Training champs: A very special kung fu master

Othman trains children at his martial arts school in the rebel-held town of Abzimu in the western countryside of Aleppo province. Photo: AFP

From butterfly kicks to power jabs, a group of children in rebel-held northern Syria are honing martial arts techniques under the instruction of an unlikely trainer: amputee kung fu master Fadel Othman.

The 24-year-old runs a small martial arts school in the rebel-held town of Abzimu in the western countryside of Aleppo province.His 100 students include orphans and children who lost their fathers to Syria's decade-old war.