Vishal Manyal, a Special Police Officer with Jammu and Kashmir Police, walked off the mat at Delhi's Talkatora Indoor Stadium with two gold medals and a silver — and on August 7, Jammu's Railway Division gave him a felicitation to match, with Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Uchit Singhal presenting him to colleagues as one of the city's own.
Manyal competed at the 18th WEKAF World Arnis Championship 2026, held from August 1 to 4 and drawing competitors from more than a dozen countries — arnis being the Filipino stick-fighting martial art (also called eskrima or kali) that the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation governs internationally. He won gold in both the padded stick and knife point point-sparring categories, and silver in the live single stick event, one of the tougher full-contact disciplines on the card.
A podium built on padded stick, knife and live sparring
The championship split its events into point-sparring categories — padded stick and padded knife, scored on clean, controlled strikes — and live-sparring categories such as single stick, double stick and bangkaw, which are contact events fought with minimal padding. Manyal's two golds came in the point-sparring disciplines; his silver came in live single stick, where he lost out only in the final bout.
"Vishal Manyal has brought pride to Jammu and Kashmir by winning 2 gold and 1 silver medal on the international stage through his hard work, discipline and sportsmanship," Singhal said at the felicitation, held at the Jammu Railway Division office of Northern Railway.
India topped the medal table — and Manyal wasn't the only J&K name on it
As host nation, India was declared the Overall Team Champion of the 18th WEKAF Worlds, ahead of the Philippines — arnis's birthplace — in second place and Australia in third. Alongside Manyal, Shaista Jan, a young arnis competitor from Kulgam, also medalled for India, taking one silver and two bronze. "My message to the youth of Jammu & Kashmir is to believe in themselves and have the courage to pursue their dreams," she said afterward.
Arnis has a small but growing footprint in J&K, largely built through police and college self-defence programmes rather than dedicated clubs — which is part of why a win like Manyal's stands out: it's a reminder that a serving Jammu police officer trained well enough, in a martial art most young Jammu residents have never tried, to medal against fourteen countries on a stage India itself was hosting.
