Taking You Back In Time
We all have a set of movies that we call our 'all-time favorites'- ones that never get old with the passage of time, or no matter how much we grow older and swiftly pass by the multitudes of moments in our life, and the experiences, good or bad that we face and learn from. For me, The Karate Kid (2010) is one such moving picture that holds many lessons and memories for me to look back on.
The story follows Dre Parker, a sprightly 12-year-old from Detroit who moves with his mom who gets transferred to Beijing in China for her work at the car factory. Moving to China obviously served as a huge cultural and environmental change, not to mention emotionally and mentally, but what makes the whole journey of adjusting to a new life in a new city, away from everything familiar, is Dre's encounter with a rebellious kung fu prodigy, Cheng, whose bullying and condescending nature towards Dre makes Dre's life much harder, forcing him to walk on eggshells whenever he's around. It did not help matters that Cheng goes to the same school as Dre, but one thing that does help him endure these emotionally taxing instances is his meet-cute with Meiying (whose parents are apparently extremely close with Cheng's parents), and the friendly moments he gets to cherish with her.
Eventually, when Dre's encounters with Cheng and his sidekicks start to become unbearable and begin crossing limits of all natures, enter Mr. Han- a seemingly simple maintenance man with a sorrowful backstory and an extraordinary knowledge of the martial art of kung fu, who rescues him from one such incident and takes him under his wing, training him for months to compete at the kung fu open tournament, so that he can fight his tormentors one-on-one, while the bullies promise to leave him alone till the end of his training and the dawn of the tournament.
His training begins with a supposedly non-related set of actions- picking up, hanging up, putting on and throwing away of a jacket, but the movie develops to show the deeper meaning behind Mr. Han's unconventional yet deeply rooted methodology of training his first and only student. The journey is one filled with months of intense physical and mental training, through which Mr. Han and Dre develop a strong and rare bond of respect and understanding between each other as student and teacher, and a lot of misunderstandings and mishaps begin to clear up in Dre's life, becoming a source of newfound confidence, trust and belief in himself, while also imbibing the cultural and spiritual lessons that China holds within itself. One such lesson is that of 'chi' or internal and spiritual energy that flows within all living beings, and Dre's and Mr. Han's day at the Wudang mountains where reside ancient Taoist temples, and their trek to the Golden Summit. All of these moments build up to the main event- the open kung fu tournament, where the results of months of hard work finally unfold.
Throughout the movies, countless scenes each give us important points of view and outlooks to take away for our lives- it teaches us about respect for people and culture, and thinking with our minds instead of our eyes, never letting ourselves judge a book by its cover. An interesting insight it gives about martial arts as a whole is that it lives in everything that we do, and our demeanor towards others and our own lives. The discipline that we adopt and dedicate to what means most to us can be seen even at first glance, and no matter what others around us say, if you have an unshakeable, almost unrealistic belief in yourself and your capabilities, it is possible for us to achieve anything. A particular scene from their hike in the Wudang Mountains reveals the importance and essence of stillness and tranquility, and the quiet, commanding power of a calm mind not troubled by worldly stressors and superficial worries. In fact, towards the end of the movie, you see this principle in action, and it really is one of those scenes that gives you goosebumps. Though the overall gist might seem very serious and focused, the movie has comical moments, and the sparks of young love sprinkled throughout, giving it a very lively feel and a sense of being spun into reality and everyday life. A belief of mine that I feel echoes in this movie is that the right people enter your life at the right time, either coming to teach us something or stay a little while, while a few are meant to take the whole long ride with you. Not all are meant to stay, but they come at the time meant for them to teach us something, to open our eyes to something we were blind to before and exit when their job is done. Dre and Mr. Han becoming student and teacher might seem highly unlikely in the beginning, but Mr. Han enters his life at a time when Dre most needed a mentor, someone to guide him down his path to finding confidence and finding peace in himself, and a beautiful bond full of learning and growth develops from that point. His hard work, patience and dedication pays off in the end, and no matter the number of times life knocks you down, you can choose whether or not to get back up (Dre Parker, 2010).
For Dre, Mr. Han was his first kung fu teacher, the first person who took someone completely oblivious to the true meaning and skill behind kung fu, and taught him everything from the very beginning, connecting his training to his everyday life and experiences, drawing from them and honing his developing skills with incredible patience and unwavering belief in his student, seeing in him a spark that Dre doesn't see in himself. A first mentor like that, no matter in what niche, is one who should never be forgotten as a student, as that relationship is one that his withstood the test of patience, time and strength.
No matter the years that will pass by this movie is always one that is a reminder and motivation to keep moving forward!
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