- ""I don't think you could beat me.""
- ―Hyan-Woo to Johnny Lawrence.
Hyan-Woo is a guest character in Cobra Kai. He is a highly skilled martial artist who serves as Kim Da-Eun's second in command who are called by Terry Silver to expand the Cobra Kai Dojo.
Early Life[]
Hyan had trained under Kim Sun-Yung, becoming a proficient fighter and student.
Cobra Kai[]
Season 5[]
Hyan-Woo, along with Kim Da-Eun and several other skilled sensei's traveled from South Korea to the United States upon Terry Silver's call to help him run his newly expanded Cobra Kai dojos throughout the valley. Taking over Topanga Karate, Hyan-Woo oversaw the training between Tory Nichols and Topanga member Devon Lee.
When Johnny Lawrence and Chozen Toguchi decided to go to the Cobra Kai dojo in Topanga to find Silver, Johnny demanded him where Terry Silver was, but Hyan revealed that they can't beat him. The fight started and Hyan proved to be more superior and powerful than Johnny and Chozen. Chozen asked him how long he trained at Kim Sun-Yung's dojo to which Hyan revealed that he'd been training there his whole life. Despite managing to take them both on for most of the fight and having an easier time against Johnny, Johnny and Chozen eventually gained the upper hand and were able to overpower him, only to be stopped by Kim Da-Eun and her fellow sensei's.
With the Sekai Taikai approaching, Hyan-Woo was present overseeing Kenny Payne and Devon Lee mimic his movements and poses as Silver welcomed a group of organizers of the Sekai Taikai. He was tasked with holding a wooden board that Kenny Payne broke with a side kick as Silver described him as one of his star students within the dojo to the judges. He also saw the match between Kenny and Hawk, with the former emerging victorious by performing the "Silver Bullet" technique on the latter, though unbeknownst to him, Tory Nichols, who was set to fight Samantha LaRusso, unexpectedly disappeared after finding out that Terry Silver paid off the referee. Because of this, Devon was chosen by Sensei Kim to fight Sam instead, and she was easily defeated. Cobra Kai was able to qualify despite losing the girls' match, though the Sekai Taikai judges also pick Miyagi-Do Karate as they've been impressed with their teachings.
After another training session, Silver and Kim dismissed their students but told Tory to stay. As a punishment, they forced her to punch a stone dummy, wanting her to break it despite the fact it will injure her hand. Tory tried to leave, but Hyan-Woo, Bacaria, and Odell refused to let her leave until she complied with Kim's demands. When she destroyed the stone dummy, Hyan felt no pity to her suffering as he and the others left her in the room, as she cried over her bleeding hand.
When Johnny Lawrence, Chozen Toguchi, and Mike Barnes invaded Terry Silver's house, Hyan was once again present along with the other co-sensei's guarding Terry Silver and Kim Da-Eun, who had anticipated the trio's arrival. Hyan fought Chozen and Johnny again but with the aid of his fellow sensei's. After Chozen went after Silver himself, Johnny was left alone to deal with Hyan-Woo and the rest of the senseis, who seemed to gain the upper hand on him and brutally beat up Johnny. However, after seeing a photo of his future child, Johnny regained the strength and motivation he needed and beat most of the senseis himself. He threw Hyan against a wall, which led to him being temporarily knocked out. However, Johnny was eventually overpowered by Min-Jun. Hyan had recovered and then tried kill Johnny using a sword, but Mike Barnes, having recovered from unconsciousness, unexpectedly attacks them from behind and was able to both knock them out, saving Johnny's life.
Fighting Style[]
- "All have trained under Silver's master, Kim Sun-Yung. I defeated six senseis from Valley by myself. It took two of us to stand against only one."
- ―Chozen Toguchi regarding the skills of Hyan-Woo and his colleagues.
Trained in The Way of the Fist under the tutelage of Master Kim-Sun Yung himself, Hyan proved to be a formidable and aggressive fighter. When fighting Johnny and Chozen, he managed to hold his own against both of them simultaneously, and generally had the upper hand on the former while fighting the latter on reasonably even terms, although their combined efforts ultimately proved too much for him. During the fight at Silvers' house, he was defeated by Chozen, but after Chozen leaves to confront Silver, Hyan and the rest of the sensei's brutally beat up Johnny. However, when Johnny regains his bearings, he gains the upper hand over the sensei's and manages to throw Hyan against the wall, temporarily knocking him out. He eventually recovers just as Johnny is beaten by Min-Jun, but before he can finish Johnny off with his sword, he is caught off guard by Barnes, who blindsides and knocks out both Hyan and Min-Jun.
Trivia[]
- The spelling of Hyan-Woo's name in Cobra Kai is widely regarded as incorrect, as the name should be spelled, "Hyan-woo" or "Hyanwoo". In today's romanizations of Korean names, which are used by the United Nations, the Black Belt Magazine and other media, given names that consist of two syllables are spelled without capitalizing the first letter of the second syllable.
- Despite this, The Karate Kid Fandom documents the franchise as it is seen and credited within the fictional franchise, not by what is considered factually accurate in the real world.
- Hyan-Woo's actor (Jake Huang), also played an uncredited Cobra Kai student in Season 4.