http://www.afghantaekwondo.com/
havent really have time to check it out, but looked interesting :D
~K~
"maybe not in combat.. but think of the chicks man, the chicks!" -- someone on the subject of back-flips in combat --
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http://www.afghantaekwondo.com/
havent really have time to check it out, but looked interesting :D
~K~
"maybe not in combat.. but think of the chicks man, the chicks!" -- someone on the subject of back-flips in combat --
It appears genuine, which makes it all the more funny.
K. Mark Hoover
Read Kung Fu in Kabul: Part 1: Kung Fu Masters, Job Creation, Refugees and the Free Press by Gregory Brundage.
This is the first installment of a special four-part series which we will be publishing over the next month.
Great article! Afghans have a wrestling tradition (Uzbek, Hazara and Tajik) and when I was there (2010-2011) TKD was popular.
I was NE Afghanistan and some of the areas are so remote that the martial arts knowledge is surprising at time. DVD entreprenuership is widespread (fake stuff) and I saw a few Tan Taoliang and John Liu stuff that I had not seen before:D
Kung Fu in Kabul: Part 2: Grandmaster Abdul “Rahim Kung Fu” and a Refugee Camp by Gregory Brundage.
Kung Fu in Kabul: Part 3: Abbas Alizada: The Afghan Bruce Lee (originally posted to our Bruce-Lee-imitators thread)
Kung Fu in Kabul: Part 4: Grandmaster Sayed Rahman Youresh, Abdullah Big Waziri and More
This makes me feel as if we scooped Xinhua on a story. ;)
Quote:
Feature: Kung fu promotes unity among Afghans
English.news.cn 2015-05-28 09:23:41
By Abdul Haleem, Jawed Omid
KABUL, May 28 (Xinhua)--"My main objective is to train youngsters and inspire increased unity among war-torn and ethnically divided Afghanistan and eventually change the face of the militancy-plagued country to a peace-loving one,"the coach of a Kung fu club in Kabul, Khalid Zahorian, 39, told Xinhua recently.
Around 100 teenagers and adults of different ethnic groups were seen busy practicing Kung fu in the poorly equipped club in the Khair Khana neighborhood, in north Kabul. Zahorian said that 250 athletes receive Kung fu training four times a day at his club. "Since many teenagers from different ethnic groups prefer to learn Kung fu as a marshal art for self-defense, I am sure that the art,as with soccer, could become a symbol of unity among the war-torn Afghans,"the ambitious Kung fu coach observed.
In militancy-hit Afghanistan, the peace-loving Afghans, in spite of suffering from conflicts, have been working hard to promote music,sport, cinema, theater, art and other social activities to change the face of their war-torn country and remodel the nation as a peaceful one in the eyes if its citizens and the world.
Post-Taliban Afghanistan has made tremendous achievements in the sporting field over the past decade as Afghan athletes have brought medals home from 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games, besides attending regional tournaments and winning medals.
Kung Fu coach Zahorian said that the popularity of Kung fu among youths as an art of self-defense has inspired him to open his club's branches in each corner of the country and to promote the art among sport fans as much as possible.
Dozens of sport clubs have been privately established in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan over the past decade to promote sports in the country.
Zahorian, who has been mastering Kung fu over the past 27 years and giving self-defense training to his Afghan teens and youth over the past 15 years, told Xinhua proudly that he had won a bronze medal in a Kung fu competition held in Moscow in December last year. He also noted that the promotion of sports in Afghanistan could also help the country combat drug use. "Participating in different kinds of sports at both amateur and international levels and winning medals at home and abroad will inspire the younger generations here to set positive goals and could even sway farmers away from growing illicit crops used to manufacture drugs and generally lead to a healthier society,"the sportsman observed.
Kung Fu, football, taekwondo, karate, judo, cricket, volleyball and running are popular sports in the post-Taliban Afghanistan and Afghans believe that promoting sports in the war-torn and ethnically divided country can strengthen national unity.
Inspired by Kung fu stars likewise Jacky Chan and Bruce Lee, the Afghan Kung fu practitioner said ambitiously,"I am trying to get fame at home and abroad like world Kung fu star Bruce Lee." "Promoting sport in the country and participating in competitions abroad would show the real face of Afghanistan as a country that is not a war-mongering lost cause, but rather a peace- loving nation,"trainee of the club,Jawed Askarzada, told Xinhua while exercising with a club mate.
