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"If an enemy insists on war, then you take away their ability to wage it."
―Chozen Toguchi to Daniel LaRusso[src]

Chozen Toguchi (戸口長善) is the main antagonist of The Karate Kid Part II and later a supporting protagonist in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. He was the top student of Sato's Dojo and eventually becomes the sensei of Miyagi-Do Karate in Okinawa. After reconciling with Daniel LaRusso, Chozen becomes his friend and ally in Daniel's ongoing fight with the Cobra Kai Dojo.

Biography

Chozen was born in Okinawa, Japan, the nephew of Mr. Miyagi's greatest enemy, Sato Toguchi. Chozen mentions in Cobra Kai that his father died when he was very young, and that his uncle had to raise him. When he was asked what killed his father, Chozen replied "cowardice", strongly implying that his father committed suicide. Sato raised Chozen to hate Miyagi and become an expert in karate. He served as the Karateka's assistant in both Dojo and business dealings in Tomi village. Chozen eventually became Sato's greatest student and went on to train American GIs in martial arts.

Film series

The Karate Kid Part II

The nephew and the favorite student of Sato Toguchi, Chozen served as the Karateka's assistant in both Dojo and business dealings in Tomi village. During Daniel and Mr. Miyagi's arrival to Okinawa airport, Chozen introduces himself as a seemingly friendly entourage and offers them ride to the village. Only to reveal his disdain for Mr. Miyagi (inherited from his uncle) immediately after dumping the duo in Sato's compound, referring to him as a "coward". Chozen also shows immediate disdain to Daniel LaRusso both due to being a foreigner and a student of Miyagi's.

He is a bully and rival to Daniel, constantly tormenting and attacking him. Chozen is far more adept at hand-to-hand combat and is referred to several times as Sato's star pupil. In a rough bar adjacent to Sato's dojo where men break slabs of ice for amusement, Chozen goads Daniel into breaking all six slabs under the taunt "Broken ice, or a broken neck!". Mr. Miyagi bets a large amount of money that Daniel can do it, causing Chozen to protest that he cannot afford the bet. The bet is covered by Sato, who just entered the bar. After Daniel wins, Chozen whines that cowards do not deserve to win, but Sato pays up, snarling at Chozen to never engage in actions that would dishonor their family again.

Chozen also is a grocery store middleman, where the dirt farmers of Tomi Village bring their crops for him to purchase. Daniel reveals that Chozen has been using rigged weights, causing the farmers to become outraged and demand honest scales. This incident turns to extreme hatred as Chozen feels Daniel dishonored him, despite Chozen himself engaging in the dishonorable activity of cheating suppliers. The full extent of Chozen's hatred for Daniel is not revealed until, despite Sato's insistence, a prideful Chozen outright refuses to help Daniel rescue a child from a typhoon. This deliberate act of defiance prompts an angry Sato to disown him, causing Chozen to run off into the storm humiliated.

Karate Kid II Daniel v Chozen

Chozen challenging Daniel

In a misguided attempt to regain his honor, an erroneous Chozen invades the O-bon festival, holds Kumiko hostage at knifepoint and forces Daniel into a fight to the death. Chozen proves to be a formidable foe, even countering Daniel's crane kick, and manages to gain the upper hand as the fight progresses. In the end, however, he is defeated by Daniel, who uses his "drum technique" to block Chozen's attacks and follow up with a series of counter-attacks. When given the chance to live or die, Chozen chooses to die. However, instead of giving him his wish, Daniel, in a similar fashion of what Miyagi did to Kreese at the beginning of the film, honks his nose instead of delivering the fatal blow, sparing Chozen's life.

Interim Years

"After our fight, I felt great shame. I... I wanted to die. But my Uncle saved me. He gave me a chance to prove myself. I spent my life trying to do just that. But... regret is sometimes difficult to overcome."
―Chozen Toguchi to Daniel LaRusso

Following his defeat, Chozen, who feels great shame, attempts to commit suicide. However, his uncle Sato saves him and gives him a chance to become a better person. Chozen accepts and begins to change his ways. Prior to Sato's death, Chozen learns the pressure points technique, which gives the ability to numb your opponent's limbs, and Sato himself gives him all of Miyagi's artifacts. He becomes the sensei of Miyagi-Do Karate at some point, possibly after Sato's death and the closure of Sato's dojo.

