SRINAGAR: Imtiyaz Ahmed, (31), a resident of downtown Srinagar is the only native Kashmiri Blue belt in Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) martial arts. Imtiyaz who moved to Canada in July 2019 last year after living with his family in New Delhi for over 28 years wants to return back to his roots.
He want to make the sport of Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ), mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling aspiring for the youth in J&K who are extremely talented . The BJJ or submission wrestling is the fastest-growing sports in the world.
While talking to Kashmir Patriot, he said that his father shifted to New Delhi in the early ’90s where he studied and grew up. He added, “I always used to come to Kashmir every year, since my family lives there. Now I have shifted to Halifax, Canada as I got my permanent residency last year. I live with my wife and have been here for a year”.
“I have been training in martial arts for over 7 years, wherein I started with freestyle wrestling and then transitioned to mixed martial arts (MMA), fought 4 amateur fights and won all of them. I shifted my focus towards Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) or submission wrestling and now I train with one of the best teams in the world,” Ahmed said.
He is the only native Kashmiri blue belt in BJJ and soon he will be competing over the North American circuit. He started training wrestling in New Delhi when he was in college. He wrestled for 3 years.
“I was good at it and went to the state, but I had to leave because of my studies, etc. and had to work. I have been in fitness since I was 16 years old. In 2013 at Cross-train gym in New Delhi, one of the only MMA gyms I learned Brazilian Jiujitsu, Submission wrestling, Muay Thai, or Kickboxing. Here i trained with them till 2019”, he told Kashmir Patriot.
He fought 4 amateur fights, won all of them under All India Mixed Martial Arts Association. “I was a featherweight champion at 65 kg and 70 kg in mixed martial arts. Also in Delhi state championship he won a silver medal and a silver medal in Delhi state kickboxing championship in 2014”.
Apart from training with Siddhart Singh, Vishal Seigel, Deepak, and Raul Moktan one of the top coaches in India, he is now training under Marcelo Garcia who is the legend in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Marcelo Garcia is a Brazilian grappler and jiu-jitsu competitor who was widely considered to be one of the best grapplers and arguably the best pound for pound submission grappler in the world.[1] Garcia is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel of Team Alliance. Garcia has five world championship titles in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a black belt in the middle-weight category.
Now Ahmed is working on to become Black Belt in BJJ. Interestingly so far there isn’t BJJ black belt any in India so far. Ahmed will be competing in the nationals and International circuit across North America from next.
Ahmed while sending out a message for Youth in Kashmir said, “This is for both boys and girls, you are exceptionally talented. I know the situation and the circumstances have been difficult for you but you have consistently shown your courage and determination in any sports, whether Tajamul Islam, Parvez Rasool, Ishfaq Ahmed, and many more”.
He believes, the sports of Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling, BJJ, Kickboxing, and Boxing can provide ample opportunities for youth in valley.
He said, “Remember one of the world’s renowned martial artist or a wrestler was of a Kashmiri origin, his name is Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt AKA the great gama, he literally decimated some of the biggest names in the catch wrestling in England and that’s my inspiration.”
