The movie follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a 12-year-old boy who moves to Reseda, California with his mother. Daniel starts at a new school, where he is bullied by a group of karate students from the Cobra Kai dojo, led by Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Daniel meets Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), a maintenance worker at the school, who agrees to teach him karate. However, Mr. Miyagi's unorthodox teaching methods initially confuse Daniel.