On the first visit of the new installed leader of the Peaceful afghans here to obywood, 500 afghani men beat, stoned, drove over and burned a woman on a false accusation of offending the koran.
yes, those ruddy awful koranderthals def need something to make it look like any trouble taken for their 7th century fugly was ever worth it.
These women practicing in secret exemplifies true martial arts courage.Quote:
Rights and freedom
Afghanistan
‘We buried our sportswear’: Afghan women fear fight is over for martial arts
Female taekwondo and karate trainers are forced to practise in secret since the Taliban takeover and fear they may never compete again
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f5c90...aster/2835.jpg
A taekwondo training session in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: AFP/Getty
Rights and freedom is supported by Humanity United
Zahra Joya
Thu 23 Sep 2021 09.01 EDT
On the morning of 15 August, when the Taliban were at the gates of Kabul, Soraya, a martial arts trainer in the Afghan capital, woke up with a sense of dread. “It was as though the sun had lost its colour,” she says. That day she taught what would be her last karate class at the gym she had started to teach women self-defence skills. “By 11am we had to say our goodbyes to our students. We didn’t know when we would see each other again,” she says.
Soraya is passionate about martial arts and its potential to transform women’s minds and bodies. “Sport has no gender; it is about good health. I haven’t read anywhere in Qur’an that prevents women from participating in sports to stay healthy,” she says.
Opening a sports club for women was an act of defiance in such a deeply patriarchal society. She and the women who worked out at her club faced intimidation and harassment. “Despite the progress of the last two decades, many families would prevent their girls from attending,” she says. The popularity of martial arts among Afghan women lay in its value as a method of self-defence. In a country suffering continual violence, particularly against women, many clubs offering different forms of martial arts training had opened in recent years.
By the evening of the 15, the Taliban were in control of the country and Soraya’s club was closed. The Taliban have since released edicts banning women from sports. Former athletes like Soraya are now shut indoors.Quote:
Like any other athlete, I pursued sport to raise my country’s flag with pride. But these dreams will never be realised
Yusra
“Since the arrival of the Taliban, I receive messages from my students asking what they should do, where should they workout? Unfortunately, I don’t have anything convincing to tell them. This is so painful. We cry every day,” she says, adding that the restrictions have taken a toll on her students’ mental health.
Tahmina, 15, and her sisters played volleyball for the Afghan national team until this summer; they buried their sports clothes when the Taliban got closer to their home city of Herat. They escaped to Kabul in early August. “We did not think Kabul would fall, but we arrived here and it too fell,” says Tahmina.
The Taliban have already set limitations on women in work, including at government workplaces and educational institutes. Hamdullah Namony, the acting mayor of Kabul, said on Sunday that only women who could not be replaced by men would be allowed to keep working. The announcement comes after news that schools would reopen for boys only, effectively banning girls from education.
“We grew up with this dream that we can be useful for our society, be role models and bring honour. Unlike our mothers and grandmothers, we can’t accept the limiting laws and the death of our dreams,” says Tahmina.
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/82216...aster/2272.jpg
A women’s martial arts group on Shahrak Haji Nabi hilltop, near Kabul. Photograph: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty
Maryam, an Afghan taekwondo fighter, has been practising behind closed doors since the Taliban takeover. She is used to it, she says, having kept her martial arts training a secret from her disapproving family for years. She has been training for eight years and has won several medals. “I would secretly go for practices and tell my family I am going for language classes. My family had no idea,” she says.
Yusra, 21, a female taekwondo referee and trainer, is disappointed. “Like any other athlete, I pursued the sport to raise my country’s tricolour flag with pride. But now these dreams will never be realised,” she says. Yusra used to provide training to help support her family, which has now lost a major source of income.
Neither of the women has plans to give up martial arts for too long. Maryam says her students have asked her to teach martial arts at home, and she is considering whether it is possible to do so discreetly. “I have already asked the Afghanistan Karate Federation to give me permission to operate a girl’s training programme at home, perhaps even in full hijab. However, they tell me that even men are not yet allowed to practise, so it is unlikely that women will be permitted,” she says.
“I am willing to do it secretly even if it means upsetting the Taliban, but I don’t want my students to fall victims to their wrath if caught,” she says.
All names have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed