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"I was wrong. Hate is wrong."
―Sato Toguchi to Chozen Toguchi, upon realizing his wrongdoings.[src]

Sato Toguchi (里 戸口), also known as Master Sato,[1] is the secondary antagonist of The Karate Kid Part II. He is the uncle of Chozen and the owner of the biggest dojo in Okinawa. Sato was Miyagi's enemy until he saved his life.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Sato was born 1925 in Okinawa, Sato's father was the richest man in his village, who was best friends with Mr. Miyagi's Father, this caused Miyagi to be best friends with Sato they were taught Karate by Miyagi's father thus breaking the tradition of only father and son Miyagi members should be taught.

In 1943, Sato's father arranged him to marry Yukie, but Miyagi made a big speech infront of the whole village about breaking tradition of arranged marriage so he could marry Yukie, Sato felt disgraced and challenged Miyagi to fight to death to save his honor, but Miyagi not wanting his best friend to die left Okinawa by boat. Two years later, in 1945, Sato became an instructor for the United States' military at the young age of twenty, a job he would hold for forty years.[1]

By the end of World War II, Sato 's father bought in a big commercial fishing boat and within two years all the fishes were gone: because of that most people went to Naha City for employment, while Miyagi's father and the other residents went into vegetable business. Sato owned the farms, which were rented by the village.

Master Sato[]

CK S5 Sato-Chozen Still

A younger Sato teaching karate.

During the Korean War, Sato met Kim Sun-Yung, who was well known for teaching many American soldiers. While he did not speak much about him, Sato held a lot of anger towards Master Kim. By 1972, Sato started training many people on Okinawa as part of his own dojo, which included his nephew, Chozen. One day, he was angry to discover that he cheated on a training exercise, and berated him for it; saying that a man without honor is no man at all.

Film series[]

The Karate Kid Part II[]

Sato reencountered Miyagi when he returned to Okinawa with Daniel LaRusso after learning that his father was dying. During his Miyagi's stayed on Okinawa, Sato tried to challenge him to a fight again but ultimately choose to face him after Miyagi sees his father. When Miyagi refused to fight him even after seeing his dying father already, Sato attempted to fight with him immediately until they both learned that Miyagi's father was in his last moments. The two former friends were present during their teacher's death and Sato gave Miyagi three days to mourn his father before the fight.

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Sato in The Karate Kid Part II

After Miyagi continued to refuse to fight, Sato went as far as to destroy the village with his nephew to fight him, which angered Miyagi enough to agree to fight him. However, when typhoon hit the village, Miyagi saved Sato from death and Sato was so impressed by Miyagi and Daniel's courage helping the villagers during the storm and disgusted with Chozen's refusal to help them that insisted on assisting them himself. After the story, Sato renounced his hate and asked for forgiveness of Miyagi, which he granted immediately and wholeheartedly. After the two made peace, Sato also decided to disowning Chozen after he refused to help the people during the typhoon. He also helped rebuild the village. When Chozen interrupted the O-bon festival, Sato and Miyagi supported Daniel during his fight with Chozen by utilizing a daiko to help Daniel use the drum technique.

Interim Years[]

After Daniel and Miyagi's departure, despite his disgust towards his nephew's actions, Sato chose to help Chozen rather than abandoning him completely, preventing him from committing suicide. Sato saving his life and subsequent teachings helped to make his nephew a better person, one who also gave up on anything but a rather humorous revenge against Daniel and who dedicated his life to teaching others the things that he had learned.

Sato had also modified Tomi Village to become a tourist attraction sometime after Daniel and Mr. Miyagi's departure from Okinawa, as well as its reason to solve the drought that hit upon the village. His business decision boosted the local economy before his passing. For his action, Tomi Village's inhabitants hold his memory in high regard, as thanks to him they were finally free from the poverty Sato's own father brought onto them decades before.

Cobra Kai[]

Season 3[]

Years later, Daniel Larusso would return to Okinawa in order to boost his morale, there he met a redeemed Chozen, who helped Daniel by teaching him new Miyagi-Do techniques. Chozen told Daniel about how Sato helped him by giving him a second chance, which ultimately made Chozen earn LaRusso's forgiveness.

Season 5[]

When Chozen traveled to America in order to help Daniel finish Cobra Kai, he told LaRusso about the feud between Sato and Kim Sun-Yung after finding out that Terry Silver was using techniques that belonged to Master Kim.

