Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns

[GeneChing]

I like the approach of this site's reporting.

First Person: ‘I set up kung fu classes for nuns’
As told to Jeremy Taylor by Gyalwang Drukpa


His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa and kung fu nuns: “Their routine is quite spectacular”©Tereza Cerveňová

I am the spiritual leader of the Drukpa school of Buddhism, the 12th reincarnation in a lineage that dates back more than 1,000 years. We approach modern-day problems using ancient Buddhist philosophy. I believe most people think nuns spend their lives in learning and quiet contemplation. In the region of the Himalayas where I live, their traditional role was always subservient. For centuries, they simply cooked and cleaned for their monk colleagues.

They were also barred from taking part in martial arts but now I’ve helped change that. In 1992, I established the Druk Gawa Khilwa Abbey in Ladakh, India, and then six years ago I decided the time was right for the nuns there to start learning kung fu.

When I first broached the idea of teaching nuns kung fu, my advisers didn’t like it at all. I had a difficult time persuading them because it was a break from tradition. They didn’t understand.

Finally they agreed and one day in 2009 I put the word out that we were going to have kung fu lessons. I was in my mid-forties then and I hadn’t practised martial arts since I was a boy. However, as we didn’t have a proper teacher at the time, it was down to me to train them.

I remember that day very well. I was extremely nervous and quite scared because I didn’t want my project to fail. Suddenly I found myself standing in front of 102 nuns, all of them dressed in their robes and waiting for me to show them what to do.

I think we had a lot of fun. There was stretching and many arm movements but I soon realised that if the nuns were going to progress, they needed a proper kung fu master instead of me.

Now we have a core group of 70 nuns practising four times a day. They get up at 3am and have their first lesson an hour later. It’s often still dark and you can hear their yelps as they kick and punch through their exercises together in the courtyard.

It wasn’t long before word of the kung fu nuns got out and people wanted to come and see them train. We decided it would be good to send the nuns out into the world, to give displays and spread the message to other women.

Their routine is quite spectacular to watch and has drawn large crowds. They swirl flags and spears, making their high kicks in unison. They also perform the dragon dance, which is extremely difficult and usually reserved for monks.

Some of the nuns can break several bricks with a single strike from their hand or head. Another part of the show involves a nun sitting with a 25kg slab of concrete on her knees. It is then broken in half with the swing of a sledgehammer.

In the past few years the nuns have visited Hong Kong, Malaysia, London and most of Europe. They were invited to America but it was cancelled because we couldn’t get them visas.

I think it is marvellous for them because some of the nuns come from very difficult backgrounds. Some of them were orphans and others were homeless. They had very low self-esteem but kung fu has helped boost their confidence. Their spiritual practice is obviously very important but physical exercise like this can only do good.

Some of the nuns left good careers to join the nunnery in Ladakh. One was about to start a job in marketing and another was a counter-terrorism agent. The nunnery is so popular now that we actually have a waiting list.

I’m hoping that this is just the start for the Drukpa nuns. I have a lot of innovative ideas, including setting up a tennis team. Who knows where that will lead? Maybe one day you will have a nun as Wimbledon champion too.

Photograph: Tereza Cerveňová

[GeneChing]

These nuns kick ASS.

Kathmandu's Kung Fu Nuns Have Refused To Be Evacuated - They're Staying Back To Help Victims
Kunal Anand
April 30, 2015



300 women have refused to be flown by plane and chopper out of an earthquake ravaged Nepal. Clearly, they aren't ordinary women - they are nuns of the Ladakh-based Drupka order.


buddistdoor

Or, as the world calls them, 'Kung-Fu Nuns'. These women have grown up learning kung fu and meditation their entire life from a Kathmandu nunnery, and now they're planning to stay back and use their strength to help earthquake victims here.


buddhistdoor

In fact, their leader, the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa expected them to be shaken, like the rest of Nepal. He told the Daily Mail: “I was expecting the nuns over there to be under trauma. Many people were saying that they should be evacuated but they decided to stay back and help others."


balticreview

"It’s raining continuously, earthquakes are repeatedly happening, the walls are falling and none of them can go back to their rooms so they have had to camp in the garden.


huffpost

Despite all these problems, they are willing to help.”


simondetreywhite

According to him, these disasters show nature’s unhappiness with mankind's greed.: “From a spiritual point of view, we should not blame God but, instead, work with nature and respect it. Some people say that the earth is a mother. I don’t necessarily say that one should worship.


bccl

Respect, instead, means not being destructive. Scientists also say that,” he says.



What he says is correct - Nepal has been built like a dangerous maze of poorly constructed buildings without concern for earthquakes.

[PalmStriker]

Respect !

[GeneChing]

This is real Kung Fu.