Cobra Kai

Season 2

Daniel remembers breaking a block of ice his youth, and Chozen is seen watching Daniel breaking the block. Chozen is both shocked and dismayed over the event.

Season 3

305

Years later, when Daniel travels to save his business with Doyona, Kumiko reunites with him and calls Chozen to come and meet them to inspire Daniel with some of Mr. Miyagi's teachings that he had not taught Daniel. Chozen initially appears to show hatred towards Daniel for the fight between them and is surprised by how much Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel. Chozen reveals that Mr. Miyagi did not teach Daniel about a deadlier aspect of Miyagi-Do. The two fight again, with Chozen getting the upper hand in almost every fight. In their last fight, Chozen numbs Daniel's limbs and brings him to his knees, much as his former adversary did during the fight at the O-Bon festival years ago. Chozen raises his hand, appearing to get his revenge for Daniel's defeat, which triggers the famous memory of "live or die, man". Chozen then honks Daniel's nose, laughingly remarking he has waited a long time for that. Daniel asks what he did to make his limbs numb, to which Chozen explains the pressure points technique. Daniel asks if he could teach him, which Chozen accepts.

CobraKai Season3 00 16 48 22R

Chozen trains Daniel in using pressure points to numb an opponents limbs and later explains that after their fight all those years ago, he felt such shame over his actions towards Daniel that he attempted to commit suicide, but was saved by Sato. It was during that time that he became a better person and he now runs Miyagi-Do in Okinawa, teaching all of Mr. Miyagi's lessons. Chozen calls Mr. Miyagi a man of great honor that Chozen can only hope he can emulate. Recognizing the change in Chozen, Daniel forgives him for their past, something that means a great deal to Chozen, who provides Daniel with a secret scroll on Miyagi-Do Karate. Later, when Daniel is fighting Kreese, he remembers Chozen's pressure point tactics and uses it to disable Kreese.

Season 4

"I know this isn't your fight and this is a lot to ask, but would you help me finally put an end to Cobra Kai?"
Daniel to Chozen[src]
410 Daniel LaRusso and Chozen Toguchi

After losing at the All Valley Karate Tournament to Cobra Kai, Daniel LaRusso, promising to continue being a sensei of Miyagi-Do, visits Mr. Miyagi's gravesite where he asks Chozen for help to go on the offense and defeat Cobra Kai forever. Chozen agrees to help him and the two men bow together in respect to Mr. Miyagi.

Season 5

Chozen moves into the LaRusso House with Daniel and his family, making himself comfortable within the boundaries set. He swims nude in the pool as he's accustomed to swimming in the hot springs of Okinawa every morning. He waves to Amanda as she's cleaning up the pool area, an act that disturbs her because he's nude. She shares her concerns of him being nude in a home where their children are, and combined with her frustration that a Japanese assassin is living with them. Daniel assures her the nudity issue won't happen again. Meanwhile, Daniel and Chozen start planning their dismantling of Cobra Kai. Chozen is ready to cut the head off the snake, literally, but Daniel didn't bring him here for that. He wants Chozen to infiltrate Cobra Kai as a prospective sensei.

They stake out the dojo, with Chozen recognizing Silver's methods as a twisted form of Tang Soo Do as taught by Kim Sun-Yung. He demonstrates the technique to Daniel in the LaRusso's home dojo; the brutal honor less methods of attacking when the opponent is bowing, inflicting pain, and being aggressive. He warns that every offensive attack will be expected - they must be careful. Chozen signs up as a prospective sensei that evening, under the alias Sensei Joe, proving himself a formidable fighter to Silver. His methods of teaching Tory Nichols to overcome her mental obstacles and be even stronger impresses Silver, who invites him back to his home for drinks. He offers Chozen 50% stake in the dojo as he's looking for a partner, though the man isn't here for the money. They share a toast to their new alliance.

Unfortunately, Chozen slips up during the toast by saying a phrase that only people from a certain region would say. This gives Silver all the information he needs to uncover Chozen's true identity and his connection to Daniel. Silver has his other prospective sensei's ambush Chozen after class, refusing to let the man leave until a message is sent. Chozen, in a grand display of martial arts mastery, defeats all of the sensei's and cripples them. He leaves with the ominous promise that Silver is next.

