The television series Cobra Kai, a continuation of The Karate Kid film franchise, has garnered praise for its diverse representation and exploration of complex social issues. Among the characters who resonate with audiences is Aisha Robinson, a student who undergoes significant transformation throughout the series. Aisha’s story deals with bullying, body image, and the search for self-confidence.
Aisha: From Bullied Teen to Cobra Kai Student
Aisha is a major recurring character in Cobra Kai. She is a former bullied student who joins the Cobra Kai Dojo, becoming the second student of the new generation of Cobra Kai. She is the best friend of Sam LaRusso. Aisha is often bullied because of her weight, and for a lot, her looks. One of Aisha’s closest friends growing up was Sam LaRusso. However, Sam abandoned Aisha for cooler friends-friends who were responsible for much of Aisha’s bullying. In the series, bullies create fake accounts telling her she is ugly and should kill herself.
Johnny notes how cowardly cyberbullying is, saying that when he was younger, bullying would at least occur face-to-face. (Ironically, Johnny and his Cobra Kai buddies were the bullies in the original Karate Kid.) Nowadays, bullies can follow you everywhere, thanks to the ubiquity of social media and the internet. According to statistics, over 80% of teens regularly use a smartphone, making cyberbullying easy and common.
Another factor in Aisha's life is that her father is not pushing her to relive his sports career, instead nurturing her own interests, at one point praising her for creating a robot. While it is positive for her to have supportive parents, her interests are usually not shared among her peers and further push her into the outskirts of the school cliques. Aisha's father is a famous athlete, yet she is not known for her prowess in sports. This is something she struggles with, exacerbated by being often bullied, particularly by Yasmine and her friend Moon. While they are no longer friends, they seem to be on good terms.
After finding Johnny Lawrence's Cobra Kai Dojo she decides to join. Cobra Kai has never had a female student, and Johnny at first is not keen on her joining, and in his words, says it is akin to how the army doesn't accept girls, though he did see about testing her by having her fight Miguel Diaz in a sparring match. She managed to land a knee drop to his ribs and spear his midsection, earning Johnny's praise that she had untapped potential, or "a natural Cobra". Even Miguel was shocked by this sudden attack, but his sensei brushed it off that in this case, anything goes, lumberjack style. It was unknown if she was friends with Miguel prior to this, but Miguel knew enough about Aisha and her family to the extent he privately convinces her sensei that she could be a faithful student if her father is paying for the lessons.
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The Cobra Kai Philosophy: Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy
As a result of the bullying she experiences, Johnny teaches Aisha and his other students how to be confident and stand up to bullies. The three rules of Cobra Kai are simple: “Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy.” And following these rules proves destructive for the Cobra Kai students. They become aggressive and reckless, not caring about who they hurt, so long as they win, in the dojo and in life. Aisha gets revenge on her bully by humiliating her at a party. At the All-Valley Tournament, Hawk attacks his opponent, Robbie, from behind, injuring Robbie and disqualifying Hawk. In the final match, Miguel attacks Robbie’s injured shoulder, winning the match in a dishonorable way.
When the tables turn on Samantha after she finds out her boyfriend Kyler was a lying cheat, Kyler retaliates by slandering Samantha throughout the school, making her a pariah to everyone except Miguel. Aisha also unsympathetically turns her back on Samantha, figuring it served her right for her earlier ostracism. After finding about Yasmine's party, Aisha along with Eli Moskowitz, Miguel and Demetri crash the party. During the party, she and Moon make amends after Moon apologizes to her for bullying her, and she gets her revenge on Yasmine by giving her a wedgie, thus humiliating her in front of everyone.
During the All-Valley tournament, Aisha reaches the quarterfinals where she loses to the defending champion Xander Stone. Following her loss, Samantha congratulates her. While Aisha is hostile with her at first, she seemingly forgives Samantha after she apologizes to her and tells her, her revenge against Yasmine was great. The two then laugh about Aisha's revenge against Yasmine. Aisha encourages her to get back into karate. After Miguel wins the tournament for Cobra Kai, Aisha along with the other Cobra Kai students cheer. Despite forgiving Sam at the tournament, she still has somewhat of a grudge against her, even though Sam wants to fix their friendship. She is even mad at Sam when Daniel attacks the Cobra Kai dojo in his Miyagi-Do Karate commercial.
