Warning: Spoilers for Cobra Kai season 5
Entering a contest known as the Sekai Taikai was revealed to be Terry Silver’s masterplan in Cobra Kai. It was revealed that in the universe of The Karate Kid and the Netflix series, the Sekai Taikai is a world karate tournament, presumably held in Japan. According to Martin Kove's John Kreese, Silver has been wanting to win it ever since the 1980s.
Despite not being well known in the United States, the Sekai Taikai is what Kreese called the “biggest tournament in the world”. Silver knew in Cobra Kai that if he could enter his dojo and win, he’d accomplish his goal of “going global”. But though he succeeded in securing Cobra Kai’s participation in the Sekai Taikai, the villain won’t be joining his students when the time comes for the competition to take place. As a result of his arrest in the Cobra Kai season 5 finale, Silver has been removed from the board for the foreseeable future. But as for Johnny, Daniel, and Chozen, their students are still set to compete in the annual tournament.
Though there are martial arts competitions (including some that focus on karate) that operate at the world level, the Sekai Taikai is a fictional event created specifically for the series. That makes sense, considering it would be difficult – if not impossible – for Cobra Kai to find a real-life counterpart for the type of tournament-based competition it’s currently setting up. Plus, going this route naturally makes it easy for Cobra Kai to create its own rules and do whatever it wants with the Sekai Taikai, not unlike how it and The Karate Kid movies have handled the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, which is also a fictional competition.
Will The Sekai Taikai Appear In Cobra Kai Season 6?
Even though the point of entering the Sekai Taikai is mute now that Terry Silver has been defeated, there’s still a sense that the competition will be vital to the show’s future. While it’s true that their main goal was to stand in Silver’s way, it can’t be denied that the kids of Cobra Kai earned their way into the tournament. So in spite of Silver’s downfall, it’s likely that winning the Sekai Taikai will be part of their plan, which could play out in season 6 or perhaps be saved for season 7. And being a competition with stakes that go far beyond the All Valley, the Sekai Taikai certainly feels like the endgame for Cobra Kai. After all, no event can be bigger than a world tournament.
How Cobra Kai resolved the dilemma over which dojo should join the competition provides a hint at how the series will approach the tournament, whether it be in season 6 or later. Silver has been defeated, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he did get Cobra Kai admitted. Albeit under different leadership, Cobra Kai should be able to compete in the Sekai Taikai as the primary opponents of Johnny, Daniel, and Chozen’s students in the show’s future.