Zen Slap

The complete Daredevil origin began in "Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1". Watch as wise old mentor Stick hits young Matt Murdock with a (guess what?) stick as part of his training. And Matt is grateful for this. Now, let's speculate: If editor Ralph Macchio hit writer Frank Miller with a stick every time he wanted a rewrite, would Frank react gratefully?
I don't know, but it'd be fun to watch.

— Marvel Year In Review 1993

The stereotype of a spiritual mentor, often a Magical Asian, who employs slaps with a hand, a stick, a sandal, or some other object as one of the ways to guide their disciples to wisdom. The slaps serve a dual purpose: they can be used as punishment for some sort of misstep, but they may also cause a feeling of shocking sensation in the disciple, leading them to enlightenment. In fantasy works, the mentor may use other means like magical spells for the same purpose, and the resulting feeling may not even be painful (for instance, it can feel like tickling), it just needs to be an unexpected sensation.

In real Zen Buddhism, there is a special stick called Keisaku, which is used to slap those who fall asleep during meditation (Keisaku is thin and flexible, so its slaps are not traumatic); people may also be slapped at their own request. Besides, contrary to popular belief, Zen slaps are often seen as a sign of respect from the mentor rather than a sign of the mentor's dissatisfaction with the pupil. As attested by T. Griffith Foulk who had been at a Rinzai monastery in Japan, "monks who were sitting earnestly and well were shown respect by being hit vigorously and often; those known as laggards were ignored by the hall monitor or given little taps if they requested to be hit".

Compare Get A Hold Of Yourself Man, where this is done to snap someone out of a Heroic BSoD, and Dope Slap, where this is done against someone for doing or saying something foolish. Definitely not along the lines of the Glove Slap, wherein someone is being formally challenged to a Duel to the Death.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Ah! My Goddess: The monk who runs the Torikihangan Temple, Koshian, uses strikes with a cane to determine if people are truly meditating and administers discipline if they show signs of distraction. Unsurprisingly, Belldandy, a goddess, is able to maintain her composure. Keiichi, equally unsurprising, is subjected to a good deal of discipline before Koshian leaves after witnessing Bell's angel and assumes it means she's achieved a form of enlightenment he has yet to reach.
• Buddha: Prior to achieving enlightenment, Siddhartha is consumed with thoughts of death. So his wise friend Asasji beans him with a baseball bat to illustrate that if he gets hit enough times, Siddhartha will become too stupid to worry about death.
• Martian Successor Nadesico. Played for laughs. The Nadesico has a meditation room, with robots that monitor the brainwaves of those using it. If their brainwaves indicate that they are distracted or thinking of "Worldly Passions", the robots strike the patrons with bamboo rods, telling them, "Worldly passions are bad."
• Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! has the main characters visit a temple to practice zazen meditation. The nun who guides them is implied to be Yao Bikuni, a legendary figure who became immortal by eating mermaid flesh. She vigorously applies a zen stick to correct two boys who're joking around. Another blow recalls Nakki to the real world after eavesdropping on a conversation between divinities.
• Yuri!!! on Ice: Played for laughs (supposedly). Victor suggests for Yuuri and Yurio to go to a Buddhist temple, so they'll find inspiration for their Eros and Agape, respectively. A monk hits Yurio's shoulders with a stick, much to his surprise and confusion, since it's his first contact with Zen Buddhism.

Films — Animation

• The Lion King: Shortly after the dialogue between Simba and his father's spirit, Rafiki smacks the former's head with his stick to teach him how to cope with the past.
  Simba: Ow! What was that for?
  Rafiki: It doesn't matter! It's in the past!
  Simba: [rubbing his head] Yeah, but it still hurt!
  Rafiki: [putting an arm around him sympathetically] Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... [takes another swing with his stick; Simba dodges] learn from it.

