Emad
Karami
I’m a multidisciplinary athlete. My practice runs through nine disciplines toward endurance
Intro
I’m Emad Karami, a multidisciplinary athlete. Over two decades my practice has moved from taekwondo mats to the rink, the water, the mountain, the road and the trail — each discipline adding to the last.
Beginnings
I began taekwondo at three, alongside my brother. What started as a summer activity became the foundation of my athletic life.
Every sport since has changed the question — speed, adaptation, rhythm, terrain, strength — and every answer now points me toward endurance.
The journey, in nine chapters
Taekwondo
Where everything began.
I started taekwondo at three, alongside my brother. What began as a summer activity became the foundation of my athletic life.
Years of Poomsae, belt progression and Kyorugi competition built foot speed, coordination, explosive power and control under pressure. The most lasting lesson was patience: ability is built through repetition, even when progress is hard to see.
I hold 6th Dan with the Iran Taekwondo Federation, 4th Dan Kukkiwon, and Dan level in All Tang Soo Do and Haedong Kumdo. Migration interrupted my regular training for a while; the practice is still part of my life.
Skating
Speed changed the question.
Skating was my first serious move beyond martial arts. Speed, balance and the freedom of motion took me from recreation into racing.
Across two consecutive Tehran Provincial Championships I won gold in the 500 m in 2009, then gold in the 100 m and silver in the 500 m in 2010. At eleven, a serious lower back and flank injury ended my competitive skating.
Tehran Provincial Championships / 2009–2010
Parkour
Learning to adapt.
After skating, my curiosity moved from pure speed to a new question: what can my body do in an unpredictable environment?
For nearly two years I practised jumps, landings, vaults and balance. Right shoulder instability and several finger fractures made it hard to continue, but the experience changed how I understand spatial awareness and movement.
What I took away was movement intelligence, not another medal.
Swimming
Less force. More precision.
My grandfather encouraged me to learn to swim. Over time, a basic skill became a study of breathing, timing, technique and efficiency.
Small changes in position or rhythm showed me that performance can improve by wasting less energy. In 2019 I also earned a Grade 3 Swimming Coaching Certificate from the I.R. Iran Swimming Federation.
I.R. Iran Swimming Federation / Grade 3 certificate / 2019
Skiing / editorial wide edit
Skiing
All the disciplines met on snow.
I first skied as a child, then came back to it seriously at seventeen. Skiing brought speed, balance, body control and conditioning into one demanding environment.
My practice grew beyond recreation into alpine skiing, touring and powder. Reading terrain, managing edges and making fast decisions made skiing one of my most enduring disciplines.
Alpine / touring / powder
Strength
The system beneath performance.
I started strength training at fourteen with a personal trainer, to support my taekwondo, especially power and explosiveness.
As skiing became more serious, the demands changed. Working with two specialised coaches, I began to focus on stability, eccentric control, mobility, muscular endurance and resilience alongside strength.
For me it is a performance practice, not an aesthetic project.
Tennis
Reading what happens next.
Tennis began casually with friends. Interest turned it into about eighteen months of deliberate training in technique, footwork, timing and positioning.
The game asked me to anticipate before the ball arrived. Even after my priorities shifted, that technical base and a faster reading of play stayed with me.
Movement intelligence also means anticipation.
Cycling
From mountain to road.
My ski coach introduced me to mountain biking as off-season conditioning: a way to keep leg endurance, balance and capacity through long climbs and changing terrain.
As my focus shifted toward endurance, the path moved to road cycling. What began as cross-training became a discipline in its own right and a key part of where I am heading now.
Endurance, efficiency and volume.
Running / editorial wide edit
Running
The next horizon is endurance.
Running is my latest chapter, with marathon and ultra-distance ambitions shaping the road ahead.
Years of movement, technique and conditioning now meet the demands of sustained effort. Every session I train carries that experience toward a longer horizon.
Practice
Patience from the mats. Speed from the rink. Adaptation from open ground. Precision from the water. Judgement from the mountain. Strength as the system beneath. Anticipation from the court. Capacity from the bike. Every lesson now runs toward endurance.
Record
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2009
Gold, 500 m
Tehran Provincial Roller Skating Championships
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2010
Gold, 100 m · Silver, 500 m
Tehran Provincial Roller Skating Championships
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2019
Grade 3 Swimming Coaching Certificate
I.R. Iran Swimming Federation
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Rank
6th Dan, Taekwondo
Iran Taekwondo Federation
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Rank
4th Dan, Taekwondo
Kukkiwon
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Rank
Dan level, Tang Soo Do · Haedong Kumdo
All Tang Soo Do / Haedong Kumdo
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Now
Marathon and ultra distance
The endurance chapter, in progress
Ranks and results as I recall them; the final wording will be checked against my original records.
Follow
My story is still moving. Marathon and ultra-distance ambitions now shape the road ahead.
