Saeed Esmaeli is an internationally acclaimed coach, licensed therapist, and the visionary founder of Wrestle for Humanity. A combinatorial thinker who integrates play and creativity into his transdisciplinary approach, Saeed’s work bridges wrestling, psychology, movement, and cultural wisdom, blending these elements into a powerful tool for resilience and transformation.​

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Born in Iran, Saeed’s life journey began amidst war, revolution, and extraordinary hardship, including homelessness and cultural displacement. Against these odds, he rose to become a former International Freestyle Olympic wrestler (Olympic Prospect Passport Holder), a Global dance performer featured in movies, a UK Jazz Dance Champion, and the creator of Wrestling for any-Body™.

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Saeed is deeply committed to empowering individuals of all abilities. While volunteering to teach disability and neurodivergent individuals wrestling and somatic therapy, he collaborates with Olympic Gold medallist Kevin Jackson (USA National Wrestling Coach) and his national team members, as well as other elite athletes, focusing on the psychology of movement and fine-tuning techniques to help shift performance from silver and bronze to Olympic gold.

 

​Saeed leads transcontinental initiatives, fostering collaborations between the UK and the USA. He works with HBCU wrestling programmes and Kevin Jackson’s athletes at Michigan University, connecting institutions and communities through cross-cultural exchange and empowerment, combining global collaboration with local impact. He is also an author, contributing a chapter on the Body-Mind-Community model to the Sports and Criminology Edited Collection, a collaboration with Bournemouth University for the Routledge Book Series.