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Pan Am karate competitor Sarmen Sinani shows his skills

CBC's David Common has been getting a taste of various Pan Am sports. The latest: karate, with Canadian martial artist Sarmen Sinani.

Frighteningly fast Sarmen Sinani takes down the reporter, again and again

David Common · CBC News ·

David Common gets a lesson in karate

9 years ago
Duration 3:17
Martial artist and Pan Am competitor Sarmen Sinani takes CBC reporter to the mat

CBC's David Common tried a number of Pan Am sports in the run-up to the Games to see how challenging it really is to be among the best.

Sarmen Sinani came to Canada from Iran and started learning karate almost immediately.

Nearly two decades later, he is a world contender.

Frighteningly fast, with acknowledged leg skills, he managed to take down David Common on this story with ease and tremendous frequency.

The great news is no one lost teeth or gained a concussion during the filming of this story — especially the reporter (a.k.a. The Punching Bag).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Common

David Common covers a wide range of stories for CBC News, from war to disrupting scams. He is a host with the investigative consumer affairs program Marketplace, and a correspondent with The National. David has travelled to more than 85 countries for his work, has lived in cities across Canada, and been based as a foreign correspondent in the U.S. and Europe. He has won a number of awards, but a big career highlight remains an interview with Elmo. You can reach David at david.common@cbc.ca, Twitter: @davidcommon.

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