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Thread: Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns

  1. #76
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    Shaolin-trained nun Goh Sin Soi

    This is a nice story. I wonder if 'Shaolin-trained' implies that Goh actually trained at Shaolin Temple or if she just studied Shaolin Kung Fu somewhere. At 62, that would make her a senior nun and I don't remember ever seeing any of those, except maybe at Yongtai.

    Tuesday, 17 January 2017
    Keeping seniors happy and healthy


    Generous gesture: Malacca Star Media Group bureau chief R.S.N. Murali handing over the mock cheque to Goh and Lim (third from right). Also present during the presentation is Koh (back row, centre).

    JASIN: As the sole caretaker of the 10 elderly members of Jasin Ami*tabha Village in Taman Maju here, Shaolin-trained nun Goh Sin Soi shows remarkable spirit and cheerfulness in keeping the residents happy and healthy.

    “I am happy keeping them happy. It’s a blessing for me to be given the task of caring for these seniors,” she said.

    Goh, 62, not only ensures that the residents live happily and healthily during their twilight years, she also coaches them on religious matters.

    “I teach them the art of Shaolin as well to keep them going and healthy,” she said at the Malacca Buddhist Association-managed home that houses elderly people with no children and family members.

    Although funds are always needed to operate such a facility which is fully financed by the public, Goh said they do not mind even if visitors do not come with any donations, monetary or in kind.

    “We welcome anyone to visit, even with just a smile and kind words. Money is easier to find than love and respect,” she said yesterday after receiving a cheque for RM18,000 from Star Foundation, together with the home’s chairman Lim Keng.

    The foundation is the charitable arm of Star Media Group.

    Lim said they appreciated the donation just before the Lunar New Year.

    “We approached Jasin MCA for funds to host various activities, especially for Chinese New Year.

    “Before we knew it, a representative from The Star’s Malacca office told us the good news about the donation,” he said.

    Jasin MCA chairman Datuk Koh Chin Han said the village still needs the public to continue providing healthy vegetarian food and orga*ni*sing activities for the residents.

    “The members are closely-knit and they regard each other as family,” he said, adding that MCA will continue to source for funds to help offset the home’s monthly operational cost of RM8,000.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #77
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    More on the Drukpa lineage nuns

    AUGUST 24, 2017 / 5:10 PM / 14 HOURS AGO
    Kung Fu nuns strike back at rising sex attacks on women in India
    Nita Bhalla


    Buddhist nuns in India's remote Himalayan region of Ladakh teach around 100 girls and young women the martial art of Kung Fu amid rising reports of rape in India. Taken on Aug 18, 2017. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/NITA BHALLA
    LADAKH, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As dawn breaks, the sun edges over the expansive jagged mountains of Ladakh - a remote Buddhist ex-kingdom in the Indian Himalayas bordering Tibet - to reveal a world where time appears to have stood still.

    The chant of monks in a centuries-old monastery can be heard in the distance. Villagers slowly emerge from whitewashed stone cottages to tend to their wheat and barley fields, and ready their goats to search for pasture.

    Complete with its picture-perfect temples precariously perched atop rocky mountain outcrops, giant shrines and mantra-engraved walls, Ladakh’s age-old Tibetan Buddhist way of life appears almost untouched by modernity.

    Until, that is, you hear the energetic yells of scores of young women, clad in sweatpants and trainers. Fanned out in front of a majestic white temple-like structure, they stretch, lunge, jump, kick and punch on the orders of nuns.

    Meet the Kung Fu nuns - women from an age-old Buddhist sect who are using their martial arts expertise to challenge gender roles in this conservative culture and teach women self-defense, as reports of rapes rise in India.

    Unlike other nuns, their chants and prayers are followed by jabs and thrust kicks. Between meditation sessions, they attend gender equality lessons. Even their traditional maroon robes are periodically swapped for martial arts attire, with black belts.

    “Most people think nuns just sit and pray, but we do more,” said 19-year-old Jigme Wangchuk Lhamo, one of the Kung Fu trainers, as she rested after an intense two-hour session in Hemis village, 40 km (25 miles) from the northern city of Leh.

    “We walk the talk. If we act, people will think if: ’If nuns can act, why can’t we?’”

    “Kung Fu will make them stronger and more confident,” she said, adding that they decided to teach self-defense after hearing of cases of rape and molestation.

    HEROES

    Wangchuk is one of around 700 nuns globally who belong to the Drukpa lineage - the only female order in the patriarchal Buddhist monastic system where nuns have equal status to monks.

