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A group of children in rebel-held northern Syria are perfecting martial arts talents under the tutelage of an unexpected trainer: amputee kung fu master Fadel Othman. The 24-year-old runs a tiny martial arts school in the rebel-held village of Abzimu in Aleppo province’s western countryside. His 100 students include orphans and youngsters who have lost their fathers because of Syria’s decade-long civil war.
“This is the first team I train after my injury,” he told AFP from an open field where he often gives kung fu lessons. “I strongly believe they will one day grow up to become world champions,” he said referring to his students.
In 2015, during combat between rebels and government forces in Aleppo, Othman was struck by an artillery shell. He became one of more than 86,000 Syrians who have had amputations because of conflict-related injuries, according to the World Health Organization. As a result, the young man, who began kung fu training at the age of 12, was forced to abandon his lifelong passion. “I felt like the world was closing doors in my face,” Othman told AFP at his academy, which was draped in a giant Syrian opposition flag.
However, during the three years he was in Turkey for medical treatment, he continued classes with martial arts coaches and even competed in a few contests. Earlier this year, he established a kung fu academy that instructs pupils at various levels. Pictures of Othman competing in competitions lined the walls of the gym, which was outfitted with punchbags and pull up bars.
He demonstrated a series of warm-up movements without even using crutches during one lesson. He watched as trainees performed complex kung fu patterns on colored mats before assisting them in refining ways to block kicks and punches.
The trainer stated that he intended to teach children ” useful moves they can use to defend themselves” while also building their confidence. The gym has no mains electricity and when the batteries powering the converted warehouse’s lights die, Othman props himself up against a wall in one of the last rays of daylight slanting into the room to catch his young pupil’s punches in his sparring mitts.
“I see them as my little brothers,” he said. “My goal is to have a strong team and nurture a generation (of fighters) that can make it to international competitions,” he said. – AFP
