From watching martial arts motion pictures to nationwide honour: Story of Faisal Ali Dar, Kashmir’s first Padma awardee in sport

Faisal Ali Dar is the primary Padma awardee in sport from Kashmir, however the 33-year-old martial arts coach is decided to make sure that the popularity is just a pitstop in his lengthy journey on which he needs to realize way more.
As the Dar household celebrated the accolade, and calls began pouring in from his trainees and coaches from the 9 centres he runs in Jammu and Kashmir, he acquired emotional in regards to the honour.
“It’s a big honour. My four-year-old son learnt to say Padma Shri last night. It’s a matter of pride for me, Kashmir and the whole country,” the person from Bandipora stated. “I come from a district where we are ages behind in terms of sports infrastructure and to get this award will certainly motivate us even more to achieve more despite all the hurdles,” Dar informed The Indian Express.
Son of a technician working within the state well being division, a younger Dar would typically prepare in martial arts with different youngsters at an area park. He would typically ask his father for cash to lease Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan motion pictures, and imitate the scenes together with his pals.

Faisal Ali Dar, a younger Kashmiri martial arts coach who goals to empower the youth within the militancy-hit areas via his sports activities academy for martial arts, conferred with the Padma Shri this yr. #PeoplesPadma #PadmaAwards2022 pic.twitter.com/rIxDhDECdm
— PIB in Jammu and Kashmir (@PIBSrinagar) January 26, 2022
“I would imitate Bruce Lee’s moves from Game of Death and Enter the Dragon apart from Jackie Chan’s in movies like Defender, Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. I would gather my friends in the park to practise those moves. We would use chappals on hands to kick as targets,” remembers Dar.
Dar with the younger trainees in Bandipora. (Express Photo)

While Dar began as a wushu exponent in 2003 and later skilled beneath current nationwide coach and Dronacharya awardee Kuldeep Handoo in Jammu, his profession in wushu didn’t kick off. He participated within the Nationals however did not win any medals. Dar tried his hand at kickboxing too and received a gold on the Asian championship at Pune in 2010. But the dearth of official recognition prompted Dar to finish his taking part in profession in 2013.
“While I trained under Handoo sir, I could not win any medals in the Nationals in wushu. At that time, we would even struggle to pay for the equipment, which cost about Rs 4,000 for the full kit. In 2008, I missed my black belt exam as I couldn’t pay the Rs 6700 fee. When I won the medal in Asian Kickboxing, there was no recognition from anybody. And it led me to focus more on my training club,” shares Dar.

While Dar had began the Ali Sports Academy in 2008 to coach native youngsters in Bandipora, he would additionally work in apple orchards and match TV dishes within the locality to earn cash, aside from serving to his father at his digital restore store.
While Dar had began the Ali Sports Academy in 2008 to coach native youngsters in Bandipora, he would additionally work in apple orchards and match TV dishes within the locality to earn cash, aside from serving to his father at his digital restore store. (Express Photo)
“I started the club while still a player. I worked in orchards ferrying apple boxes to trucks earning Rs 2 per box and Rs 500-600 per day apart from fitting TV dishes, getting Rs 50 per dish. The money was spent on getting equipment like punching pads,” he says.
Progress and progress
Dar would cost every trainee Rs 50. As their quantity elevated, he would additionally take into consideration beginning coaching centres in different districts of Kashmir. Most of the centres had been run in native parks and it was solely in 2018 that Ali Sports Academy acquired a authorities college constructing to function in.
“The idea of starting the club professionally in 2013 was to help kids keep away from trouble. It was the same time when Kashmir was on the boil due to the Burhan Wani incident. I believe that if kids are kept busy in sports, nobody’s mind will waver in the wrong direction. One of the challenges I had to face was in pursuing parents of girls to send them for training. But when these kids get jobs or start making a living, parents understand,” says Dar.
Dar together with his trainees through the journey to one of many competitions in Srinagar. (Express Photo)
Currently he runs 9 centres providing coaching in 18 sports activities – together with wushu, taekwondo, rugby, canoeing, kayaking, volleyball, desk tennis, badminton and soccer – and it’s executed by fellow trainers in public parks in districts like Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Budgam, Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal and Srinagar with about 13,000 youngsters coaching.
“We train three hours daily and the fee remains Rs 50. Fellow players like Abida Akhtar, rugby player Irshad Ahmad and rower Sajad Ahmad Dar contribute to training as well. When we got the government school building, we collected close to Rs five lakh and renovated the hall,” says Dar.

Among his trainees are two-time junior world kickboxing champion Tajamul Islam, 2017 Malaysia Wushu International championship medallist Abida Akhtar, junior Asian karate champion Hashim Mansoor and worldwide taekwondo medallist Sheikh Adnan. Some of his trainees additionally work on the centres run by him. With blended martial arts like wushu and Pencak silat additionally included within the Asian Games, Dar is assured of manufacturing medallists. “Mixed martial arts have got a big boost. But there have been instances of players getting lured by unrecognised federations, the same has happened with Tajamul. That’s one thing which needs to be streamlined,” feels Dar. “Seeing my trainees win medals for India at the 2026 Asian Games is my dream.”