Junior Student’s Corner
by Sifu Charlie Romeo
Fu For You Summer 2026
I’ve recently been re-watching the Netflix show Cobra Kai, which is a continuation of the 1984-1989 Karate Kid movies. If you haven’t seen these films, they’re classic examples of an underdog rising to the top through hard work and determination. In watching martial arts shows and movies, you’ll see impressive technical skills that make you think “I want to do that!” What you might not notice are the unrealistic details added to make fight scenes more intense. Yes, they’re “just movies” but we’re going to dissect them anyway.
Have you ever noticed that the heroes in martial arts movies never seem to get tired or even break a sweat? The protagonist will fight ten enemies for ten whole minutes, only getting stronger as the fight progresses. Ten minutes may not seem long but consider how you feel after a one-minute 1v1 sparring round. If you’re in a fast-paced round while moving, punching, and kicking consistently, one minute is enough to gas you out. Now imagine that round with ten times the people and ten times the length. The odds of winning that fight are slim, to say the least. I don’t have any advice for defending against ten people at once, but to quote Cobra Kai, the defense is “don’t be there.”
Almost every fight scene in a martial arts movie will have at least one outrageously fancy technique meant to make the viewer go “whoa!”. In reality, throwing a 720° jump-turn roundhouse kick in a fight is not only a huge waste of energy, but also a great way to telegraph your kick—allowing your opponent to evade and counter. Advanced techniques can work well in sparring when controlled and used strategically, but having a good foundation of the basics is the real key to holding your ground. With a strong guard and a balanced stance, you don’t always need to be flashy to perform well. Remember: fancy moves fail when you’re tired.
Perhaps the least realistic aspect of martial arts movies is one that nearly all of them are guilty of, and that’s the image of a newly trained martial artist defeating the big, bad, lifelong fighter. Let’s face facts: a person who has only been training for six weeks has very little chance of defeating someone who has trained for decades. Developing your martial arts skills takes much longer than these movies will imply, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t perfect something right away. Instead, put in the time and effort necessary to build a solid foundation before building on top of it.
The point of this article is not just to highlight flaws in martial arts media; rather, it’s to set realistic expectations for your real-life training. These movies and TV shows are meant to be exaggerated—that’s the fun of it! Still, if you’re watching with the intent of learning more about being a martial artist, be sure to consider what is realistic and what might be played up for the screen.