Asian Heritage Month in Canada, also known as Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the USA, is a month in Canada where we acknowledge and learn about our Asian communities and people in Canada, with a big aim in reducing Anti-Asian hate crimes and xenophobic aggression towards against Asian people, so that we can move forward together to establish a strong unified Canada, where we all can live with dignity, along with feeling safe and comfortable in our societies. Art of Kickboxing believes that everyone deserves basic human dignity and that people in Canada should not have to live in fear for their lives, or in a perpetual state of having to tolerate blatant racism, simply because of what they look like.
We also acknowledge the tragedy of the recent Filipino Lapu-Lapu Day Festival on April 26, 2025, those who want to can donate at the gofundme here: https://www.gofundme.com/en-ca/c/act/vancouver-festival-tragedy-donate-or-fundraise. The incident emphasizes the strong need for effective mental health support and services in Metro Vancouver, and the need for more positive community, connection, and not more animosity.
Combining Asian Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month May in this blog article, we feature a book for Asian people struggling with mental health, and we also encourage everyone that is struggling with mental health to try our classes or personal training sessions which might help alleviate stress or loneliness, if even for a moment.
Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health As Asian Americans
Permission to Come Home by Dr. Jenny T. Wang explores the mental health challenges Asian Americans face while navigating Western societies that often overlook or misunderstand their cultural identities.
The book examines how experiences like negative stereotypes, racial bias, cultural invisibility, and pressure to assimilate into Western norms intensify internal struggles tied to perfectionism, emotional restraint, and family expectations. Dr. Wang offers practical tools to help readers break challenges intergenerational cycles, set boundaries, and reconnect with their cultural roots in a healing, empowering way.
During Asian Heritage Month, this book serves as a meaningful resource for understanding the emotional complexities of being Asian in Western environments where one’s identity is often marginalized.
Permission to Come Home encourages readers to reclaim their mental well-being by allowing themselves to feel, express, and heal without guilt or shame.
Struggling with Mental Health? Learn Martial Arts for Self-Defence at Art of Kickboxing in Richmond BC
For everyone, regardless of ethnicity, that may be struggling with mental health or finding a safe spot in Canada, Art of Kickboxing or other martial arts schools may be an effective way of finding community and developing dignity within.
Art of Kickboxing believes that Canada should strive to build respectful and safe environments rather than feel that they aren’t welcomed the moment they walk out their door, simply due to their ethnicity or skin color. For those seeking, a sense of belonging and community in the Metro Vancouver region, we invite everyone to join our martial arts classes in Richmond BC.
We have martial arts classes for kids 4-14 which teaches boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai, and many different classes for teens and adults over 14, which teach kickboxing, boxing, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). We’d love to see you!