With his and Daniel's stealth attacks exposed, the men deduce who Silver might call for help now. Daniel, at the reminder of Chozen saying "old friends", remembers one man - "Mike fucking Barnes". They drive to Barnes's house and stake it out. Daniel explains their history and how Barnes tried to kill him, a slight that can never be forgotten or forgiven. Chozen shifts in his seat to stare at Daniel, who quickly corrects that Chozen is the exception, of course. Chozen shows discomfort throughout the day from sleeping on the couch in the LaRusso's spare bedroom. Daniel apologizes as there used to be a bed in there before the Cobra Kai's attacked the house. Chozen reassures him that he will defend the house and no one will attack on his watch.

They follow Barnes to a warehouse, where Chozen's eager to fight the goons outside the building and show Barnes who he's up against. Daniel, instead, makes him stay in the car as he doesn't want things to get bloody. After several minutes, Chozen gets antsy and enters the warehouse, finding the Agoura Fine Furnishings store within the building. He misinterprets Daniel and Barnes's play-sparring as real, and mercilessly attacks Barnes. The men brawl as Daniel frantically tries to stop the fight. By the time he explains to Chozen what's going on, the men are bruised and bleeding. Barnes hasn't seen or spoken to Terry in years, nor would he ever want to. He just wants to run his furniture store and put the karate business behind him. Chozen decides to buy a blue couch for the bedroom, paying the upped price of $2,000, since he did beat up the goons outside on his way in. He remarks they might want to call an ambulance, but first warning the goons not to get blood on his new couch.

The following day, Daniel and Amanda attend a high-class charity event, tasking Chozen with ensuring Silver doesn't attack the home. The man takes his job seriously, promising to do everything he can to protect them. He also watches reality TV while they're gone. The couple returns in a heated argument over Daniel's actions with Silver. Chozen accidentally outs that he was the one who attacked the sensei's, started the fight at the furniture store, and infiltrated the dojo, information Amanda didn't know. Daniel asks for her trust in him to handle this situation, so she snaps for him to handle it, but she won't be around to watch. She's leaving and taking the kids with her.

With his wife and kids gone, Daniel spirals into a depressive and alcohol-ridden spiral. Chozen doesn't accept this and tells him they must not give up. He shows him a newspaper article that was left in their mailbox. It's from Kreese's sentencing and features a sketch of Stingray with the word "LIAR" written over his face, with an address beneath it. With their interest piqued, the men scope out the home and find that Stingray is living in the fancy loft while driving Johnny's old car. They confront Stingray inside about his involvement with Silver and Kreese, pressing hard for the truth. Daniel loses his composure and nearly attacks Stingray, breaking his PS4 in the process. Chozen stops him and takes him outside. He likens Stingray to a turtle; if they scare him too much, he might retreat into his shell and never come out.

Chozen and Johnny go to Cobra Kai together. They reminisce about Daniel LaRusso and how they tormented him in the past but also talk about the good things about him. When Johnny sees his student Devon, he tries to go inside but is stopped by Chozen. Later, the two fight one of the Cobra Kai senseis. Chozen is able to keep up with the sensei compared to Johnny, though the sensei proves to be the superior fighter. Despite this, Chozen and Johnny are able to defeat him. However, they leave when the others arrive, and they find themselves outmatched.

Later, Chozen teaches the Miyagi-Do's and Eagle Fangs a new lesson. He gives the students eggs, tasking them with protecting the egg at all costs. He gives them ample time to protect their eggs, before using weaponry to pick them off one-by-one. He gives them two tries before saying it's their final round. The students, tired of losing, begin to brainstorm ways to outwit the Japanese assassin. Anthony thinks they should put all their eggs in one basket and protect it as group. After Demetri and Eli agree with his Dungeon Lord analogy, the students ultimately go along with it. When Chozen emerges with his weapons and attacks, the students work together to keep Chozen from breaking through their barrier. Because of their tenacity, Chozen is unable to get through the wall of karate kids and concedes. He reaffirms that the lesson was to work together, as that is what separates them from the enemy.