Aisha's Moral Compass: Friendship, Loyalty, and the Influence of Cobra Kai
Despite forgiving Sam at the tournament, she still has somewhat of a grudge against her, even though Sam wants to fix their friendship. She is even mad at Sam when Daniel attacks the Cobra Kai dojo in his Miyagi-Do Karate commercial. She befriends Tory who is a new student in the Cobra Kai Dojo. During a pool party, Tory steals some alcohol and the two drink, much to Sam's disapproval, but when Sam accuses Tory of stealing her mom's wallet, the two get into a brief fight. Aisha is dismayed at Sam for making such an accusation without any viable proof. During a party at Moon's house, Aisha approaches a drunken Sam and tries to tell her to stop drinking, who in turn accuses her of trashing the Miyagi-Do Dojo, which Aisha denies, and also states that Miguel had nothing to do with it either. She then tells Sam that Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor which shocks Sam. When Sam appears to be dizzy, Aisha shows concern for her, showing that she still cares for her. The following morning, Aisha messages Sam asking her if she is okay, but unbeknownst to her, Sam's parents Daniel and Amanda see her message on Sam's computer. Outside the school building, she and Miguel voice their concern over hearing nothing from Tory. When Sam and Tory are fighting at school, Aisha tries to stop them, but when a boy attacks her, she fights back and beats him up. Aisha is last seen staring down at an unconscious Miguel after he was kicked off the second floor balcony.
After the events of the school fight, Aisha's parents disenroll her from West Valley High School and transfer her to a private school up north, separating her from Sam and the rest of her karate influences. However, season 4 later reveals the reason why Aisha moved was not because of the West Valley High karate war, but because of a job offering her dad had at UCSB. Aisha is visited by Sam in her new home in Santa Barbara. She has gained her weight back and quit karate altogether, though she has retained her lessons from Cobra Kai and uses it in a much less violent way, advising Sam to try to make peace with Tory instead of resorting to violence. It is also revealed that the reason why Aisha moved to Santa Barbara was not because of the high school brawl, but because of her dad having gotten a job offer at UCSB he couldn't refuse. Sam mentions Aisha was accepted into the University of California at Santa Cruz. When Tory is reminiscing about the first time she came to the Cobra Kai dojo, she mentions becoming friends with Aisha.
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Aisha is kindhearted, responsible, and highly intelligent. Like the rest of the kids in Cobra Kai, her personality takes a dark turn once she starts learning the aggressive and merciless techniques of the dojo. However, Aisha seems to have not been affected by it as badly as some of the other students, such as Eli and Miguel, since she resumed friendship with Sam at the tournament. This suggests that Aisha may return to her old ways once again. Despite being a nice and kind person, she has shown her aggressive side on occasions. Some examples include being rude to Samantha and not showing her any sympathy when she is excluded from the popular crowd, giving Yasmine a wedgie, and angrily lashing out at the defending champion after losing to him in the quarterfinals. Her aggression is generally a mirror of how she herself was treated, figuring Sam deserved to be ostracized as she herself was when the shoe is on the other foot, and giving Yasmine a wedgie in revenge for the Halloween prank. The only instance of this that was unrequited was her reaction to Xander Stone beating her fair and square in the tournament, which seemed to reflect poor sportsmanship. She still holds somewhat of a grudge against Sam, though she does care about her which is evidenced in a party where she shows concern for a drunk and dizzy Sam. She makes a new friend named Tory who is new to Cobra Kai. When Tory steals alcohol, both of them are drinking, which shows Aisha was willing to break rules from time to time. However, unlike Sam nor Tory Aisha was not seen getting drunk, which also shows she exerted better self-control, likely only drinking a little. During Sam's and Tory's fight Aisha tries to get them to stop, which shows she knows that things are getting out of hand, though she ends up knocking out a boy who attacks her. Despite this, she still doesn't seem to be corrupted by the Cobra Kai mentality and John Kreese's teachings as negatively as Miguel or even Eli/Hawk or Kenny have. After Kreese takes over the dojo, she is not seen training with him, possibly indicating she may oppose Kreese's methods. Another possibility is that her parents are aware of Kreese's takeover and refuse to pay her tuition any further in that they are unsure of Kreese or lack confidence in his abilities as a sensei; earlier having praised Johnny for helping Aisha discover her athletic potential.
