MovieChat Forums > Cobra Kai (2018) Discussion > How long would it take for beginners to ...

How long would it take for beginners to actually fight like that?


I've always been curious. I've never taken a martial art, and I take movies about sports, martial arts and dancing with a grain of salt. (Beginners becoming amazing in a matter of like two months or something) Those that have done Karate or know someone that has/does..how long in your opinion would it realistically take a beginner to do the types of moves Hawk and the others to do?

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It honestly depends upon the amount of natural talent that you have. I took karate when I was younger and I had a great deal of natural ability so I was pretty scary within a few months. However, the things that this show has white belts doing in a matter of months is pretty outrageous. In that regard season one wasn't as ridiculous as season two. The ability level of all the kids in season two was a total shark jumper. It's why season 2 (as enjoyable as it was in places) ultimately fails.

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A total shark jumper? Sharks swim, they don't jump. Besides not one episode even had a shark in it

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How are you not familiar with the term "Jumped the shark"? And technically sharks do jump out of the water. Great white sharks in particular are notorious for their ability to jump out of the water when hunting seals. Go on youtube and type in air jaws.

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My bad. Yes, sharks do jump. But what do sharks have to do with the cobra kai series?

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Wow, you don't know the phrase " Jump the shark". The phrase was coined when The Fonz from the TV series "Happy Days" was at the beach surfing and he literally jumped over a shark that was trying to eat him. The phrase "Jump the shark" is used to identify a point in a show where it has gone off the rails in terms of believably. I still like Cobra Kai, but from my own personal knowledge (as someone who has studied martial arts) the things that they have white bets doing in this show is not believable. Still, the show is fun and it has good characterization so I let it slide.

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Fonzie jumped the shark on water skis as a challenge. It really was stupid!!!

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Ok thanks. I guess the karate skills has to be exagerrated a bit, otherwise the show would be quite boring

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It would depend on the person. People already athletically inclined would only take a few months while the less athletically inclined would take over a year (at least!).

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Fighting is a different thing than doing exercises to practice form and whatnot.
Being athletic with good coordination would help a lot, but it wouldn't make you a good fighter.
Without sparring more it would take forever.

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If you're referring to the Season 2 finale. I would say minimum 3 years of training to get to the level that they were performing at. I agree that school fight was total jump the shark material. Very entertaining but jump the shark.

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If a reasonably athletic person could be pretty good in a few months, and very good in three years, then Karate must not be that difficult. Students who start out with the right physical attributes studying ballet at a high-quality school five or six days a week require a few years to be able to do much of anything, and seven or eight years to acquire professional-level technique.

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