Strike hard, strike first, get nominated!
That’s how it works forCobra Kai’s husband-and-wife stunt coordinator team Hiro Koda and Jahnel Curfman.
And of course that massive dojo-vs.-dojo showdown that destroyed several rooms in the LaRusso house!
‘Cobra Kai’ star Tanner Buchanan with stunt coordinator Hiro Koda.CURTIS BONDS BAKER/NETFLIX
EW got the blow-by-blow from Koda and Curfman about all the kick-butt battles in season three.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: There were so many great karate showdowns this season.
What was the most challenging one to execute?
Is the LaRusso house an actual house you were shooting in, or is it a set?
Jahnel, you’re also working as a stunt double while coordinating?
CURFMAN:Yes, I doublePeyton Listwho plays Tory.
And when she came on board in season 2, I started doubling her.
For me that’s the biggest challenge, performing and coordinating at the same time.
It’s like, “No, hold on.
I need to get in there and discuss what we’re doing first.”
You wanted to top the fight at the school so how did you approach that?
We extended that one way further than what the school oner in the hallway was.
So that was what we were doing to take a stab at accomplish something bigger.
The season 2 finale high school fight was really still mine and Jahnel’s all-time favorite.
It was pretty incredible; the location was cool.
That fight in the hallway was originally not very many characters.
So, it just became bigger than it was in the school.
We can only shoot on weekends.
So it made it difficult for us.
With the high school fight, we had one hallway that we stayed in.
Like we were all over the place in there and there was glass all around…
There was more stuff to break!
It was all the way through one camera movement.
I think we did it in what six or seven takes and we got it.
What was the process of creating those moves?
And there are moves in certain martial arts that do things similar to what they were trying to achieve.
KODA:The Big Three had it written in the script, the pressure points.
But obviously, there are also stunt performers who step in for specific scenes or moments.
CURFMAN:A lot of it comes down to two factors, capability and safety.
So those factors go into it.
And we really play to their strengths.
So we generally have an idea of where we want our actors to progress.
And we will work on those certain things while they’re in training.
They perform better, and they’re not worried about hitting another actor in the face.
KODA:And our actors are all perfectly capable of doing a lot of their own stuff.
And that’s why stunt people are thrown in to take care of that for them.
CURFMAN:Right, right.
And Mary’s actually a southpaw, which means her stance is different from a normal stance.
So it gives the fight a lot more energy and excitement.
Are you guys working on season 4 now?
CURFMAN:Season 4 is currently filming.
However, we are no longer a part of the show.
May I ask why?
Was it a mutual decision?
CURFMAN:Well, it was not our decision.
It came as quite a shock, actually.
CURFMAN:Every single one of them, something like that happened.
KODA:We make a run at plan it out as much as possible.
I shoot all theprevizwith stunt performers prior to [shooting with actors].
And I cut it as if it’s being shot so that everybody can see what we’re doing.
That’d be really cool."
It’s going to be slippery, muddy.
It’s going to be dangerous."
Earlier, you mentioned the flashback to Vietnam, which is also in that episode.
So we jumped into that full speed ahead.
What was it like to work with him again on these important scenes between Chozen and Daniel?
KODA:I was so stoked when I found out he was going to be part of season 3.
As soon as he gets there, he’s like, “Let’s get to training!”
And I tell you, he and Ralph, they worked their butts off for that sequence.
They were in that training hall training every day, working the best that they could.
I mean, he hasn’t lost anything at all.
He still moves well, it was just taking off the cobwebs and keep on going.
And he worked so hard at that whole sequence.
