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I started having some pretty significant pain in my left thigh.

We broke for Christmas, and I was going to Las Vegas with a friend. I was in a stationary position, and I had to basically hop and land on my side, about two feet away.

We were filming a scene, and it really had nothing to do with martial arts. They said, 'Go intimidate him.' So, I did-and eventually I got the role. And he said, 'Okay, I buy it.' And he sent me inside the soundstage where they were doing the screen test. And he stopped, and he asked me to do a quick improv, and I did. And I knew I'd have to get this guy's attention-and I locked eyes and got his attention. He's making his way up this line, stopping intermittently. And there's John Avildsen, who directed The Karate Kid, and The Karate Kid II, and won the Oscar for Rocky. And there were probably 1,500 to 2,000 people wrapped around the studio. Can I audition?' And she said, 'No.' And so, I had to go to the open call. I've done a couple episodes of network TV. Sean Kanan: I went to the casting director's office, and I said, 'Hey, I've got my SAG card. Men's Health: How did you first get involved in The Karate Kid universe?

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In the full conversation with Men's Health, Kanan talks about how he initially scored the role, a life-threatening injury from KKIII, and what he wants to do if he gets to play Mike Barnes again. Sadly, the continuity with B&B meant a more traditional cut for his big return. John Avildsen said, ‘What do you want to do with your hair?’ And I said, ‘Let's do a flat top,’” he says. And I thought Dolph Lundgren was such a badass. Switching duties meant he had to make one big sacrifice: Mike Barnes’s iconic flat top.

Though he never gets to use his martial arts skills, Kanan has kept himself busy with a prolific career in soaps, also starring in General Hospital in the ‘90s and The Young and the Restless. He only appears in a few episodes, but that’s because he was filming Cobra Kai while he was also on his day job as Deacon Sharpe on The Bold and the Beautiful. And what’s the use of even having a furniture store if you can’t have a karate brawl in the middle of it and crash someone on top of a table?

Daniel is initially skeptical of Barnes, who has left karate (mostly) behind and opened his own furniture store. With Terry Silver back in Raceda, in control of the Cobra Kai dojo, and tormenting Daniel-san once again, it was a natural fit for Barnes to reprise his role on the hit Netflix show. “It was described as a 17-year-old, white Mike Tyson,” he says. He told them there was an open casting call for the new villain. He was also studying karate with Fumio Demura, who was Noriyuki “Pat” Morita’s stunt double in the movies. “I had transferred to UCLA to finish my degree in political science, but really to start my career in acting,” he says. This was Kanan’s first big screen role, and his actual story happens to parallel that of his character-though just a bit more mundane.

Thomas Ian Griffith on Terry Silver in 'Cobra Kai'.

There May Be a Wait Before 'Cobra Kai' Season 6.

‘Cobra Kai’ Brings Mike Barnes Back From the '80s.

Let the beat blast