Personality[]

Sato was both a man that valued honor above everything else and a person with a lot of anger in his heart. Despite his cold hearted and cruel behavior that manifested after he felt betrayed by Miyagi during his early years, he was able to maintain his honor. Despite showing a lot of anger, he was able to control himself when the situation called for it, and tried to pass this line of thinking to his nephew Chozen, although he was unsuccessful at first, as Chozen wasn't as honorable as him.

When Miyagi's Father died in 1985, making clear that his last wish was for his son and Sato to reconcile, Sato set his revenge with Miyagi aside for the time being and gave him three days to mourn for his death as a way of honoring their teacher. He also honored his teacher by attending his funeral. When Daniel was perplexed by Sato's insistence on honoring his sensei, Miyagi told Daniel that deep down, Sato still knew wrong from right.

Another aspect of Sato's dual attitude was when Chozen threatened Daniel to break slabs of ice in a rough bar in Naha. Mr. Miyagi bet a lot of money that Daniel could do so (likely to get Chozen to back off), causing Chozen to protest he could not cover a bet like that. Sato, just having entered the bar, took out a wad of bills and told Chozen he will cover the bet. Daniel won the bet, causing Chozen to call off the bet, saying foreigners like Daniel and cowards like Mr. Miyagi do not deserved to win bets, but an angry Sato still pays off the bet, and sternly tells his nephew never to dishonor the family name again. Showing that Sato can set his hatred for Miyagi aside and do the right thing.

After Miyagi saves Sato's life during a terrible storm, Sato redeemed himself by rekindling his friendship with Miyagi, helping rebuild the village, and rebuking Chozen's vicious and dishonorable behavior. While Sato was quick to disown Chozen for his behavior, he still begged for him to stop his actions during the festival, and later gave his nephew a second chance after Daniel and Miyagi left Okinawa. Sato allowed Chozen to redeem himself and become a truly honorable individual, leaving both of them at a happier place when Sato eventually passed away.

Fighting Style[]

"Your head... must forget pain. To succeed, you must overcome! Train mind! Train body!"
―Sato Toguchi[src]

Master Sato was a master of Miyagi-Do, a primarily defensive style of Okinawan karate relying on a series of highly precise, reactionary techniques to outmanoeuvre an opponent by relying on one's defensive abilities to block or evade incoming attacks until such time that the opponent left themselves open for an effective counter. While he was never shown fighting, his reputation alone shows that he was a highly skilled practitioner of the style, having successfully trained American soldiers and become something of a rival to Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea. A staunch advocate that "army training was not enough" to make a true warrior, he was known to have told students that they had to forge the mind, as well as the body, to succeed. He was also well-versed in the deadlier aspects of Miyagi-Do, such as the techniques that were once used by Myiagi's ancestors scenarios where they had no choice but to kill in self-defence when fighting against Japanese invaders, as well as how to make effective use of pressure points to temporarily incapacitate an opponent's joints; all of which he passed on to his nephew in due time. During his older years, Sato would repeatedly strike an old piece of wood he had once found on a beach with Mr. Miyagi in their youths as means of conditioning his hands. He was extremely confident on his abilities, to the point where he believed he could beat his former friend Miyagi in a fight, even preparing to attack him not long after he returned to Okinawa. His biggest success, however, was his nephew Chozen, who became an extremely skilled martial artist himself under Sato's tutelage, and had become an assistant instructor at Sato's own dojo already as a teenager. Later, Chozen learned more about Miyagi-Do from his uncle, including secret techniques that he would pass on to Daniel LaRusso.

Relationships[]

Chozen Toguchi[]

Since their early years as sensei and student, Sato tried to stilt on Chozen the idea of honor, and while he successfully passed his skills to his nephew, he failed in making him understand what honor truly meant. Chozen was his nephew and Sato cared deeply about him but was always repulsed by the dishonorable actions that he kept making during his teenage years. After Sato made amends with Miyagi, he felt that Chozen cowardice was too much and disowned him, which pushed his nephew over the edge and made him challenge Daniel LaRusso to a fight to the death.

Seeing that he had a hand on making Chozen land where he was now, Sato decided to forgive Chozen and let him redeem himself, he gave his nephew a second chance at life, which he took to heart. Sato ultimately managed to put Chozen in the right path before dying, making him a better man for the conceivable future.

Other Relationships[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In The Karate Kid Part II, Miyagi says that him and Sato are the same age, placing his birth year around 1925.
  • "Toguchi" (戸口) translates to "door" or "doorway" in English.
  1. 1.0 1.1 As shown in The Karate Kid Part III. (See image).
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