Chozen, Daniel and Johnny showcase their teachings to the Sekai Taikai organizers. He and Daniel train Sam to get her ready for the girls demonstration. At the Cobra Kai dojo, Sam wins her match and because they were impressed with the dojo, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang qualify for the tournament.

After hearing about Johnny and Carmen having a baby, Chozen goes with him, Daniel, Amanda, Carmen, and Louie to a club to celebrate. He talks to Johnny about having feelings for Kumiko. Johnny tells this to Daniel. Daniel talks to Chozen about Kumiko. Chozen talks about he and Kumiko when they were kids, and how Kumiko was able to forgive him after his disgrace in the village. Chozen does not want to tell Kumiko how he feels because of what he did to her, which was unforgivable. However, Daniel tells him that he has changed and Kumiko has forgiven him. Chozen is encouraged by Daniel. When he leaves, he leaves a voicemail saying that he's excited to see her when he gets home and should've brought her to California. However, Johnny, Daniel and Chozen end up trapped in the limo and are nervous.

When the limo stops, Mike and Johnny briefly fight but are broken up by Daniel and Chozen. He tells the three that he is ready to take down Terry Silver and despite being drunk, Johnny and Chozen go to Silver's mansion with Mike. After Mike is knocked out by one of Silvers' men, Chozen and Johnny attack Silvers' men. While fending off Silvers' men, Chozen notices Silver walking away. He leaves to confront Silver, after Johnny's encouragement. He confronts Silver in his sword room and the two start fighting. Initially, they have a brief hand to hand combat, which proves to be even. They then fight with weapons, with Silver using his sword and Chozen using his sai's. Chozen gains the upper hand at first, but Silver soon takes control and injures Chozen. Silver then prepares to finish him off, but Chozen regains the upper hand in the last minute, and proceeds to knock Silver down and have him at his mercy. Silver says he is meant to die on the battlefield and tells Chozen to finish him off. However, Chozen is then momentarily distracted by a scream, which Silver takes advantage of by slicking his back with his sword, causing Chozen to fall and bleed profusely.

Chozen later arrives at the main Cobra Kai dojo with Mike and Johnny, emerging from the back of the limo with a bandage wrapped around his back slash. A shocked Daniel tells Chozen they need to get him to a hospital. Chozen protests as it's just a flesh wound, nothing serious, but Daniel argues that it's all of his flesh. He helps his friend into the ambulance.

Personality

"He has no idea what honor is."
Kumiko to Daniel LaRusso[src]

Chozen was initially presented as a cruel, disrespectful, remorseless, and disgraceful fighter. While he seems to boast about it throughout the second film, Chozen seems to have a twisted and misguided definition of honor. While he shows respect for his superiors such as his uncle, he is heartless and disrespectful against everyone else around him. By cheating the villagers of their money with rigged weights, mugging Daniel of the money he won against him in a bet Daniel won fairly, initially refusing to honor the bet he made when, he showed that he is a sore loser. He also demands for respect despite not earning it. This "Honor" is in fact his pride, ego, and narcissistic belief that he is a superior man, as he holds himself in very high regard despite his despicable actions, simply because he is a master of martial arts and wealthy powerful family he comes from. It is possible he only is honorable and respectful to people he deems worthy. The only instance of him being supposedly honorable is him allowing Daniel to attack him with his spear despite Chozen himself being unarmed, though Chozen likely did this because he knew Daniel wouldn't beat him. When Daniel attacked him with the spear, Chozen kicked it and then attacked him with the spear.

Because of how he sees himself and his definition of honor, Chozen thinks he is a man above morals, and does not see the error of his ways. Possibly due to his upbringing by his uncle, Chozen believes that anyone who is not willing to fight regardless of the situation, whether it calls for conflict or not, is a coward and deserves death. Being disowned by Sato causes Chozen to spiral out of control, as arguably the one person that Chozen truly respects wants nothing to do with him. Chozen's actions following Sato disowning him likely indicates that he truly values being respected by someone he himself respects. Chozen respected his uncle, and being disowned by him had a huge negative effect on him. When Chozen loses a fight, he wants to be killed by his opponent as he feels there is no honor in him living if he loses. Some examples include him being angry at Miyagi when the latter refuses to kill him after defeating him and asking Daniel to kill him after the latter defeats him.

