Pulwama, Jan 10 (IANS): At a time when martial arts are witnessing overwhelming response from the aspiring athletes in Jammu & Kashmir, its trainers continue to make efforts to uplift them more.

In South Kashmir, young boys and girls have started taking to martial arts in large numbers, and are excelling in different district, state/UT, and national-level competitions.

At Tral in Pulwama district, the young boys and girls are now getting training in martial arts at different academies/clubs, and are aspiring to achieve glory by becoming professional athletes.

Feroz Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Lurow Jagir village in Tral, is a national-level martial arts player who operates a Sqay martial arts academy titled as 'Leeniv Martial Arts'. He has been training hundreds of young boys and girls, particularly from far-off villages.

The players from his academy have are leaving their mark at different state and national-level competitions. In December last year, seven players from the 'Leeniv Martial Arts' won gold medals under different age categories at the UT level, and were selected for national-level championships.

Similarly, near about one-dozen players from his academy got selected for the National Sqay Championship held in Jammu a few days back.

Feroz said that he started the academy in 2017 with only six trainees in the begining, following which he worked hard and spent money from his own pocket.

He said that around 250 trainees are now enrolled with his academy, who are competing in senior, junior and sub-junior categories.

The trainees at his academy said that sports play a vital role in maintaining their fitness, keeping them fit and healthy.

Another youth from Tral, Raja Shabahat, has also set up his Karate-Do association, and has been training dozens of aspiring athletes for over a year now.

His trainees recently competed in a championship at Jammu, winning three gold, six silver and four bronze medals.