From Pushovers to Powerhouses: Every Cobra Kai Sensei Ranked

Cobra Kai has always been a show about teachers and the messes they make. Six seasons in, the series has stacked up a wild mix of mentors, from zen to unhinged, and pretty much everything in between. So who actually builds champions, and who just builds problems? I went back through every sensei we met and ranked them from worst to best. The results are... not subtle.

Quick refresher on the show: Cobra Kai comes from creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and it has run for 6 seasons and 65 episodes on Netflix. The main cast includes Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Mary Mouser, Xolo Mariduena, Martin Kove, Peyton List, and Jacob Bertrand. It is still a hit: 8.4/10 on IMDb and a 94% Tomatometer with a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ranking the senseis, worst to best

1. Master Kim Sun-Yung
   The original architect of Cobra Kai's mean streak. In Season 6, we see him teaching the Way of the Fist to American soldiers, laying the groundwork for John Kreese's entire philosophy. It is the source code for the show's ugliest impulses: win at any cost, no mercy, consequences be damned. The darkest twist? His own granddaughter, Ki Da-Eun, uses a forbidden technique on him, and he dies praising her. That is bleak even by Cobra Kai standards.
2. Terry Silver
   The franchise's slickest villain never met a lie he would not weaponize. We met him in The Karate Kid Part III, where he tried to break Daniel down and failed. Decades later, he returns to karate life still committed to shortcuts and head games. He bankrolls and manipulates dojos, rigs Tory's match, and preaches winning without integrity. After his cheating is exposed, he moves on to Iron Dragons, but Kreese takes him out before he can see how his machinations play out. Technically sharp, morally bankrupt.
3. Sensei Wolf (Feng Xiao)
   Introduced during the Sekai Taikai arc in Season 6, he steps in as the final boss after Silver's exit. Harsh with his own students (Axel gets the worst of it), Wolf is another disciple of win-by-any-means. He tries to break Johnny's confidence in their showdown. It does not work. Johnny smokes him and seals the tournament, which frankly is the only satisfying way that story could end.
4. Ki Da-Eun
   Once the kid watching Kreese and Silver train under her grandfather, Da-Eun grows into a hard-nosed sensei who pushes her fighters to the brink. She reconnects with Kreese and preps a student for Sekai Taikai, but an accidental death shakes her out of her grandfather's brutal doctrine. From there, she starts teaching on her own terms, minus the cruelty. Her odd-couple dynamic with Chozen is a highlight, and by the end she looks like an actual leader, not a tyrant-in-training.
5. Mike Barnes
   The Bad Boy of Karate returns, and he is not the same guy. Now a furniture businessman with real regrets, Barnes makes amends with Daniel and teams up with Chozen and Johnny to take down Silver in one of the show's best endgames. Later, he steps in as a co-sensei at Miyagi-Do, even helping evaluate who is Sekai Taikai-ready. The aggression is still in there, but the power-trip is gone. Low screen time, big redemption.
6. John Kreese
   The movies made him the villain; the show gives him layers. We see the Vietnam backstory, his time in prison, his bond with Tory, and an apology to Johnny that hits harder than you might expect. He is forever tempted by his old ways, but there are flashes of the teacher he could have been. In the end, he takes out Silver to protect Johnny and his family, not to get credit, just because he finally chooses his student over his ego. That is a huge turn for a guy who once preached no mercy like it was scripture.
7. Chozen Toguchi
   When Daniel visits Okinawa, it looks like a revenge setup. Instead, Chozen has aged into a disciplined, genuinely wise Miyagi-Do devotee. He becomes a crucial ally against Silver and a rock-solid trainer for the Sekai Taikai squad. Chozen's depth of knowledge and humility make him one of the show's most quietly powerful senseis. Also, his interplay with Da-Eun is a great example of two very different teachers learning from each other.
8. Johnny Lawrence
   William Zabka makes Johnny a mess you cannot help but root for. After losing the 1984 All Valley and getting ditched by Kreese, Johnny spirals into booze and isolation, estranged from his son. Reopening Cobra Kai is his way back. He trains Miguel and a bunch of kids Kreese would have laughed out of the room, tweaks the old mantra to be slightly less toxic, and builds confidence through blunt-force coaching, 80s rock, and the strangest analogies you've ever heard. No incense, no long lectures, just sweat, bruises, and the occasional life lesson that actually lands.
9. Daniel LaRusso
   The original Karate Kid grows up into a steady, tradition-first teacher. He is a successful businessman, a dialed-in dad, and the steward of Mr. Miyagi's legacy. Daniel emphasizes balance, defense, and the long game. He can be rigid, sure, but when he and Johnny align, their students get the best of both worlds: discipline and drive without the toxic baggage.
10. Mr. Miyagi
    He is not physically in Cobra Kai (aside from that one bizarre CGI dream sequence fans would happily erase), but he is everywhere the show wants to be. The franchise's beating heart, father figure, and gold standard of what a sensei should be. He did not start with punches and kicks; he started with chores and patience, and Daniel carried that forward when he became a teacher. His philosophy is the antidote to every bad habit this universe keeps falling back into.

"First rule of karate: no be there."

If the series makes anything clear, it is this: strength without integrity eats you alive, and the teachers who balance power with compassion build champions who can win tournaments and still like the person in the mirror. If you had to pick a dojo after all this, you probably know where you are signing up.

Cobra Kai is streaming on Netflix in the US.