Aisha's Fighting Style and Relationships
Before training with Cobra Kai, Aisha showed some penchant for brawling, taking Miguel down with a football tackle and a knee drop. After joining the dojo, she develops a simple but effective fighting style based on power and straightforward techniques. Her defense is solid and she's fairly quick on her feet. Sam was Aisha's friend; however, their relationship is strained. Aisha and Samantha were friends before the series, but at some point, before the series, Samantha became friends with the popular crowd, who often bullied Aisha. While Sam's actions strained their friendship, they were still on friendly and speaking terms. Despite Yasmine bullying Aisha, Sam never stands up for Aisha, out of peer pressure. When Sam loses her friends and becomes an outcast, Aisha treats Sam the same way Aisha was once treated by ignoring her; however, she forgives Samantha after she apologizes and approves of her revenge against Yasmine. Aisha is angered at Sam when Daniel disses Cobra Kai in his commercial for Miyagi-Do. When Sam accuses Tory of stealing her mom's wallet, Aisha is disappointed at Sam for making an accusation without proof. During a party at Moon's house, Aisha tells Sam that Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor which shocks Sam. When Sam appears to be dizzy, Aisha shows concern and the following morning, she messages Sam, asking her if she is alright. Sam visits Aisha in Santa Barbara to get some advice from her due to Tory coming back to West Valley High after having been expelled, which Sam isn't ready for. Aisha explained how she had a friendlier approach to her new classmates; she still applied Johnny's teachings when she moved, but in a different and more positive way. Johnny was Aisha's sensei at the Cobra Kai Dojo. When Aisha first wants to join the dojo, Johnny says no girls allowed, but has a change of heart after being persuaded by Miguel. After taking down Miguel, Johnny becomes impressed, and Aisha worked to ensure that he saw her as another student. After seeing how strong Aisha is, Johnny was more open to including female students in Cobra Kai. It can be implied that Aisha's friendship with Sam is mended at the end of season 1. Aisha is one of the only characters on Cobra Kai who is friendly with both Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence until they eventually ended their rivalry and became friends. Aisha is the first female student to be a member of Cobra Kai Dojo. Her enrollment made it possible for many future Cobra Kai's to become members. She is clearly one of the most tech savvy Cobras; helping her sensei make a podcast about the dojo. She also has some knowledge of intellectual property, warning Johnny that his idea to play an AC/DC song over the podcast would have a very steep fee for the rights. Aisha's absence is explained by her moving to a private school after the high school fight.
The Downward Spiral: Kreese's Influence and Tory's Arrival
The story arc for season 2 revolves around the return of Kreese, former Cobra Kai owner, and how he turns the students towards evil practices. A new girl joins Cobra Kai, Tory. Instantly, she becomes the badass of the dojo, and Aisha is reduced to what she never should have been, a token friend. The new white girl takes up her screen time when she starts dating Miguel. The introduction of Tory feels artificial and forced. She just comes into play in order to create a rivalry with Larusso’s daughter, Sam. The only motive they have is their common interest in Miguel, and they achieve levels of unbearable cattiness. As a new, slightly developed addition to an already huge cast of characters, it’s difficult to care about Tory. She comes through as a plot device. And for that, they had to reduce Aisha to a background character.
On the other hand, Hawk changes from lovable redeemed former nerd, into a sociopath of sorts. He’s often portrayed as the villain, despite his actions showing otherwise. He respects Moon’s decision when she doesn’t want to get back together. He embraces Miguel after he severely beats him in an exercise, stating that they are Cobra Kai brothers. All and all, he seems to still have a good heart, except for his interactions with Dmitri, who is now training under Larusso’s guidance. All of the Cobra Kai students are presented as ruthless, evil fighters, while the show focuses more and more on Sam and Robby. They are the best students from Miyagi-Do, Larusso’s karate dojo. However, it is extra hard to root for them because they just seem naturally talented/privileged. Larusso’s dojo revolved around two white students, while the rest of them remain a shapeless ensemble without names, or meaningful traits. The only ‘misfit’ is Dmitri, who joins hoping to be able to face Cobra Kai students. Nevertheless, he’s a character so unlikeable that he might as well not be there. After a couple of his scenes, it was hard not to understand his bullies.
The diversity from the first season was just not there anymore. Cobra Kai started out great. The script focused around awesome characters, who came from all backgrounds, but who were mainly loser looking for a way to come out on top. It was relatable. It had a soul. While the show remains a phenomenal piece of screenwriting, season 2 has lost touch with that initial message.
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Aisha's Departure and Lasting Impact
After the events of the school fight, Aisha's parents disenroll her from West Valley High School and transfer her to a private school up north, separating her from Sam and the rest of her karate influences. However, season 4 later reveals the reason why Aisha moved was not because of the West Valley High karate war, but because of a job offering her dad had at UCSB. Aisha is visited by Sam in her new home in Santa Barbara. She has gained her weight back and quit karate altogether, though she has retained her lessons from Cobra Kai and uses it in a much less violent way, advising Sam to try to make peace with Tory instead of resorting to violence. It is also revealed that the reason why Aisha moved to Santa Barbara was not because of the high school brawl, but because of her dad having gotten a job offer at UCSB he couldn't refuse. Sam mentions Aisha was accepted into the University of California at Santa Cruz.