    Traditionally, nuns are expected to cook and clean and are not permitted to exercise. But this changed almost a decade ago when the leader of the 1,000-year-old sect, His Holiness The Gyalwang Drukpa, encouraged the nuns to learn Kung Fu.

    Inspired by his mother to advocate for gender equality, he also gave the nuns leadership roles and helped them study beyond Buddhist teachings to become electricians and plumbers.

    The nuns are active in the communities where they live, mainly in Nepal and India, treating sick animals and organizing eye care camps for villagers.

    They trek and cycle thousands of kilometers through Himalayan mountain passes to raise awareness on issues ranging from pollution to human trafficking.

    Following a massive earthquake in April 2015 in Nepal, they refused to leave but trekked to villages to remove rubble, clear pathways and distribute food to survivors.

    Carrie Lee, president of Live to Love International, a charity which works with the Drukpa nuns to support marginalized Himalayan communities, says they are exceptional role models.


    Buddhist nuns in India's remote Himalayan region of Ladakh teach around 100 girls and young women the martial art of Kung Fu amid rising reports of rape in India. Taken on Aug 18, 2017. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/NITA BHALLA
    “The Kung Fu Nuns are heroes of the Himalayas,” she said.

    “They are fiercely compassionate and brave. Not even earthquakes, avalanches, monsoons and cloudbursts can stand in their way.”

    CAT-CALLING

    Lee isn’t far wrong.

    The nuns are now taking on one of the biggest threats facing women and girls in India today. Rape.


    Slideshow (8 Images)

    Stories feature daily in Indian newspapers and television channels of girls being raped on their way to school, students molested in taxis, and women stalked heading home from work.

    The National Crime Records Bureau says 34,651 rapes were reported in 2015 - or four rapes every hour - a rise of 43 percent from 2011.

    There were 82,422 sexual assaults, an 67 percent increase over the same period.

    These figures are just the tip of the iceberg, say activists, as many victims are afraid to report cases, scared they will be blamed and shamed by their family and community.

    A wave of public protests after the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus in 2012 jolted many in the world’s second most populous country out of apathy, and forced the government to enact stiffer penalties on gender crimes.

    Since then, a spike in media reports, government campaigns and civil society programs have increased public awareness of women’s rights and emboldened victims to register abuses.

    But with reports continuing every day, and many women feeling increasingly concerned about their safety, the Drukpa saw an opportunity to help in their own way.

    "We thought we must share what we know with others," said 28-year-old nun Jigme Yeshe Lhamo at a five-day workshop at Naro Photang - a majestic Buddhist palace-like building belonging to the centuries-old nearby Hemis monastery.

    Almost 100 women aged between 13 to 28 followed a rigorous 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedule during the course in August.

    It included techniques on handling being attacked from behind, moves such as takedowns and strikes, and discussions about how to react in possible sexual assault scenarios.

    "It's been tough and my whole body is aching but the nuns were very inspiring. All girls should learn Kung Fu," said one participant Tsering Yangchen, a 23-year-old student.

    "I am often uncomfortable going to the market as there are boys standing around looking, whistling and cat-calling. I was always hesitant to say anything but now I feel much more confident to speak out and even protect myself if I have to."
    There are more images in the slideshow if you follow the link.

    Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns & Indian women counter rape with martial arts training.

    Here's the official website of the Druk Gawa Khilwa Abbey.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #78
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    Forbes coverage

    NOV 6, 2017 @ 06:30 PM The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
    Meet The Kung Fu Nuns Of The Himalayas
    Out of Asia , CONTRIBUTOR
    Stories for expanding horizons.
    Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
    GUEST POST WRITTEN BY Rhea Mogul
    Ms. Mogul is based in Hong Kong and covers stories on women's rights and gender. Follow her on Twitter. Read more here.

    "No one is coming to save you. You have to be your own hero,"


    Wendy J.N. Lee
    "No one is coming to save you. You have to be your own hero," said Jigme Wangchuk Lhamo, co-captain of the Kung Fu Nuns.

    Atop a quiet mountain in the Himalayas, a revolution is taking place.

    In an incredible demonstration of energy and strength, a group of young nuns from the Drupka lineage of Himalayan Buddhism have adopted the ancient art of Kung Fu to champion gender equality and empower young women, as reports of rape rise in India.