Following his defeat, as revealed years later, Chozen was filled with great shame and even attempted suicide before Sato saved him and began to care for him again. Under his uncle's tutelage, Chozen became a much better person who came to respect Mr. Miyagi as a man of great honor that he could only hope to emulate. Chozen grew up to become a teacher of Miyagi-Do Karate, passing on the lessons that he had learned to others. He also appeared to reconcile with Kumiko who was aware of his change for the better and was on friendly terms with Chozen despite his previous threats to kill her. Chozen secretly harbored romantic feelings for Kumiko, but was too scared to act on them because of his shame.

"Chozen: I've been waiting a long time for this
Daniel: Chozen. No.
Chozen: HONK!!!
"
―Chozen getting back at Daniel[src]

When Daniel returned to Okinawa, Chozen greeted him with apparent anger and was surprised by how much Daniel had learned from Mr. Miyagi, especially as he considered Daniel to be a foreigner. However, much of this appeared to be an act by Chozen who was pretending to be his old self to fool Daniel, mostly because their meeting was presumably arranged by Kumiko. After defeating Daniel and getting his revenge for his earlier defeat, Chozen chose to emulate Daniel's humorous honking of his nose and burst into genuine laughter over finally being able to get Daniel back in such a manner rather than killing him. Afterwards, Chozen dropped his act and showed Daniel who he had truly become and was honored to train Daniel in the aspects of Miyagi-Do that he was unaware of. When Daniel forgave Chozen for their past rivalry, Chozen admitted that it meant a lot to him to have Daniel's forgiveness and he provided Daniel with a secret scroll about Miyagi-Do for his collection. Daniel and Chozen parted from each other with a genuine respect for the other and Daniel was pleased to have such a friendly ending to his rivalry with Chozen and felt that both men had learned something from the other as Kumiko had hoped. Their closer relationship later led to Daniel seeking Chozen's help against Cobra Kai which he agreed to do despite it not being his fight as Daniel pointed out.

Fighting Style

ChozenKick

Chozen fighting against Daniel

"He's not bad."
"He's Sato's number-one student."
"I can see why.
"
Daniel LaRusso and Kumiko[src]

Chozen is his uncle's finest student. A Miyagi-do stylist, he is primarily a counter fighter. He tends to block incoming attacks, catching the limb if he can, after which he follows up with vicious combos. He is strong, tough and athletic, and can strike with tremendous power, as seen when he kicked off part of a stone statue. He is able to easily block and counter most of Daniel's techniques, including the crane technique. Daniel is only able to defeat Chozen by waiting for him to initiate an attack, which he intercepts with the Miyagi drum technique.

As an adult, Chozen has adopted a more traditional version the Miyagi-Do style after being taught by his uncle Sato. His technique is more aggressive than Daniel's due to his training in the deadlier aspects of Miyagi-Do, but less aggressive and deadly than in the past due to Chozen's change for the better. He has also learned Miyagi-Do pressure point attacks that can temporarily paralyze limbs by numbing the nerves. He easily defeats Daniel when they spar in Miyagi-Do.

At some point, Chozen learned about Tang Soo Do, which was taught by the master of Kreese and Terry Silver, Kim Sun-Yung. However, Yung's style was controversial according to Chozen, as he was deceptive and merciless, which Chozen learned as well. He displays Sung's style to Daniel, by grabbing his neck and bringing him down. While infiltrating Cobra Kai, Chozen displays Yung's ang Soo Do style, which catches the interest of Silver.

After his deception is exposed, Silver orders his Sensei's to attack Chozen, who defeats all six with ease while not being hit once. At the furniture store, he beats up Barnes's men and fights Barnes, the latter managing to keep up with Chozen. When he and Johnny fight one of Silver's Sensei's, Chozen generally keeps up with him and while the Sensei is the superior fighter, Chozen and Johnny manage to defeat him. When training the Miyagi Do students with the egg exercise, he wins the first time by taking them out one by one, but when they redo the exercise, all the students stick together and are able to hold him back, which leads to him conceding defeat.

