The Person Behind the Ecosystem
Kazem Panjavi
Olympian · Coach · Author · Technical Official
The Person Behind the Ecosystem
Olympian · Coach · Author · Technical Official
Every product in the KAZ ecosystem exists because of a problem Kazem Panjavi met on the platform first — as a lifter, then as a coach, then as the official holding the clock. Nothing here was designed from theory.
Kazem Panjavi competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Across his competitive career he took seven gold medals and held a national record. That period gave him the thing no textbook can hand over: direct experience of what happens to technique, timing and judgement when a lift actually counts.
Over 35 years of coaching, he has worked with more than 1,300 athletes — from a first session with an empty bar through to international competition. He has served as a Great Britain national team coach and as Chief Coach at the Odisha High Performance Centre, and he coaches at Ealing Weightlifting Club in West London.
As an international technical official, he has judged from the other side of the platform — the seat that decides whether a lift is three white lights or a red one. That perspective runs directly through Six Attempts: Six White Lights and through the referee logic built into Kaz Competition IQ.
Between 2014 and 2018 he staged four editions of the Phoenix Cup, organised single-handed and supported by Harrow School and Eleiko rather than by a national governing body. One earned a place on the official IWF calendar, drawing national teams and clubs from seven countries: Germany, Belgium and Sweden at national team level, plus two teams from France, and entries from Austria, Switzerland and India. The Fantastic Four is its successor — a permanent recurring team event where lifters of different ages, genders and strengths score as one team.
Three books, one mobile application, one competition software platform and one hardware feedback system — each built to close a gap he had personally run into. The books carry the knowledge, KAZAPP carries the daily programming, Competition IQ carries the match-day rehearsal, and the Kaz Path System carries the instant technical feedback on the bar.
Competing at the highest level in the sport, and learning first-hand how much of a result is decided before the bar ever leaves the floor.
Great Britain national team coaching and the role of Chief Coach at the Odisha High Performance Centre, alongside three decades of club coaching at Ealing.
Four self-organised international competitions with no NGB backing. Three earned a place on the official IWF calendar, hosting seven countries.
How to Win Olympic Weightlifting Competitions, then the 100-athlete study Female Olympic Weightlifters, then the advanced tactical masterclass Six Attempts: Six White Lights.
KAZAPP, Kaz Competition IQ and the Kaz Path & Shrug System — the books turned into working tools — plus the Fantastic Four as the Phoenix Cup’s permanent successor.