tournaments—first against Miguel, then when he faced off with Hawk. This fire ultimately helped Robby get the final "sudden death" point in his match against Miguel, and he was therefore elevated as the boy team captain in Cobra Kai season 6, part 1.

Now, instead of standing side-by-side with Tory on the mat at the Sekai Taikai as planned, Robby will be on the opposite team than his girlfriend.

Robby had hoped to be team captain alongside his girlfriend. However, the death of Tory's mom changed everything. Daniel didn't want to allow the girls to fight until Tory had some time to process, and this only pushed the poor girl away. Now, instead of standing side-by-side with Tory on the mat at the Sekai Taikai as planned, Robby will be on the opposite team than his girlfriend.

5 Samantha LaRusso

Sam Is The Girl Captain Of The Miyagi-Do Team

Sam was another Miyagi-Do student who proved herself quickly to be chosen for the Sekai Taikai team. She had been the runner-up in the All-Valley tournament, but whether she might have actually won has always been in question since Terry Silver paid off the referee in Tory's favor. What's more, Sam was a significant part of why Miyagi-Do qualified for the global tournament in the first place since she won her fight against Devon Lee in the qualifier.

Sam is a Miyagi-Do through-and-though since she is the only student on Cobra Kai who has never switched dojos. Daughter of the karate kid himself, Sam also has the longest background in the sport, having begun her training with Mr. Miyagi as a very young girl. This gives her quite an edge in the coming Sekai Taikai, but the fact that she is less familiar with John Kreese's methods than her teammates could be an issue when it comes time to face off against the new Cobra Kai students.

Tory leaving Miyagi-Do and joining Kreese's Cobra Kai meant that Sam was selected as the girl team captain by default since it was clear without a match that Devon wouldn't have been entirely up to par. Of course, this wasn't quite how Sam had wanted it. She had been eager for a good, fair fight against Tory, who had become something of a friend to her during the first part of Cobra Kai season 6. Of course, going into the Sekai Taikai, a real match between Tory and Sam is basically guaranteed.

Part 2 of Cobra Kai season 6 begins streaming on Netflix on November 15, 2024.

4 Miguel Diaz

Miguel Is An All-Valley Champion

As Johnny's first student and an All-Valley champ, there was no question that Miguel Diaz would represent Miyagi-Do at the Sekai Taikai. Thanks to the tumultuous dojo rivalries and alliances, Miguel is another teen in Cobra Kai who has benefitted from multiple senseis. However, he hasn't spent as long with teachers like Kreese and Daniel as Robby has. Still, perhaps the best thing that Miguel has going for him is the long stint in which he was Johnny's only student, so he has had a lot of one-on-one training.

Miguel has also proven his resilience over the years in Cobra Kai, miraculously recovering from a serious spinal injury resulting from his big fall at the end of season 2. Though it took some time for him to build his strength back up to stand and walk, let alone fight, he is in better shape than ever going into Cobra Kai season 6, part 2's Sekai Taikai. However, he won't be representing team Miyagi-Do as captain.

Miguel hoped that being captain of a globally qualified karate team would help him get accepted to Stanford, and this provided him plenty of motivation to put up a good fight during his match with Robby. Miguel successfully scored the first two points in the match, but Robby rallied and caught up in a matter of moments. In the end, Robby was just a little better, and Miguel lost out on being captain. However, he seems to have put this loss behind him and is ready to fight at the Sekai Taikai.

3 Devon Lee

Devon Cheated To Get Her Spot On The Sekai Taikai Team

Devon Lee was one of Johnny Lawrence's first students after he opened Eagle-Fang karate, so the sensei was eager to see her on the Miyagi-Do Sekai Taikai team. Though she is relatively new to karate as of Cobra Kai season 6, Devon has proven herself a quick study, and she has now trained under Johnny, Silver, Kim, and Daniel, allowing her a good mix of techniques. She's also fiercely determined, which is a significant reason why Johnny has taken such a liking to her (despite initially being less-than-accepting of girls in karate).