    The inherently patriarchal Buddhist system traditionally sees nuns as second class citizens, assigned to cook and clean, leaving monks to take on leadership roles. But in 2008, the revolutionary leader of the Drupka lineage, His Holiness The Gyalwang Drupka, radically changed the position of women in his order. Breaking the centuries-old ban on exercise, he encouraged them to travel the world, train vigorously, and become advocates for women’s empowerment and protection.

    'You have to be your own hero'

    The Kung Fu Nuns of the Drupka Order began learning the martial art to promote self-defense in a community where women are disproportionally affected by rape, trafficking and violence. Stories of assault feature in Indian newspapers daily; but the figures do not tell the whole story, as many are afraid to report cases in fear of being shamed by their family and community.


    Wendy J.N. Lee
    A training session held by the Kung Fu Nuns.

    Nearly 100 women aged between 13-28 trained under the nuns this August, by following a demanding three-hour daily schedule. The course included techniques on handling attacks from behind, and discussions about how to react in potential sexual assault scenarios.

    Today, the Kung Fu Nuns of the Drupka Order are adept in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, and they have become a household name in many Himalayan regions.

    Epic acts of service

    Carrie Lee, president of Live to Love International, a charity that works closely with the Kung Fu Nuns to support marginalized communities, calls them “exceptional role models.” She adds, “they are fiercely compassionate and incredibly brave. Not even landslides and earthquakes could stand in their way.”

    Lee isn’t wrong.

    In addition to being advocates for women’s rights, these young women are also known for their epic acts of service. In 2015, they refused evacuation after the Nepal earthquake, and instead, delivered relief aid to neglected villages. It killed almost 9,000 people, leaving over 40,000 orphaned children to live perilously. The result was increased trafficking of children and women. Gangs deceived the impoverished into bonded labor, selling them as slaves in restaurants, hotels and shops, and many girls and women were sold into brothels.

    Using their expert knowledge of the region’s landscape, the nuns biked, trekked and travelled for days to ensure safety to as many victims as possible, powering through treacherous terrain and hostile conditions.


    Jigme Ngodup
    Nuns delivering aid.

    Unlike other nuns, their prayers and chants are accompanied by punches and kicks. And between meditation sessions, they give lectures on gender equality. The Kung Fu Nuns of the Drupka Order are not only changing the lives of women in the region, but they are also changing the stigma attached to women. The progressive attitude of the Gyalwang Drupka has produced the next generation of strong, independent and physically-capable leaders.

    "We have to go out and act on the words that we pray," said Jigme Konchok Llhamo. "After all, actions speak louder than words.”
    I'm pleased to reveal that the upcoming Shaolin Special issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi will have an exclusive feature on the Kung Fu nuns of Drupka.

    Subscribe now.
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  4. #79
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    On the newsstands now

    Buddhist Nuns Fight New Battles with Kung Fu
    By Lori Ann White
    January+February 2018 Kung Fu Tai Chi

    Gene Ching
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  5. #80
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    Meme from the JAN+FEB 2018 issue

    Gene Ching
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  6. #81
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    Another meme from JAN+FEB 2018

    Gene Ching
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  7. #82
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    Another meme from JAN+FEB 2018

    Gene Ching
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  8. #83
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    Another meme from JAN+FEB 2018

    Gene Ching
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  9. #84
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    An update


    The Kung Fu Nuns, of the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, teach girls that women can be just as powerful as men. (Photos courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns )

    These Buddhist nuns empower girls – with kung fu
    In addition to their humanitarian work, they teach women and girls self-defense and that 'they can be as strong and as powerful as a man'
    by Tony Inglis | 9 Mar 2018


    Nuns from the Himalayan Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism go into communities to teach women and girls how to defend themselves using the mythologized techniques of kung fu. Photo courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns

    In the West, perceptions of kung fu are reflected by our pop culture. Generations of kids who grew up watching Bruce Lee movies have gone on to create art that uses kung fu as a touchstone – from rapper Kendrick Lamar, who styled the tour and videos supporting his 2017 album “****” around the ancient martial art, to a series of box-office-smashing movies about a gifted animated panda.

    In the East, specifically in China, kung fu is a national symbol viewed with reverence and seriousness. As The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos wrote, a film like “Kung Fu Panda” “could only be made by a foreigner because Chinese filmmakers would never try to play with such solemn subjects” as kung fu or pandas. The idea of flipping kung fu conventions on their head at all, never mind creating something that portrays it as zany and cartoonish, is outlandish and disrespectful.

