Master Krista Kaminski, 33-Time World Champion to Compete in Two World Championships

By Janice Lane Palko

For a time back in the 1970s, Pittsburgh was known as the City of Champions. That nickname has slowly faded as the last championship won by a professional sports team was 2017, when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. However, there is a champion living in the area whose remarkable career is going under the radar and that is Master Krista Kaminski. 

Master Krista, 53, of Wexford, is a sixth-degree black belt in Taekwondo and a Master Instructor in the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), which is the largest martial arts organization in the world. Not only that, but she is also a 33-time World Champion in the ATA.

Master Krista trains at Kaminski's ATA Black Belt Academy, in Allison Park, which her husband, Chief Master Kevin Kaminski, an eighth-degree Black Belt in ATA, owns.

A former University of Pittsburgh cheerleader, Master Krista has always been physically active and competitive. “I have a strong competitive urge, and I don’t feel fully alive unless I’m setting goals, training, and competing,” she said. 

In addition to excelling in martial arts, Master Krista is also a Physical Therapist and a Certified Sport Performance Training Specialist, assisting other athletes to compete and achieve their goals. “I work locally as a physical therapist and coach, but I travel the world providing training and educational seminars for athletes. I specialize in injury prevention and sports performance training,” said Master Krista.

The mother of two grown sons, who are also black belts, she achieved her first black belt in 2008. “It took me three years to become a first-degree black belt, and most people don’t realize that to become a second-degree black, it takes two years, and a third-degree means three more years of training, instruction, and testing and so on. So, it took me six years to go from a fifth degree to sixth degree,” she explained.

The ATA competition events feature sparring, combat, weapon, and forms, and she recently won the United States Masters Cup in Olympic sparring, which qualified her to compete in May in Taipei City, Tawain, in the World Masters Games. Like the Olympics, these games occur every four years and encompass many Olympic sports, but they are for athletes 35 years of age and older. “I will be competing for the world title in Olympic sparring,” said Master Krista.

At present, she is ranked No. 1 in the world in sparring and combat, and she will also compete in July in Phoenix, Arizona, at the World Championships for the American Taekwondo Association. “So, there are two world titles in two different competitions I am training to compete in,” said Master Krista.

To compete and excel in world competition events, she maintains a rigorous training schedule, one that seeks to prevent injuries. “I focus on strength and agility four days a week. And then I do actual combat sparring two-three times a week,” she said. 

“It is my belief that consistency is the key to a healthy lifestyle and the key to the ability to remain active and competitive in sports and fitness while preventing injuries,” said Master Krista. 

Northern Connection magazine wishes Master Krista the best of luck in both competitions.