Farhad Varasteh, Founder of a New Style in Karate

Farhad Varasteh, who first brought the Iranian national karate team to the World Championships in Paris in 1972, was elected as the vice president of the World Union of Karate Organizations (WUKO) and held this position until 1980. Last Friday, a ceremony was held in Tehran to commemorate and honor Master Farhad Varasteh by the karate community of Iran. Radio Farda conducted an interview with 'Iraj Adibzadeh', a sports expert and a contemporary of Varasteh, about his life and achievements. Adibzadeh stated that Mr. Varasteh established the first karate academy in Iran on Takht-e-Tavoos Street, where he had many students, all of whom became champions of karate in Iran. At that time, he was known as the founder of the 'Kan Zen Ryu' style and established the most important karate training center in Iran. He is the only person in Iran with a 10th Dan and the only non-Asian who was allowed by the Japan Karate Association to establish and teach his own style, Kan Zen Ryu. It is said that he holds a PhD in political science from the University of Michigan and was the first president of the Karate Federation in Iran. Adibzadeh also mentioned that Varasteh's team once participated in the World Championships, where it was reported that the Iranian team became world champions for the first time because the style they practiced was only executed in Japan. One of his important students was 'Mohammad Reza Nasratiyan', who was a coach for the Belgian national women's and men's karate teams. The Kan Zen Ryu style founded by Varasteh had significant differences compared to other styles, such as Shotokan, which was very common in Iran. Varasteh nurtured Iranian karate practitioners and after leaving Iran, he spent some time in Paris, where he established a karate association, and then moved to Canada in 1986, where he founded the best karate club in North America. His daughter, 'Nasim', is also a karate champion. Overall, I believe he is one of those whose name will remain in the history of karate in Iran, having accomplished great things and being somewhat part of the history of karate in Iran.