    “Actually,” said Jigme Konchok Lhamo, “kung fu is not for fighting or causing pain; it is for self-defense. It was the same for Shaolin monks. They would stay in retreats alone in the mountains, where there were robbers and thieves, so it was just to protect themselves. The Bodhidharma taught kung fu to monks for self-defense, not fighting or violation.”

    This is how Konchok shoots down the common misconceptions about kung fu. She is a nun from the Himalayan Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Here, the traditionally patriarchal makeup of Buddhist orders of monks and nuns has been subverted, and it is these young women who have taken the lead.

    A part of the mission they have taken upon themselves includes going into communities – so far, in the towns surrounding their monastery in Nepal, as well as parts of the northern Indian region of Ladakh – to teach women and girls how to defend themselves using the mythologized techniques of kung fu.


    Girls are taught by nuns of the Drukpa lineage how to use kung fu techniques for self-defense. Photo courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns

    Being branded as ass-kicking kung fu nuns is an eye-catching and unusual headline. But when I spoke to Konchok and her fellow Drukpa nun Jigme Wangchuk Lhamo – at Trust Conference, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s annual human rights and anti-trafficking seminar in London – it was the dedicated and inspiring humanitarian work they do in the region that they eruditely and excitedly want to discuss and impress upon.

    “We traveled a long distance to bring a message to young girls,” said Wangchuk, who along with Konchok took part in an onstage panel at the conference. “They can be as strong and as powerful as a man, if you give them what they want and what they need, if you give them a chance.”

    Konchok called it an opportunity.

    “Girls maybe wouldn’t have believed before that they could do that,” she said. “That’s how kung fu came in. You always hear about Shaolin monks, right? But what about kung fu nuns? That’s a huge thing!”

    They both had a fizzing energy – finishing each other’s sentences and always united in what they believe. Multiple times during our conversation, they spoke in spontaneous unison. Sometimes it was hard to keep up, but their passion for their service pulled me through.

    “After learning kung fu, we became more confident. We were physically and mentally strong, and it even helps us with our meditation in our spiritual lives,” Konchok said. “Just because we practice and teach kung fu doesn’t mean we don’t follow our spiritual path too. We do each and every thing side by side.

    “We have been learning to play drums and to perform the dragon dance – all the things that girls were prohibited from doing in the early days of our order. So it’s not just kung fu. We have been doing all the things that society says girls and women can’t do, and that’s in terms of our Buddhist nunnery life also.”

    The Buddhist lineage the two young women belong to wasn’t always as forward-thinking and unconventional as it now seems. In 2008, the Gyalwang Drukpa, the leader of the Drukpa line, began reforms that brought the order’s nuns to the forefront and started their new tradition of dispersing thoughts that prioritize the fight for women’s equality and empowerment.

    “People think that nuns should stay inside a nunnery, serving monks, washing their clothes, acting like a waiter or something,” Konchok said. “They say we have to be peaceful, always meditating, (they begin to talk as one) in retreat, praying, chanting, sitting, doing nothing. We have a higher level of thinking here.

    “In our lineage, our monks have always supported us and shown us respect. We are equal.”

    It was this alternative attitude that inspired Wangchuk to dedicate her life to the order.

    “When I was small, my thoughts were really big,” she said. “I hated when people said girls can’t do anything. I loved helping and serving others, and from very early on, I knew I wanted to do this for my whole life. I had heard about what the Gyalwang Drukpa was doing from my uncle, who was a monk within the order, and he said, ‘I have the perfect place for you; you can find your dream there.’

    “I found this place, and I knew it was where I wanted to be. It meant the opportunity to do anything I wanted – to learn kung fu, to help and give support to other girls, and to help us discover and take heed of our own power.”
    continued next post
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  10. #85
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    Continued from previous post


    The Kung Fu Nuns perform kung fu techniques. Photo courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns

    In the historically gendered hierarchy of the religious establishment, achieving what the Drukpa nuns have is especially radical. They are now even entrusted with the secrets to the most esoteric form of meditation, something that was only previously available to male members of the order.

    This is even more apparent as we live through #MeToo and Time’s Up, movements in the Western world where women are beginning to be listened to when speaking out about experiences of systemic harassment, male privilege and sexual abuse that seem to have infected all walks of life.

    By speaking out and teaching kung fu, Wangchuk, Konchok and their community of fellow nuns are encouraging women and girls in marginalized sections of their region to start making change in their own way.

