Firdous Hassan
SRINAGAR: Aliyas Rashid of Warpora Pattan was just seven when he started idolizing Bruce Lee for his fighting skills and professionalism.
Unable to find any coach, he started learning through YouTube and social media. His hard work paid off and he got a chance to face the titans of the game at the national level.
Aliyas has won a silver medal at the 5th Edition of Federation Cup 2021-22, which was held at Lovely Professional University in March 2022.
“It was a dream come true. I had trained for months together during harsh winters in Kashmir in absence of my trainer and finally, my hard work paid me. My coach Rajinder Singh was satisfied with my performance and is preparing me for better competitions in the future,” he said.
Aliyas started training professionally in 2018. He beat many of the best players in Wushu at the district level.
“Before training, I would keenly watch demonstration videos of experts on YouTube and social media. It was challenging practising without experts and often would suffer injuries,” he said.
His journey is no less than inspiration as he had to travel 30 kilometres daily from his village to train in Srinagar.
“We didn’t have an indoor stadium facility in our district. Since 2018, I have been travelling daily to Srinagar to attend training sessions. It was challenging for me financially and I had to manage my studies as well,” Aliyas said.
He is now preparing to compete in the international championships. “Trials for the international championship will begin soon and I am hopeful of making it on the list,” he said.
Aliyas is also planning to set up his own academy in his hometown to train children in Martial Arts. “Last year I volunteered to train children in my village. Now I am planning to set up an academy to train children of the entire district. Many children in my area give up this sport because they couldn’t afford to travel to Srinagar on a daily basis,” he said.
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