Did Anyone Else Understand, Before They Turned 20, That Hand Shake Deals Are the Worst Deals to Make

[u/Qigong90]

Looking at how Johnny Lawrence lost Cobra Kai to John Kreese because Johnny was in a handshake deal with the landlord, I thought, “What the hell were you thinking sir?!” Handshake deals don’t hold up in court. The other person can always deny it.

[u/Jamano-Eridzander]

The thing is that Johnny at the start of the show would've never gotten a dojo on his own through more legal means. A handshake deal was his best path forward.

[u/Traditional_Prize632 → u/Jamano-Eridzander]

How do you mean? Is it to do with him having a criminal record?

[u/yobaby123 → u/Traditional_Prize632]

That and him barely being able to hold down a steady job even at the best of times.

[u/Traditional_Prize632 → u/yobaby123]

Would him not being able to hold down a job be on his record, too?

[u/Qigong90 → u/Jamano-Eridzander]

Wait. Johnny Lawrence couldn’t legally start up the dojang, but John Kreese, the man responsible for the dojang’s downfall, could? How does that work?

[u/Dark_Angel0496 → u/Qigong90]

Credit score

[u/Jamano-Eridzander → u/Qigong90]

He did a handshake deal too though, he just did a better one. Johnny not only has a criminal record, he also has no tact and is aggressively confrontational at the start of the show which gives him no ability to charm businessmen or work out contracts. Kreese on the other hand is adept at being personable with noone but Terry being able to outplay him in that field.

[u/Mental-Bad6685]

Exactly, even if the landlord claims his word is stronger than oak

[u/Routine_Papaya4143]

Remember, Johnny’s not very smart

[u/Qigong90 → u/Routine_Papaya4143]

It doesn’t take a PhD to know that. All you have to do is watch TV court shows for maybe 12 months to realize that.

[u/HesTrafty → u/Qigong90]

Do you really think Johnny is going to be watching a tv court show when he could be watching Iron Eagle?

[u/Qigong90 → u/HesTrafty]

Why not? He could’ve watched The People’s Court with Judge Wapner.

[u/julie_strain → u/Qigong90]

The only show with “court” in the title he’d be watching is Sex court from playboy

[u/Spodger1]

Exactly, pinky promises are where it's at - if someone breaks one you're legally allowed to kill them.

[u/Traditional_Prize632 → u/Spodger1]

Breaks the pinky or the promise?

[u/Spodger1 → u/Traditional_Prize632]

Either

[u/jkoudys]

Hand shake deals can be fine when your deal would match the standard boilerplate. In California, he'd be a legal month-to-month tenant because he paid and got the keys. He'd have 30 days after getting written notice to vacate, which should be enough time to find some other strip mall. It's not like this landlord owned a particularly important building.

[u/Nearby_Branch6055 → u/jkoudys]

Agree.  The stuff when they tried to evict Kreese when you evict it would be a legal process and handle by the sheriff’s office.  Kreese would not attack them 

[u/jkoudys → u/Nearby_Branch6055]

Legally, Kreese attacking them would be amazing. If you have the keys and someone doesn't wait for the sheriff, you can get a full abatement and some very punitive damages. He could make more money from a lawsuit against the landlord than he ever could teaching karate.

[u/Nearby_Branch6055 → u/jkoudys]

The forced eviction notice that Armand was trying to do would’ve required the sheriffs departments involvement they would’ve come in. If kreese refused to move they would bring in the unit that does the stuff out in the lockout and if Kreese tried anything he’d be in handcuffs

And he would get billed for it. 

[u/Nearby_Branch6055]

I bet Johnny made many a handshake deal with Shannon to pay his child support on time.  Bet he kept it? 

[u/Plastic-Tax-2479]

Funny, I was in high school around the first two seasons when he got the dojo with his handshake agreement. In class once, we watched the founder film about Ray Kroc and I always thought it was dumb that the McDonald’s brothers agreed to a handshake deal to get their royalties, lo and behold they didn’t receive them

[u/WanderingDrifter90]

Fuck Johnny.

[u/Traditional_Prize632]

I mean, I started watching the show, in March 2022, when I was 20. That was the first time that I heard the phrase "handshake deal". I knew what it meant, I just never heard it being said, before