Sunday, March 13, 2022

Karate, a Snake, Fire Cupping, and Your Mental Health (Part 1 of 2)

The Karate Kid has something to teach us about our mental health

By Quentin Steen, Representative

I love the movie The Karate Kid. For me, it was a story that coincided with a coming-of-age sort of thing. Full disclosure, to this day, I still have a crush on Allie. But that’s not the point of this article.

When they remade The Karate Kid, starring Jackie Chan as Mr. Han (aka, Mr. Miyagi) and Jayden Smith as 12-year-old Dre Parker (aka, little Dre, the Karate Kid), I was all in. Although not as good as the original, I still loved it.

There were two scenes in the remake that I remember very well, which serve as the impetus for this article.

The first scene is when Mr. Han takes Dre to a Taoist temple in the Wudang Mountains. Dre witnesses a woman making a cobra reflect her movements and later drinks the water from an ancient Taoist well.

Dre: Did you see the lady with the snake?

Han: Yes.

Dre: She was doing the Cobra thing. She was, like copying the snake, and it was, like, right here [gestures with his hands to his face]. And she was like . . . [mimicking her hand movements].

Han: You did not watch close enough, Xiao [little] Dre. The snake was copying the woman.

Dre: What? I don’t get it.

Han: Look [pointing at a fountain pool of water from the ancient Taoist well], what do you see?

Dre: Me? Well, my reflection.

Han: Yes. Now, what do you see [running his finger through the water]?

Dre: It’s blurry.

Han: Yes. The woman was like still water. Quiet. Calm. In here [pointing to Dre’s head] and in here [pointing to Dre’s heart]. So, the snake reflects her action, like still water.

Dre: Like a mirror?

Han: Yes.

Dre: So, she controlled a snake by doing nothing?

Han: Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.

So, what’s my point in providing the dialogue for this scene? Read on.

The second scene takes place in a locker room following Dre’s semifinal match. Dre qualifies for his semifinal round by beating Master Li’s students, causing Li to order one of his students named Liang, Dre’s semifinal opponent, to injure Dre. Liang reluctantly does so by delivering a series of crippling blows to Dre’s leg, resulting in his automatic disqualification.

Dre can advance to the final to face Cheng but has limited time to return to the ring, or Cheng will claim the trophy by default. Dre pleads with Mr. Han to heal his leg via the fire cupping method.

Mr. Han reluctantly does so when Dre tells him that he just wants to overcome his fear. But Dre is determined to finish the fight instead of conceding, which is not part of their collective DNA.

Han: You have taught me a very important lesson Xiao Dre. . . . Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to get back up.

Thus, Dre is set to face Cheng in the final. The match goes back and forth, with Dre gaining a 2-to-1 lead. Then, on Li’s orders, Cheng further hits Dre on his injured leg with a powerful kick, thus causing Dre to lose balance.

Tied at two points apiece, with the next point to determine the champion, Dre struggles but manages to get up and uses the snake stance used by the woman at the temple. The move is successful, and Cheng changes his technique and charges at Dre, who does a flip and catches Cheng in midair with a kick to his head, winning the tournament and respecting Cheng and his classmates.

So, what’s my point? Stayed tuned to our next Mental Health Moment!

Quentin Steen is a certified mental health first aid instructor for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Get your BRAIN right and your MIND will follow!

4 Mental Health Resources to Help You During the Pandemic

If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue, CLAC has a number of resources and interactive tools available to help you at My Health and Wellness.
Stronger Minds features videos and quick reads from mental health experts, activities to help you gain resilience, and ask-an-expert videos in response to questions.
WellCan offers free well-being resources to help Canadians develop coping strategies and build resilience to help deal with uncertainty, mental health, and substance abuse concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support provides free online resources, tools, apps, and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals.

Karate, a Snake, Fire Cupping, and Your Mental Health (Part 1 of 2)

4 Mental Health Resources to Help You During the Pandemic

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