During the fight at Silvers house, he and Johnny initially fend off his men, before Chozen leaves to fight Silver. His fight with Silver begins with a brief hand to hand combat, which proves to be even, but then they switch to weapons, with Silver using his sword and Chozen using his sais. Chozen initially gains the upper hand in the weapon fight, but Silver soon takes control and puts himself in a position to finish Chozen off, only for Chozen to regain the upper hand on the last second and have Silver at his mercy. Despite seemingly winning the fight, he is momentarily distracted by a scream, which Silver takes advantage of by slicking him in the back with his sword, leading to Chozen losing the fight.

An adult Chozen has fought and defeated several people. The only person he has lost to is Silver, but only because his back was turned. An adult Chozen is one of the most skilled fighters in the modern day Karate Kid universe. Notably, when preparing to go on the offense against Cobra Kai, Daniel sought out Chozen's help.

Relationships

Daniel LaRusso

"I understand. And If means anything Chozen I forgive you."
"It means a great deal.
"
―Daniel and Chozen[src]

Upon meeting, Chozen initially presents himself as friendly to both Daniel and Miyagi but he quickly reveals his true disdain for LaRusso and his sensei. Toguchi saw Daniel with disgust both for being a foreigner and having a disdain for his sensei that was passed on by his uncle, this led Chozen to try to intimidate Daniel every time they met. His hatred for Daniel amplifies when he reveals that Chozen was using rigged weights to trick the dirt farmers of Tomi Village, leaving him to feel humiliated. He threatened Daniel by saying that if he ever insulted his honor again he would kill him. Chozen becomes embarrassed after Daniel manages to break six blocks of ice after betting that he wouldn't do it. During the storm, Chozen refuses to help Daniel rescue a little girl despite his uncle's pleads, leaving Sato to reject him as his nephew, this destroyed every bit of honor Chozen thought he had. In this broken state, Chozen forces Daniel to fight him to the death in order to regain his honor and when he's defeated begs for Daniel to kill him.

After his uncle saved him and gave him a second chance to redeem himself as he grows up, Chozen ran into Daniel again as an adult. He at first acts aggressively in front of Daniel but makes it clear that he renounced his hatred for him, even if his attitude and mannerism didn't show it. As Chozen fights Daniel to teach him about the most deadlier aspects of Miyagi-Do, he numbed Daniel's limbs and honked his nose like he did to him years ago, laughing about it and revealing that all his aggressive demeanor earlier was just a ruse to mess with him. When Daniel is perplexed how Chozen found out about a Miyagi-Do technique that he himself was never aware of, he later realizes that there are senseis who may not impart every bit of their lessons, no matter how skilled or devoted their pupils may be.

After the fight, Chozen deems Daniel worthy of Miyagi's final lesson, teaching Daniel the pressure point technique he used to numb his limbs earlier and gave him a secret scroll of Miyagi-Do Karate to keep. After this, Chozen and Daniel have an honest talk about their past and how Chozen genuinely regrets everything he did and tries to redeem himself to this day, with Daniel even forgiving Chozen which made him very happy. Chozen has grown to respect Daniel and always wants to make up for what he did to him, as seen when he agreed to help Daniel defeat Cobra Kai despite not being his fight.

Other Relationships

  • Mr. Miyagi † (Former Enemy-turned-Friend)
  • Kumiko (Friends/Former Enemy)
  • Yukie † (Former Enemy)
  • Yuna (Friend/Former Enemy)

Gallery

Trivia

  • His name is presumably a pun on the word "chosen", but also the Japanese word "Zen", which means meditation, enlightenment and intuition.
  • Chozen is the first main antagonist to show a willingness to kill. He challenges Daniel LaRusso to a death match in The Karate Kid Part II.
  • Chozen is the only character to successfully land a strike on Mr. Miyagi, although that was unintentional. Miyagi also had his back turned and was busy attending to Daniel during the attack.
           TheKarateKidLogo Villains

Main
John Kreese | Terry Silver | Mike Barnes | Chozen Toguchi | Johnny Lawrence

The Karate Kid
John Kreese | Johnny Lawrence | Dutch | Bobby Brown | Tommy | Jimmy

Part II
Chozen Toguchi | Sato Toguchi | Toshio | Taro | John Kreese

Part III
Terry Silver | Mike Barnes | John Kreese | Snake | Dennis

The Next Karate Kid
Colonel Paul Dugan | Ned Randall | Charlie | Gabe | Morgan

Remake
Master Li | Cheng | Liang | Zhuang | Song

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