How do you go from leaving school with no confidence and no qualifications, to becoming an ICU nurse then running your own karate centre in Aberdeen?
When Colin Cass was growing up in Elgin, he struggled even to look anyone in the eye.
But his outlook shifted when he started karate lessons – and now he’s helping a new generation believe in themselves, too.
‘It changed my mindset’
After school, Colin trained as a lifeguard at Moray Leisure Centre and then became a swimming teacher.
He was fortunate to get the opportunity to travel to the 2012 Olympics in London working as an ambulance technician for the British Red Cross.
“Some of the activities that we did really changed my mindset,” he says.
“On the flight back I decided I wasn’t going back to my job, I was signing up to go to college to train to be a nurse.
“Everybody kind of laughed at me at first and thought that it wasn’t what I would end up doing.”
Building up the dream
But Colin signed up to a course at Moray College, then finished his training at university.
Years later, now an intensive care nurse, he was unwinding from a week of night shifts when he came up with a brainwave.
While reading a book by philanthropist Tony Robbins, he got so excited he woke up his wife in the middle of the night.
“There was a paragraph about doing something you would never do normally – doing it and committing to it,” Colin said.
“I woke up Tracey, who was asleep, and asked: ‘How do you fancy opening up a martial art school in Aberdeen?'”
‘We went to great lengths for the business’
It was an ambitious idea, especially for Tracey who had never been sporty.
In fact, she had to start taking karate lessons so she could eventually teach classes.
The couple launched their first sessions in a church building in the Bridge of Don in August 2019.
And just as they were building up momentum, the Covid pandemic struck and the UK went into lockdown.
But they were so keen to continue their progress they went to “great lengths” to keep their students involved.
Colin explained: “We did one-to-one sessions with every child in their gardens when we were allowed to mix with one other person outdoors.
“It took up most of our week, as well as working in our regular jobs.”
A new home, while remembering the past
It was a worrying time to be opening up a business but the couple were dedicated to pursuing their dream.
After six years of working in intensive care at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Colin left his job at the end of the first wave of Covid.
The couple eventually found a new home for their karate centre in Aberdeen and opened up Mindsparx on Commerce Street.
They also named the karate hall, known as a dojo, after their inspirational friend Liam O’Neill.
Liam was born with Marfan Syndrome, a disorder of the body’s connective tissues, and sadly died in August last year.
Despite being told from a young age that he would live a restricted life, he surprised everyone by building up his strength through karate.
“He started to do things that just baffled everyone, even his doctors would say they didn’t know how he was able to achieve these things,” Colin said.
Liam, of Roseisle, was presented with his purple belt when he was in hospital shortly before he died.
And his friends and family were presented with an honorary black belt for him during the MindSparx official opening in September.
‘You just have to believe you can do it’
Alongside martial arts, Colin also teaches children’s swimming lessons at a nearby pool.
But the couple will soon be fundraising to open their own facility and expand their coaching programme further.
As part of their mission to create a safe and welcome space for families to visit, they are determined to pass on their life lessons they’ve learned to the next generations.
“Everyone remembers their black belt test, the challenges you have to face and conquer is all part of it and most of it has to do with the mind,” Colin said.
“You just have to believe that you can do it and that’s the attitude you need in life.
“Before this, I had the mindset that I couldn’t do anything. My confidence was very low, and I couldn’t look anybody in the eye.
“There were no real prospects for me in life before I started martial arts. But I left with a clear goal of what I wanted to do in the future.
“Once I got my black belt, I knew that I could do anything I wanted.
“Now we want to create that spark – the same spark I got from reading that Tony Robbins book – for other people.”
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