Films — Live-Action

• During the scene with his student in Enter the Dragon, Lee smacks his student on the head several times, once for telling him "Let me think..." when asked a question about how he felt ("Don't think. Feeeeeeeel."), again when he focuses on Lee's finger when he's talking about a finger pointing to the moon, and another when he bows without keeping his eyes on Lee.
  Lee: Don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory.
• In The Hangover: Part 2, when the main trio try to locate Stu's missing future brother-in-law Teddy, they seek answers in a temple full of monks who then proceed to beat the men with their staffs for talking during their deep meditation.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Played with in The Incredible Hulk: When Banner (played by Edward Norton) is hiding out in South America, he's shown meditating with a Sensei. Sensei slaps him, which is relevant as Norton is trying to learn how to keep his emotions and temper under control.
  • Doctor Strange: When Strange first meets the Ancient One and rants against her talk of mystical things, she smacks him in the chest in a way that triggers his first Astral Projection, during which he is flung through various exotic universes and sees that she was telling the truth.
• Kill Bill: In Volume 2, when The Bride had to go through the hellish training by Pai Mei, there's the part when training to punch the thick piece of wood, she pauses due to a pain, Pai Mei slaps her with his trident-like wood stick. Then, The Bride gets up again, continue her training.
• Star Wars, The Last Jedi:
  • During Rey's first lesson, Luke tickles her with a leaf (pranking her that it's the Force) then slaps her with it when she doesn't catch the ruse.
  • Later he's on the receiving end when the ghost of his old mentor Yoda strikes Luke with his cane.

Literature

• One of Jean de La Fontaine's fables concerns a madman who sold wisdom. Every time someone gave him money, he'd give them a long string and a slap. One of his victims goes to consult a wise man, who tells him that from now on, he'll keep the string's length between himself and madmen.
  You weren't scammed, this madman truly did sell wisdom.
• Lazarillo de Tormes: One of the most iconic moments of the novel is when Lazaro arrives with his first master, the old blind man, to a bridge with a statue of a bull made of stone. The blind man then tells him to put his ear against the bull, because he will hear a great noise inside it. Lazaro does as he says... and then the blind man proceeds to bash his head against the stone. The blind man then tells him that he can't provide him with many luxuries, but yes with ample lessons. And Lazaro also recalls this moment as the one that teached him the most important lesson in his live. To be smart about who to trust, and to make use of his guile to survive.
  Learn, fool, that the blind man's servant must be smarter than the devil.
• Perelandra: Done mentally by none other than Maleldil of all people, to Ransom, for lying to Tinidril. The act itself of telling a lie becomes physically quite painful and extremely nauseating to Ransom - the narration compares it to a vomit tearing all through him - which quite emphatically conveys the disgust and disappointment. He tells him off for it through their psychic link, too.
  That being said: considering the later plot events following from even that one essentially non-malicious lie, and that he needs Ransom explicitely to counteract the influence of The Corrupter on her to prevent the end of Perelandra she'd otherwise bring about; Maleldil has very good reason to enforce Cannot Tell a Lie on Ransom towards Tinidril. When Ransom tries to lie to Maleldil directly half a book later, the latter much less drastically just gives him a very disappointed Look until Ransom stops it - and even gets the snark on:
  You know you're just wasting time.
• In The Sandman: The Dream Hunters and its comic adaptation, the young monk decides to take the fox to a nearby village, hoping to find a doctor that will discover why she can't wake up. He is stopped by an old man who hits his head with a can for deserting his temple and "meddling in the spirit's affairs"; but, when the monk insists on helping the fox, the old man grudgingly gives him a paper strip, telling him to sleep with that under the pillow. The strip will take him to the realm of dreams, where the spirit of the fox is. After this, he disappears, making the monk suspect that the mysterious old man was Binzaru Harada, a former disciple of Buddha forced to wander the living world disguised as an old man to do good, as a punishment for having misused his powers when he was alive.

Live-Action TV

• In 4400, cult leader Caleb compulsively pokes his disciples in the neck to check their pulse, gaging whether or not they are "zen". Those who are not "zen" are usually punished.

Web Comics

• Captain SNES: The Game Masta: A Running Gag in the segments featuring Mario and Magus involves Mario hitting Magus on the head with a Hammer of Zen whenever the latter starts acting or does something villainous. Though the first two times, Mario claimed he was trying to squish a bug.
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic states that for Buddhist students who fail to reach enlightenment, their teachers demonstrate to them the sound of one hand clapping by, well, this trope.

Western Animation

• In Jackie Chan Adventures, Uncle, who is a wise Chinese magician, frequently gives a very special kind of Dope Slap (striking the forehead with two fingers) to Jackie, or whoever annoys him or argues with him.

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