Johnny Lawrence's (William Zabka) methods as a sensei in Cobra Kai are unconventional, but rehabilitating Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) from a comatose state showed that he is truly great at what he does. The Cobra Kai season 2 finale had previously made his teaching philosophy look downright toxic. An all-out karate brawl broke out at West Valley High School between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, with Johnny's students ostensibly acting as the instigators. Despite attempting to walk back his "no mercy" dogma, letting Kreese back into the dojo made Cobra Kai more aggressive than ever, with Johnny's tough love speeches and extreme training exercises being taken to their logical endpoint.
The culminating fight at school left his first pupil, Miguel, comatose after being knocked off a stairwell by his rival Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan). Seeing Miguel barely clinging to his life made the ever-confident Johnny even question his own qualifications as a sensei. Although Miguel began Cobra Kai season 3 still in a coma, he eventually recovered from his injuries and even paralysis, but not without hard work. However, neither traditional medicine nor hippy-dippy physical therapy helped him back on his feet. Instead, it was Johnny's somewhat bizarre tactics of obstacle courses and Dee Snider concerts that restored his student's health.
Though his methods were unorthodox, Johnny remained a steadfast presence in Miguel's recovery. He showed dedication to his pupil despite the apparent hopelessness of his situation, and his strategies ended up being effective in the end. Johnny helping Miguel proved once and for all that he knows what he is doing as a sensei, both as a technical instructor and mentor to his young students.
Johnny's rehabilitation regimen for Miguel involved dirty magazines on fishing poles and other homemade equipment. His computer illiteracy and general distrust in the "softness" of the modern world meant that little actual research went into his plans, but Johnny showed his willingness to experiment through trial and error. Miguel fell many times and questioned his sensei often, but progressed nonetheless. His journey from confinement to a hospital bed to walking unassisted proved that although Johnny may be stuck in 1984, he has a great sense of intuition when it comes to what is best for his students.
Despite doctors and Miguel's mother Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) somewhat resigning themselves to the idea that Miguel would never walk again, Johnny always believed he could recover. He invested himself fully into saving his protégé, refusing to believe that his condition was irreversible. Johnny never gave up on Miguel, showing how much he truly cares about the boy as a person. His experiences with his former sensei Kreese (Martin Kove) taught him how it feels to be seen as just a replaceable karate pawn, and he seeks to rise above these abusive tactics. Johnny is certainly competitive in the dojo, but his heart is in the right place. He does not want them to win for his own selfish needs, but so they can better themselves. No student is too weak for him to train.
Although it is evident that Johnny is a great sensei, there is one key holdout from his methods: longtime rival Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Daniel has consistently asserted that Johnny's teachings can produce nothing but violent bullies. However, the two of them have a common enemy in John Kreese, who threatens to monopolize karate in the Valley. The two of them united at the end of Season 3 of Cobra Kai to take Kreese down once and for all, but their decades-old grudge cannot be smoothed over instantly. In order to defeat their adversary, Daniel cannot ignore Johnny's good deeds anymore. Likewise, Johnny will have to let go of some of his own tough-guy stubbornness to effectively collaborate with his former opponent.