Aaron Henare of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Takoto is somewhat of a household name in Japan - wowing wrestling fanatics with his charisma and ferocious maneuvers ever since he turned pro in 2016.
With a fairly impressive following on social media, plus the hundreds of thousands that watch him compete all over Japan, the United Kingdom, the USA, and Mexico, Henare has used his platform to help men in need.
“It all started from my Instagram page, where I had guys DM (direct message) me struggling with anxiety.
“So when I was on the tour bus, with a six-hour ride ahead of me, I'll just answer all of these DMs. So I thought well, I've got a lot to say about this depression diet exercise. I should put it into a book.”
From Panmure to Japan - from pro wrestling to author.
Henare says the framework for the book resembles that of Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa hauora model.
“But It's not just about your body.
“It's how you present yourself to the world. It's how you walk. People don't really understand the way you walk actually influenced the way your hormones play.”
Source / New Japan Pro Wrestling
Raised in Panmure, Auckland, Henare says he had young Māori boys in mind when forming main concepts for the book.
“The main motivation was to help other Maori kids that weren't as lucky as me to break out of it,” he says
“But it took me going back to look at it to realize this is a real problem. We're not a problem because we suck, but because colonialism - It cuts us off from those important concepts of our ancestors, and that's why so many people are lost especially youth.”
Henare is preparing for Wrestle Kingdom next year, the biggest wrestling event outside of the U.S that has hosted pro wrestling legends such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
“The stadium fits about sixty thousand people, and it's the 50th anniversary so its quite big.”