They say those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. That’s why we’re taking a look at the character John Kreese, founder of the Cobra Kai dojo in the original Netflix series Cobra Kai, and his rut of following a broken process.
Table of Contents
Following a Broken Process
WARNING – SPOILER ALERT!
Ever since the original movies of The Karate Kid, John Kreese has been nothing but a total D-bag. His backstory is that of a Vietnam war veteran who conditions impressionable teens into a war mindset. The end result is the creation of bullies and thugs who torment high school students daily. That certainly made it easy for us to cheer when Mr. Miyagi defeated him not once but twice in the movie franchise.
In the original Netflix series, Cobra Kai, John Kreese weasels his way back into the storyline by offering to “help” Johnny Lawrence bring Cobra Kai back to its glory days. It isn’t long before we see Kreese return to his old ways, which is exactly what we would expect from him.
We learn later in the series that Kreese may not be the bad guy we thought he was. Instead, we find that his intentions have been good all along, but his methods turn out to be a broken process. Rather than giving victims of bullying a sense of toughness and confidence, his broken process creates bullies and eventually seeks them out for the sake of winning.
Following a broken process can be a rut. We tend to revert to what we know because it’s worked before, so why not now?
Men tend to do this in relationships. Do x and we get y result, such as dinner and drinks equals sex. The desired result is more sex. The true result may be a boring romantic life, a broken process.
Another relationship example could be when there is conflict. I bring flowers for an apology, she forgives me, and we move along without really addressing the issue. The desired result is patching things up and getting them back to the way things were before the conflict. The true result is we now associated flowers with fighting and guilt rather than romance and love, another broken process.
Maybe the broken process exists at work. Multiple complaints pour in about a receptionist who is rude, but you know that person is the nicest and most professional person in the world. A broken process is what is preventing that receptionist from providing the service customers need, yet no changes are made in the name of “That’s how we’ve always done it.”
The truth is that processes can be changed to get the results you really desire. This episode covers how to identify when you’re faced with a process or system issue in life and what to do on a practical level to make a course correction.
Resources and Links
Listen to these past episodes of Beyond the Rut
Cobra Kai Daniel LaRusso Overcoming the Rut of Entitlement – BtR 291
Cobra Kai Lessons for Life Johnny Lawrence Overcoming Limiting Beliefs – BtR 290
Do a New Thing and Turn Your Dreams into Reality – BtR 277
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Episode Credits
Host, Editing, and Production: Jerry Dugan
Music: “Oceans Apart” is our theme song composed and performed by Scott Ian Holmes.
