Sensei Colin Ninvalle (pictured) became a national role model when his journey from “at risk” kid to award-winning author was given enormous coverage in major Canadian newspapers and television. His story captivated the general public many of whom attributed his extraordinary personal transformation to the discipline he acquired through his devotion to the martial arts.
However, he always felt that there was ‘something else’ that was equally-if not considerably more-important which made his noteworthy achievements possible. Interestingly, it was only when he started a family that he began to understand the real benefits of his training. At the time he was always left speechless when he encountered startlingly disparate perceptions of who he was. To the action-soaked movie-going generation in particular, martial artists had acquired a sort of “superhero” status. “Can you do a back flip?” It wasn’t just a question. He concluded that the awestruck youth expected him to reproduce on demand what he had come to believe in when they met. Whereas his eldest son, for example, never stopped asking: “Dad, don’t you ever get sad?”
Dad, Don’t You Ever Get Sad?
In reflecting upon these strikingly separate impressions that came his way he was able to find answers, not so much in the teachings of the ‘old karate masters’ whom everyone revered, but in the discoveries of bold researchers who sought to advance knowledge by attempting to bring about a marriage between “eastern mysticism” and “western science.” Canadian (husband & wife) sociologists, Konzak and Boudreau, stood out in this regard. Circumventing the “best fighter” hoopla popularized by martial artists like Bruce Lee and others, these researchers, both karate teachers as well, took the unusual step of orienting their research through the lens of “mental health”; presenting “mental health” as a standard by which the individual achieves “… the ability to maintain an even temper, an alert intelligence, socially considerate behavior and a happy disposition.” Moreover, using the current (upgraded) perspective on “mental health” as the main frame of reference, their findings confirmed that in effect those who engage in traditional karate training are more likely to exhibit character traits that mirror exactly or associatively the ones just described. For him the findings preceded that much-heralded “eureka” moment, where, in the role of “subject-object” the person gets to inhabit-no less than-three dimensions (past, present, and future) of time simultaneously! In this light the following narrative represent extracts of what was revealed. “I have long believed that we live in a world which canonizes the extrovert, forces you to define things in finite terms and pressures you to adopt the ‘language of practicality’. So, what gets lost? The ‘language of intuition’ or ‘crazy talk’, for example, I must now confess that what karate training gave me has always been nothing less than daily doses of ‘something’ which I would like to name “conscious bliss.”
Wadoka – Mental Health Training through Karate
What’s next? I have designed a “mental health” training curriculum for users age “9 to 99” which will revolutionize karate. Delivered “online” and guided by the principles of “Wadoka,” the system presents a unique format meant to update the objectives of traditional karate systems. Wadoka Karate will enable us to reach our “mental health” goals.
“Wadoka” literally means: "Way through peace and knowledge.”
About Sensei Colin Ninvalle
Founder, *WADOKA ACADEMY , Chief Instructor, Wadoka Academy
+ Director (Board of Directors) KARATE ONTARIO, 1992-1994
+ 2nd Degree Black Belt (Nidan), Wado Ryu Karate (1993)
+ 5th Degree Black Belt (Godan), Shotokan Karate (2015)
+ Canadian Team, World Championship, Tokyo, Japan (1984)
+ B.A. Hons. (Sociology/Social Work 1987), M.A., ( Sociology/Psychology 1993)
+ Author, Stereotypes (Toronto, Canada 2004), The Manuscript (PA, USA 2012)
*Memberships:
• KARATE ONTARIO 1977-1994
• ONTARIO KARATE FEDERATION (OKA) 2021-
• KARATE CANADA 2021-