Netflix‘s best martial arts series delivers some of TV’s best fight choreography and spans 65 exciting episodes. The streaming platform hosts some of the best martial arts TV shows of all time, whether Eastern or Western productions. An example of the former to find success on Netflix recently was Last Samurai Standing. Although the show has a ways to go before its story is considered among the best of its genre, there is no denying that the fight scenes were some of its most impressive.
The action show had martial arts scenes sprinkled throughout, featuring a variety of weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, and more. This immediately made Last Samurai Standing one of the best Netflix series to binge, stacking up with the other martial arts shows on the platform, of which the same can be said. One of these shows lasted six seasons and 65 episodes, providing some of the best martial arts choreography in small-screen history.
That show is Cobra Kai, the legacy sequel to 1984’s The Karate Kid. Despite beginning as a YouTube Red and YouTube Premium show for its first two seasons, Cobra Kai was picked up by Netflix for seasons three through six. While the change in platform could have resulted in fight scenes of varying quality, the martial arts moments of Cobra Kai remained consistently great throughout. Now that the show is over, it is considered to have some of the best fight choreography ever put on TV.
Cobra Kai’s Fights Highlight A Key Advantage Of Legacy Sequels
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Aside from making Cobra Kai a great watch for martial arts fans, the series’ fight sequences prove that legacy sequels often have a key advantage over their respective original shows or movies. Oftentimes, the movies that receive legacy sequels decades later tend to be beloved properties, from Star Wars and Top Gun to The Karate Kid. Even more modern projects like Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men: The Animated Series are receiving legacy sequels decades after the original shows. Cobra Kai was exactly that to The Karate Kid, with all of these legacy sequels improving in the action department.
While it can certainly be argued that the likes of The Karate Kid or Avatar: The Last Airbender have better writing, stories, and characters than their sequels, there is no denying that more recent entries into these franchises have better action sequences. Cobra Kai‘s fights are much more complex, well shot, edited, and choreographed than the relatively basic martial arts sequences of The Karate Kid. The latter’s fight scenes worked because of the emotional stakes of the film, but Cobra Kai‘s more polished action sequences were much improved thanks to modern budgets and filmmaking advancements.
The same can be said for the other aforementioned projects; The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, was renowned for its beautifully animated and choreographed fight scenes. This isn’t to say the original show had bad action, as the bending scenes in it were spectacular. However, The Legend of Korra, made a decade later, meant the animators had more experience and technological advancements available, which raised the already high bar. The case is the same for X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97, proving a key advantage of legacy sequels.
Cobra Kai Made Streaming The Best Home For The Karate Kid Franchise
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Another thing that Cobra Kai‘s peak fight choreography and beloved characters proved is that streaming is the best home for the Karate Kid franchise. 2025 saw the release of Karate Kid: Legends, a cinematic movie that tied together characters from Cobra Kai and those of 2010’s The Karate Kid, namely Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han. The film was relatively well-received by audiences and critics alike, but there is no denying it did not reach the same highs as Cobra Kai.
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Even the fight scenes in Karate Kid: Legends did not quite have the same impact as they did in Cobra Kai. Beyond that, the former only grossed a worldwide total of $117 million. On the other hand, Cobra Kai was a consistent hit for Netflix, often ranking at the top of viewership charts upon the release of each season. In fact, Karate Kid: Legends’ existence is proof of how successful Cobra Kai was, solidifying the fact that streaming is the best place for the Karate Kid franchise to live on.
Cobra Kai
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