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{"id":871,"date":"2021-06-28T17:34:21","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T17:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alb.noo.mybluehost.me\/?p=871"},"modified":"2021-06-28T17:36:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T17:36:56","slug":"former-iranian-refugee-represents-us-as-karate-world-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/former-iranian-refugee-represents-us-as-karate-world-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Iranian refugee represents US as karate world champion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>UNHCR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By\u00a0Andrea Mucino-Sanchez\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a020 June 2021<\/p>\n<p>Soolmaz fled Iran as a child with her family and embarked on a harrowing journey to safety. She is now a 14-time U.S. Champion and World Champion in traditional karate.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Soolmaz Abooali, a 14-time U.S. Champion and World Champion in traditional karate, hopes that her story will inspire others to play a role in helping refugees around the world.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1980\u2019s, Soolmaz Abooali\u2019s parents found themselves in a precarious situation. Both were activists and making a future for their family in Iran was becoming increasingly difficult. When she was four, Soolmaz and her mother made the dangerous journey to Pakistan and eventually to Bangladesh in search of safety.<\/p>\n<p>With the help of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Soolmaz and her family received funding and assistance. While the modest support offered was of use, her family had to find scrappy ways to not only survive but attempt to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy parents made it doable for me.\u201d She said. \u201cFruits were expensive and hard to come by in Bangladesh, but with whatever money they had they\u2019d buy an apple and slice it into seven pieces, so I\u2019d have a piece of fruit every day of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was simple experiences like this that made Soolmaz realize what conflict felt like. \u201cI really had this mind, body, and spirit awareness. I knew that something was not right. Something was not safe or accessible. We were always having to fight for something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The awareness of conflict manifested itself in various ways. She remembers the weariness in which they approached people, questioning their motives and where they could be from. Yet it was this very feeling that allowed a sincere enchantment with martial art movies. How the heroes of the story would find themselves in an ominous situation and battle their way to victory &#8211; a concept Soolmaz could relate to at such a young age.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, in my child imagination, karate came to represent a way out of conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Soolmaz\u2019s introduction to karate came initially from her father who had practiced martial arts. As a young child, he had promised Soolmaz that when they were in a safe place where they could start rebuilding their lives, he would put her in a karate class. Years later when they were resettled in Canada, Soolmaz\u2019s father kept his word. At first it was her parents who kept her motivated to continue training, then slowly karate started to mean so much more to her personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt represented a way for me to use my own sense of power with what I had to resolve conflict. It kind of took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A straightforward list of Soolmaz\u2019s karate accolades and accomplishments hardly do them justice. Through unimaginable odds as a refugee in Bangladesh dreaming of taking a karate class, to now a 14-time US Champion, one-time World Champion, gold medalist across all categories in form (Kata) and fighting (Kumite) events, and a member of Team USA at a national and global level for the last 14 years, her journey is one of perseverance and grit.<\/p>\n<p><em><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-875\" src=\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Soolmaz-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Soolmaz-2.jpg 624w, https:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Soolmaz-2-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/>Soolmaz Abooali (right) represented the United States at the 2016 World Traditional Karate-Do Championships in Krak\u00f3w, Poland. \u00a0 \u00a9\u00a0Latos Adam<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more I practiced, the more I realized it was making me feel really strong. I sacrificed more, I put more time and focus into it,\u201d she said, \u201cand the more I achieved the more I felt a deeper sense of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While karate gave Soolmaz an outlet to test herself in conflict simulated scenarios, it also provided a sense of community, one that as a refugee had immeasurable value.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we have to leave everything behind and we come with almost nothing but ourselves, our skills and our passions to a new place, feeling a sense of belonging is huge for refugees. And I think that\u2019s what karate has given me. It\u2019s given me this space where I can belong,\u201d she said. \u201cThe relationships I\u2019ve built have been fundamental and I wouldn\u2019t be where I am without my coach or my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among the impressive accomplishments Soolmaz has under her karate belt, one has evaded her reach out of pure omission of the art in one of the most internationally well-known sporting competitions in the world: the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee selects twenty-five core sports that are mandatory events in Olympic competitions. However, the host organizing committee has the ability to add sports they believe represent the values of the games.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, karate will make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. For the second time, a team of refugee athletes will compete at the summer games as part of the IOC\u2019s Refugee Olympic Team. Two of those refugee athletes will compete for one of the 8 medals in karate. Wael Shueb from Sryia in the Kata category, and Hamoon Derafshipour from Iran in Kumite.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone needs inspiration, especially refugees,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone needs inspiration, especially refugees,\u201d Soolmaz said. \u201cI think the Olympic refugee team is one way of how that\u2019s done for refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Soolmaz\u2019s story, from refugee to world champion, instilled a passion for further understanding the intersection of sport, conflict, and diplomacy. In 2019, Soolmaz obtained her PhD in conflict resolution from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, another testament to the possibility to succeed against all odds, to find a sense of belonging, and find a sense of community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is home. I\u2019ve been able to not only take but to give back. And that\u2019s what makes this country beautiful and valuable for everyone of any background,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope some part of my story will resonate with others and especially those who are looking in from the outside to see how they can play a role to help refugees. At the end of the day we are all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/en-us\/news\/stories\/2021\/6\/60cde22b4\/former-iranian-refugee-represents-the-united-states-as-karate-world-champion.html\">https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/en-us\/news\/stories\/2021\/6\/60cde22b4\/former-iranian-refugee-represents-the-united-states-as-karate-world-champion.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0UNHCR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By\u00a0Andrea Mucino-Sanchez\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a020 June 2021 Soolmaz fled Iran as a child with her family and embarked on a harrowing journey to safety. She is now a 14-time&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[31,27,32],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Iranian refugee represents US as karate world champion - IAC Virginia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/former-iranian-refugee-represents-us-as-karate-world-champion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Iranian refugee represents US as karate world champion - IAC Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0UNHCR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By\u00a0Andrea Mucino-Sanchez\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a020 June 2021 Soolmaz fled Iran as a child with her family and embarked on a harrowing journey to safety. 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