How Kathmandu’s ‘kung fu nuns’ sprang into action after the quake


The kung fu nuns of Kathmandu are helping remove the rubble in the nearby Kalabari village devastated by the deadly earthquake that hit Nepal a week ago. (Pradeep Bashyal/For The Washington Post)
By Rama Lakshmi May 2

RAMKOT, Nepal — The earthquake shook the sprawling Buddhist nunnery near this village in the western valley of Kathmandu so violently that the nuns jumped through shattered glass windows, smashed open rattling doors and dived over a collapsing staircase.

They are, after all, the “kung fu nuns of Kathmandu.” And they have been training for about four years to react with just such speed and agility.

“None of us shrieked in fear or crouched on the floor crying. We moved quickly, dodged falling pieces of the wall and escaped,” said Jigme Konchok, 21, showing the broken hall where she and her fellow nuns used to assemble for their daily kung fu sessions at the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery.

The nuns began learning kung fu from a Vietnamese teacher in defiance of accepted gender codes in the Buddhist monastic system. But over time, they have harnessed the ancient Chinese martial art for meditation, community work, edgy campaigns against toxic waste, and for women’s empowerment and walkathons against the prevalence of plastic products in everyday life.

Now they are using their skills and energy in providing relief to victims of the earthquake that hit Nepal a week ago, killing more than 6,800 people. After assessing the structural damage to their sanctuary, the nuns quickly recovered and refocused when they saw the large-scale death and destruction in the villages outside their walls.


Jigme Wangchuk, 17, and Jigme Konchok, 21, perform drills at the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery, which is a unique example of gender reversal in a rarefied world of monasteries. (Pradeep Bashyal/For The Washington Post)

“Community duty is also a form of spiritual exercise, and our strong limbs are now trained to work hard and for long hours,” said Konchok, who oversees the Internet and sound system at the nunnery.

Every day, the maroon-robed nuns trek to nearby villages to help remove the rubble from people’s homes, salvage and return buried objects, and clear pathways. They also distribute rice and lentils during the day and help pitch tents for night shelters.

The 26-year-old nunnery is a unique example of a gender reversal in the rarefied world of monastic life, where monks often occupy positions of power, leaving nuns the menial chores. But here in Ramkot, the kung fu nuns learn the skills that men do: plumbing, electrical fitting, computers, riding bicycles, the English language and, of course, praying.

“In many monasteries, women are not given a chance to rise up the hierarchy. Nuns are typically made to cook, clean and serve food, while the monks take big decisions and run the administration — just like it is in many of our families,” said Jigme Yeshi Lhamo, 26, an office administrator who fled her home in India to join the nunnery a decade ago.

On Saturday, the nuns climbed a pile of debris that was once Nirmaya Tamang’s house in Kalabari village. Wearing masks to protect against swine flu, the nuns removed the stones with their bare hands and retrieved pots and cooking oil jars from Tamang’s kitchen.

“I lost my daughter and my husband in the earthquake. My house is destroyed. I have nothing left,” Tamang said, standing under a pear tree. “The kung fu nuns said they will give me a hand because I have no older person in my family now to help. I did not ask them for help; they came on their own.”

For the nuns, the community work is an extension of their kung fu training.


The kung fu nuns of Kathmandu look over their kung fu practice hall at the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery, damaged by the earthquake in Nepal a week ago. (Pradeep Bashyal/For The Washington Post)

“Kung fu is not meant to attack people or fight with them. It prepares you for enduring difficult situations, like this earthquake,” Lhamo said. “It is also a form of meditation because it helps us concentrate, keep our minds still and body nimble and light.”

After the earthquake, the nuns repaired the solar panels at the nunnery, laid new tiles in the front yard and are rebuilding their broken compound wall. During the day, the older nuns pray for the souls of the villagers who lost their lives in the earthquake. By night, they patrol the streets outside the nunnery, even as the younger nuns sleep in tents on the lawn.

“Our teachings say that nothing is permanent,” Lhamo said, looking at the destroyed kung fu practice hall. “We feel sad because the earthquake damaged something that was so dear to us. At least we have a roof over our heads and food to eat, and we are in a position to help others. That is important.”

Pradeep Bashyal contributed to this report.

[GeneChing]

Glad this is getting press. These nuns are heroines.

Meet the Kung-Fu Nuns and others who protected Nepal
Posted by: Pallavi Sengupta Updated: Monday, May 4, 2015, 14:39 [IST]

Bengaluru, May 4: The ill-fated Nepal earthquake that struck the country on April 25, killing over 7,000 people, has taught us many a stories-of humanity, courage and love for others.

Many heart-warming pictures have been swarming the Internet where helping hands reach out to the people in distress, be it their own family members or their neighbours.



