Fighting for America

Adham Sabry looked confident. The lean and neat-looking 23-year-old Egyptian sat casually in his coach’s empty Oceanside karate dojo. The lights were off, making the room look like a padded, rectangular cave. He was fresh off a big win at the 2016 KaratePRO, held in September in Las Vegas, where he took home the gold medal and a $15,000 cash prize while representing the United States. 

Just three months earlier, he had been living in a small apartment in Alexandria, Egypt, with his family. He had just finished his business degree at Alexandria University and was eager to return to the United States to “put something in history” by being the best karate competitor the country has ever seen.

Sabry first visited America in 2015, and came back last July to compete in the Adidas USA National Championships in Pittsburgh, where he caught the attention of Tokey Hill, head coach of the U.S. karate team. Sabry had begun studying karate at age 7, as the martial art is popular in his home country, where he trained for years at the renowned Smouha sports club in Alexandria. 

Sabry helped Egypt dominate the 2015 Karate1 tournament in Sharm El-Sheikh, where he, along with 28 other Egyptians, claimed medals. Sabry said he believes the popularity of karate in Egypt comes from parents’ desire to teach their children how to defend themselves and learn respect.

But despite success in his home country, Sabry set his sights on the American dream. Competition was a deciding factor. In Egypt, many people study karate, and gaining recognition in the martial art is almost impossible. The crowded competitive field is compounded by the country’s congested cities and scarce economic opportunities.

“Living here is better than living in Egypt,” Sabry said, adding that his ultimate goal is to represent the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where karate will make its debut. 

His coach, Adel Elbehiry, who is also Egyptian and runs a dojo in Oceanside, thinks Sabry could reach that level, and has been a supportive force during his transition to America. “If I didn’t know Adel,” he said, “it would be tough.”

Elbehiry met Sabry in Egypt during one of his annual visits to see family and friends. At the time, Sabry was the student of a former teammate of Elbehiry’s from his own competition days. 

Elbehiry is enthusiastic about his prized student. “His passion and love is in karate,” he said loudly. He likes to recount the story of how Sabry was chosen to compete for the U.S. national team at the Vegas tournament. “The coach of the U.S. team saw him at the U.S. nationals,” he said, his voice rising as he paused to emphasize each word. “They picked him out of everyone, even though he wasn’t a U.S. citizen yet.”

In some ways, Elbehiry’s story is similar to his student’s. He also came from Alexandria. He grew up in Kafr El-Zayat, a small village 20 miles east of the city. He moved to Alexandria as an adolescent and began training in karate.

Elbehiry eventually became part of a karate team sponsored by Egypt Air. Through the sponsorship he got a job as an air marshal for the airline. In 1996 he decided to come to the United States with the dream of becoming an airline pilot, but by the time he received his visa, the educational requirements had changed.

Instead, he connected with his old karate teammates from Egypt, who were living in the United States, and started competing. Just like Sabry, within his first month here, he was fighting in tournaments.

His competition days were cut short, though, when in 1997 he was hit by a car and broke his arm and leg. After the accident, he met Hill while on the U.S. karate circuits, and began coaching in 1998.

In order to sustain his coaching career, Elbehiry opened up a dojo in Oceanside in 2000. It was a necessity he didn’t consider while in Egypt, where sports coaches receive salaries from the government. 

Now he teaches children the basics while he trains professionals to compete in international tournaments. 

As children started to stream into the dojo, Sabry got up and stepped into a back room. The lights of the dojo came on and he stepped back out, wearing his white gi, or robe. He stood in the center of the now well-lit padded room and began leading the kids in warmup exercises. Then, with his hands on his hips, he watched as they ran around him in a circle.