The original Karate Kid movie came out in 1984, and the movie would go on to spawn a couple of sequels and a remake. Now, more than three decades later, The Karate Kid has received another sequel in the form of a TV show — Cobra Kai. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka from the original Karate Kid, reprise their roles on Cobra Kai and are joined by newcomers such as Jacob Bertrand. Despite appearing in several movies and TV shows, it was Cobra Kai that drew attention to Bertrand.

While it's no secret that sometimes stunt doubles are used when making dangerous or demanding scenes, there are some celebrities who perform their own stunts. Prior to starring in Cobra Kai, Jacob Bertrand trained karate for four years and also did two years of grappling. However, he still needed intense training to get in shape to play bad boy Eli Moskowitz, AKA "Hawk."

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Jacob Did Karate For Four Years Prior To starring In Cobra Kai

Jacob has found success on the Netflix hit show Cobra Kai and is wowing audiences with his portrayal of "Hawk" on the show. The 20-year-old actor started out on Nickelodeon and proceeded to DisneyXD after landing the titular role on Kirby Buckets. Bertrand has starred in various TV shows and movies, the former child star has done pretty well for himself.

He later landed a role in the popular karate drama-Cobra Kai, in which he portrays a bullied teen who learns karate to defend himself but becomes the villain.

There's no denying that Bertrand looks like a natural fighter onscreen, his karate skills have improved considerably over the course of the show. Prior to starring in Cobra Kai, Jacob trained in Karate for four years and did grappling for two years. This may have given him an added advantage over his co-stars, but the 20-year-old was still required to train rigorously to play Eli Moskowitz on the show.

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He told Crooked Llama, "I did karate for 4 years from 8-12, I did a couple years of grappling. I kinda knew some stuff, but the training beforehand, before the show, was just lots and lots and lots of stretching because there are so many kicks and I totally forgot how flexible you have to be to kick someone in the face."

Jacob proceeded to reveal how cool it was to work with the show's stunt coordinator and described him as helpful and good at fighting.

"Our stunt coordinator Tito was amazing, he is crazy good at just fighting in general. It was really cool to work with him, he just knew everything and helped us out with whatever we needed."

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His passion for martial arts was reignited by the stunt actors on the set of Cobra Kai. As a result, Jacob started doing more Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai during the off-season.

In an interview with Pop Culture, the star revealed, "I started doing Muay Thai again and more Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I got really into UFC and MMA during the off season because we’re around a lot of the stunt guys all the time and they’re super into it."

"Just by associating with them I kinda got into it. I love being active and martial arts is something you can do on your own."

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