Thanks to these people who stood by Nepal in its time of need:

Red Cross and other agencies: Organizations ranging from the Red Cross, teh World Bank, International food organization, etc have all ectended a hand of help to the victims of Nepal. Needless to say, aide from China, US and the UK have reached the country within hours of the damage and the destruction.

The NDRF, the Nepal army and the Chinese army have worked together to pull out the victims from the rubble and rehabilitate them temporarily.



The alternatives: It is estimated that close to 3,400 volunteers have reached Nepal to assist the government agencies. Indian agencies like Goonj have joined hands in sending aide material, comprising medicines, blankets, food material, candles and matchboxes to help the homeless.

Google People Finder too has stepped on gas to locate the victims under the rubble or those who have separated from their families.

Kung Fu nuns: A story of amazing agility and strength, these nuns saved themselves from the earthquake with their skills. Now, they are using their skills to serve their people.



"Community duty is also a form of spiritual exercise, and our strong limbs are now trained to work hard and for long hours," said Konchok, who oversees the Internet and sound system at the nunnery. Every single day, nuns trek to nearby villages to help remove the rubble from people's homes, salvage and return buried objects, and clear pathways. After distributing rice and lentils during the day and help pitch tents for night shelters.

OneIndia News

[bawang]

i want to marry a kung fu nun. like shi yan ming and his ladies but in reverse.

[GeneChing]

These ladies are truly my heroines.

Meet the Kung Fu Nuns Fixing Nepal After Its Devastating Earthquakes
By Natasha Noman May 12, 2015

Nepal has been devastated in the past few weeks. More than 8,000 people died after the country was rocked on April 25 by a magnitude-7.9 earthquake, and on Tuesday it endured yet another major earthquake, this one of magnitude 7.3, resulting in more than a thousand injuries and dozens of deaths confirmed so far. Between the two quakes, aftershocks and heavy rainfall made recovery efforts difficult.

But amid this tragedy, some unlikely heroes have emerged: the so-called "kung fu nuns." These Buddhist nuns of the Drukpa order live on the outskirts of Kathmandu at the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery, where they have incorporated the martial art into their Buddhist practice. Three hundred of these nuns refused to be evacuated after the April quake in order to stay and help with recovery efforts.

When their nunnery began to crumble during that first earthquake, "the nuns jumped through shattered glass windows, smashed open rattling doors and dived over a collapsing staircase," the Washington Post reported. "They have been training for about four years to react with just such speed and agility."

After tending to their monastery, the nuns have dedicated their time to helping others in nearby villages. They do everything from removing rubble to clearing paths. They distribute food, too, and help erect tents to provide shelter for the millions of Nepalis who are now homeless.


Source: Prakash Mathema/Getty Images

Wait... where did they come from? Traditionally, Buddhist nuns are trained in simplicity and expected to perform domestic chores in nunneries and monasteries. Roughly 26 years ago, taking issue with the inherently patriarchal and sexist Buddhist monastic framework, members of the 800-year-old Drukpa order rebelled to form the more feminist Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery. They took that goal a step further in 2008, when their leader, Gyalwang Drukpa, introduced kung fu to the nunnery after being inspired by female martial arts in Vietnam.


Source: Mic/YouTube
In addition to martial arts, the Guardian reports, the Drukpa order teaches its nuns rudimentary business skills and how to lead prayers.

The nuns have said the kung fu has both improved their self-confidence and made them better at meditation. They have used it for campaigns promoting community work and against toxic waste, not to mention women's empowerment, the Washington Post reports. Not only are these nuns helping their community, but they are also defying gender norms in a larger way, challenging what it means to be a woman in Nepal.


Source: AFP/Getty Images

To be a woman in Nepal: Nepal is not the worst country when it comes to gender parity, but it's by no means exemplary. Strides have been made in education, and enrollment rates for boys and girls in primary and secondary school are practically the same, according to the World Economic Forum's 2014 Gender Gap Index. But there remains a legacy of inequality, with only 47% of women literate, compared to 71% of men.

And, as is often the case in poor countries, women and girls suffer in a multitude of other ways. Women have had to bear the brunt of earthquake damages, keeping families together and participating in recovery efforts, as a substantial number of men are abroad earning remittances, Public Radio International notes. Women and girls are also particularly vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers, who may target Nepal in the chaos.

This makes populations like the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery particularly important. Their ethos of female empowerment, and their role in recovery efforts, offers a symbol of hope for women and girls across the country.


Source: Prakash Mathema/Getty Images

Natasha Noman
Natasha is a Live News Staff Writer who focuses on global politics. Before joining Mic she reported on regional affairs from Pakistan, where in reality she spent the majority of her time there exhaustively researching the avant-garde online dating scene. She studied at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and Columbia University. It dawned on her recently that she may be the subject of Chapter Four of Edward Said's "Orientalism."