Ancestral Meridians

“Jonathan, I don’t think you have to be too concerned about whether or not there’s an audience for your story, I think you should just write it . . . .” Go with the flow, Doc, go with the flow. XXX XXX “I was one of the chosen people, that’s how one of my friends described us, one of the two hundred and twelve students given the privilege of attending the Society of Healing Martial Arts Academy (SoHMAA.) Expensive, but lenient with scholarship stuff. Dr. Anouska Mehta was the leading light of SoHMAA. “The name might be a bit misleading for some people, so please allow me to make it perfectly clear what we are doing here. Fifty years ago, a collection, maybe they could be called a coalition of Chinese and American doctors decided to share their knowledge of medicine. Quite a radical idea for the times, when you think about it. I don’t need to give you a grocery list of their names, you can find them on the large stone plaque above the entrance on the first floor. As I was about to say, allow me to make it perfectly clear what we are doing here. We are a “society,” within the commonly understood use of that term, but we are not the elitist folks that some have attached to our use of the word. I hope you are following me. “Healing Martial Arts.” Nowadays, when many people think of the martial arts as destructive engines, it’s difficult for them to conceive of the martial arts as anything but hurt ‘em, kill ‘em stuff. That’s not where I’m at, that’s not where SoHMAA is. Yes, of course, most of our staff are martial artists in one style or another. No problem. We feel that the practice of a martial art is entirely consistent with our stated goal, which is to try to combat physical and mental challenges human beings face with the right application of the right medicine. Some of the medicine might involve physical and mental self-defense techniques. Dr. Mehta, a crusty case with a critically sweet heart. “Mr. Hoover, you have to understand this simple fact – SoHMAA exists to give our patients the best treatment, the best care they could possibly have. We have a very high bar and attached to that bar is the sign – ‘Superior served here.’ Are you getting me, Mr. Hoover?” “Loud’n clear, Dr. Mehta, loud’n clear.” XXX XXX “I can’t begin to tell you how it happened, or when I first had the experience of feeling/knowing that I could take the limbs of the human body into my hands, literally, and straighten them out. Of course, it took many years of serious study for me to clearly understand what my Abuela Ana had taught me, years before I enrolled in SoHMMA. I didn’t know that my grandmother (father’s mother) was a cuarandera until I had spent my first year at SoHMAA. I still find it hard to explain what a cuarandera is. Whenever I go back to Huatabampo, our ancestral home in Mexico, the meaning of the word seems to have changed a bit, depending on what has happened concerning a cuarandera or a cuarandero. If, for example, a cuarandera has been involved with saving somebody’s life, or doing some other good thing, by using her knowledge of herbs, then she will be highly thought of, praised as a savior. But if something bad has happened – let’s say, she has tried to use her expertise to help a family get rid of bad luck, malditos, and her stuff doesn’t work, then she might be thought to be a witch. My Abuela Ana was never accused of being a bruja, a witch, thank God. And I’m very pleased to say that she was a great prep school for SoHMAA. I felt at ease with the herbal remedies, with the acupuncture, but I really found my sweet spot in chiropractic work. Like I said earlier, I can’t begin to tell you how it happened, or when I first had the experience of feeling/knowing that I could take the limbs of a human body in my hands, literally, and straighten them out. I’m proud to say Abuela Ana was present at my graduation from SoHMAA, when I was privileged to call myself Doctor Jonathan Hoover. Later, on her death bed, at the age of one hundred and four, she shared many of her secrets about healing. I have no doubts that a lot of what she shared with me has made me a better doctor, better than any degree could identify or signify. O, about the name … Hoover. Remember we’ve had Mexicans named O’Brian, Kahlo, Haro, Slivowitsh, and Fox. Mexico is a very diverse society.”