Latest Sport
Varsity
Interview: Mohammad-Reza Nasiri-Avanaki
InQuire Live were recently given the opportunity to interview karate scholar Mohammad-Reza Nasiri-Avanaki, who recently finished second in the JKS Championships. We caught up with him to get his thoughts on the Championships.
Personal Profile:
My name is Mohammad-Reza Nasiri-Avanaki; however my nickname or the name that my friends call me is Kamran. I started my PhD at the University of Kent in February 2008 in Medical Image Computing after my BSC and MSC, with honours in Electronics Engineering.
I started Karate from quite an early age (9-10), and have continued regularly to this day. Before coming to the United Kingdom for my PhD, I always dreamt of being in the national team and fighting at a high standard. The first competition I participated in the UK dates back to March 2008 in BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport), I got Bronze there. In March 2009 I came back from BUCS (British Universities & Colleges sport competition) with a shiny gold medal. At the time, I was British champion in the senior category in -67 kg. I was accepted to go to EUSA (European Universities Sport Association) as a member of Great Britain’s National team in July 2009 - in Spain. I achieved a Bronze medal in this competition. In November 2009, in Nottingham at the Japan Karate Shotorenmei (JKS) I attained the silver medal.
At the moment, I am working on my techniques more professionally considering the experience that I obtained in EUSA - and looking forward to going to the world championships in February 2010.
Carl: First of all, congratulations on coming second in the JKS Championships. How many fights were you involved in?
Mohammad: There were five fights and around 32 competitors in each category
Carl: And you got through to the final; how many days did the competition go on for?
Mohammad: It was a 1 day contest
Carl: Was this your most successful championship to date, or have there been others?
Mohammad: Not really because last year in March, I got a gold medal in the BUCS Championships and after that we went to Spain for the European Championships and I got a bronze medal. So JKS was very good but I think I have better awards.
Carl: So what’s your highlight to date?
Mohammad: I think my bronze medal in the European Championship was very good for me and the gold medal in the BUCS Championships
Carl: Will you be involved in the BUCS Championships this March too?
Mohammad: Yes I have prepared but I need to practise a bit more
Carl: You have a karate scholarship at Kent. How does the scholarship help you?
Mohammad: The scholarship helps me a lot because when you want to go for any competition you need money and as a student, it is very difficult for me to provide that money for transport so the scholarship which has been awarded to me by the university has been very very helpful for me and I should be thankful for having the scholarship.
Carl: How do you manage to balance your work with your sport?
Mohammad: It is actually very difficult. I am a third year PhD student and it is difficult for me to balance the two but I have realised that karate helps me to understand things better and to progress with my studies better.
Carl: So after you have finished your PhD, what are your plans after that, will they still involve karate?
Mohammad: I’ve always had a dream to be successful in sport and in studies and I want to be very good at karate and be a very good scientist as well. My plan is to have more fights and get more medals and to become a good instructor.
Carl: Well best of luck for the championships ahead and for the future. Thank you very much.
Mohammad: Thanks a lot. Thank you.