Unfortunately, it may be that Devon doesn't entirely deserve her place on Miyagi-Do's Sekai Taikai team.

Unfortunately, it may be that Devon doesn't entirely deserve her place on Miyagi-Do's Sekai Taikai team. She had been eager to prove herself to Mike Barnes during the qualifying contests but believed that she was constantly being overlooked. Johnny went to bat for her, leading Barnes to arrange a last-man-standing, capture-the-flag-style contest to choose the final two team members. Sure that she couldn't be Kenny Payne in this, Devon put laxatives into the boy's water, causing him to embarrass himself in front of his fellow students and quit.

Kenny left Miyagi-Do assuming that Anthony LaRusso had given him the laxatives to get even, and Devon allowed him to keep on believing this. Going into Cobra Kai season 6, part 2, Devon is preparing to fight in the Sekai Taikai even though she cheated to get there.

Related Cobra Kai Season 6's Villain Setup Can Make Up For Season 5's Most Disappointing Fight Cobra Kai season 6 has been setting up a character as its primary villain, allowing it to perfectly make up for season 5's most disappointing fight.

2 Demetri Alexopoulos

Demetri Defeated Eli To Qualify For the Sekai Taikai Team

Demetri is one of the greater surprises of Cobra Kai, but he represents the very thing that That Karate Kid was all about—underdogs. Like Miguel and Eli, Demetri started the series as a nerd who was horribly picked on, and he sought out karate to change this. Unlike Miguel and Eli, however, he didn't take to the sport very quickly. Demetri saw Cobra Kai for the problematic business it was, and when Johny Kreese took over, he decided that it wasn't worth sticking around.

Miyagi-Do wound up being a much better fit for Demetri, however, and his skills quickly began to grow under Daniel's instruction. Over the last couple of seasons of Cobra Kai, the boy has become a force to be reconned with, allowing him to qualify as part of the Sekai Taikai team after beating Eli to the flag during Mike Barnes' final test.

Demetri beat Eli fairly enough, considering there were no actual rules in Barnes' event, but he didn't exactly beat him cleanly. Eli had gotten the flag himself after taking Demetri down, but his friend took advantage of his helping hand. It was a very "Cobra Kai" move, contradicting how Demetri typically liked to go about business. It's likely he only did it because Eli had lied about applying to MIT, which Demetri took as a very personal slight against their friendship. Regardless, Demetri is an official member of the Miyagi-Do's team.

1 Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz

Eli Replaced Tory On The Sekai Taikai Team

Eli, AKA Hawk, was one of the best and most brutal fighters at Cobra Kai dojo, and his skills have only improved since he joined up with Miyagi-Do and began strengthening his defense. However, Hawk failed to actually qualify as an original member of Miyagi-Do's six-person team. During Mike Barnes' capture-the-flag challenge, Demetri and Hawk wound up at odds over the last flag, and though the latter had the upper hand, the former used a cheap move to claim it for himself. This has only deepened the riff between these two friends following Eli's news that he might not go to MIT after all.

Regardless, Eli ended up on Miyagi-Do's Sekai Taikai team after all, since Tory abandoned her spot to join up with Johny Kreese's Cobra Kai team instead. Of course, she did this because of her own heartbreak after her mother's death, not because of any personal vendetta against Miyagi-Do. Still, this doesn't change the fact that she was gone, and Johnny and Daniel had to choose a fighter to replace her. With Kenny gone, the obvious choice was Hawk.

At the end of Cobra Kai season 6, part 1, Miyagi-Do's official team arrived at the Sekai Taikai. Hawk, Demetri, Devon, and Miguel, led by team captains Samantha and Robby, will have to contend with the best of the best as the Sekai Taikai kicks off in the next batch of episodes. Though Kenny likely deserved a spot rather than Devon (he's sure to turn up again in the coming episodes), this is certainly a strong team—perhaps Miyagi-Do stands a chance.