    “This world says ‘ladies first,’ but this phrase is useless if it isn’t applied in real life. There is nothing first in this world for ladies,” Wangchuk said. “It’s often said that our kung fu workshops empower women. And you say this about street papers too – they empower homeless people. But actually, what we are doing is not giving people power but allowing them to discover their own power. We all have our own power. We just need the support and the love to find it.”

    Behind the kung fu classes that made them famous, the Drukpa nuns do less publicized, but far more extraordinary, work in the communities surrounding their monastery home. This includes an eco pad yatra (walking pilgrimage) to remote villages, collecting plastics and other non-biodegradable waste to educate communities about protecting the environment. In the wake of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, they rode bicycles in high altitude through the Himalayas to help with the relief effort, clearing rubble and helping deliver aid to people in places that even the world’s largest organizations couldn’t reach. At the same time, they advocated against the spike in slavery, human trafficking and sexual assault that sprung up in the aftermath.


    The Kung Fu Nuns deliver aid as part of their humanitarian work. Photo courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns

    Not only did this make a real, visible difference, but it also showed their detractors what 700 Buddhist women could achieve together.

    “After the earthquake, we heard that girls were being sold because their families believed that they weren’t capable of doing anything to help rebuild,” Konchok said.

    “But we have been doing so much work, and doing it ourselves. We told these people: ‘Look, we are girls, and we can do it, so why can’t yours? We are from the same place, the same culture; why are you pushing your girls back? You should have faith in your daughters and encourage them. Why don’t you give them a chance?’ This especially shocked us because we are nuns, but we are also sisters and daughters too.”

    Now that they and their fellow nuns are achieving international recognition for their work, they hope that they can inspire a similar change in the wider world. But, of course, being confined to their humble surroundings, they are taking their movement one step at a time.

    “If we leave an impact on one person and that person impacts on another, eventually we will begin to see people change their way of thinking, until it spreads throughout whole communities, Konchok said. “Here (at Trust Conference), we have met all these people who support us and what we do. That makes it seem like a bigger change is coming. We may only effect that change in a small part of the world, but it is still a change.”


    Kung Fu Nuns perform kung fu techniques. Photo courtesy of Kung Fu Nuns

    At Trust Conference, Wangchuk and Konchok wowed the crowd with their high kicks and somersaults on stage. But more impressively, the young women roused the audience with wisdom beyond their years and an idealism that perhaps the older, more experienced attendees had since replaced with cynicism.

    They talked about the importance of not only supporting women from an early age, but also better educating boys so that they grow up to respect women. They summarized a vision of equality about which they spoke so enthusiastically to me earlier that day.

    “Most boys are told that they have all the power in the house, and girls are told to sit silently,” Konchok said. “But the problem is that’s what has been passed down to them by parents. I want parents to teach their daughters to be strong, to defend themselves. It’s not compulsory that you need to know kung fu or to fight. It’s more the mentality they have to change.”

    Wangchuk agreed: “We’re not saying that men can’t change. We can – we have to – change their thinking. But it’s up to parents, too. Don’t warn your daughter not to go out; warn your sons to behave well and treat women with respect.

    “Until we are all equal, as long as we push one part of society down, no matter whether that be women or some other demographic, we will never achieve peace.”

    Courtesy of INSP.ngo

    Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots
    This thread is really all about the Drukpa nuns save a few mere posts. I should copy that out into their own separate thread some day.
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  11. #86
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    Who let the dogs out?

    Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof

    Chinese nuns once used to it to battle bandits, but has dog kung fu had its day?
    Martial arts master fears for the future of fighting style that might not look pretty but sure has plenty of teeth
    PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 April, 2018, 5:49pm
    UPDATED : Sunday, 08 April, 2018, 6:42pm
    Stephen Chen
    https://www.facebook.com/Stephen.Chen.SCMP



    It might sound like the title of DreamWorks’ latest animated film franchise, but the ancient martial art of dog kung fu is a long way from being a blockbuster, according to one of China’s last masters of the fighting style.

    Li Weijun, who is the president of three martial art schools in Foshan, southern China’s Guangdong province, said that over the years he had taught various styles of martial arts to more than 3,000 students, Guangzhou Daily reported on Sunday.

    But these days, almost no one wanted to learn dog kung fu, he said.


    Li says he has taught martial arts to more than 3,000 people over the years but few these days are interested in learning dog kung fu. Photo: 163.com

    Despite its unusual name, legend has it that the fighting style was developed by Buddhist nuns from southeast China’s Fujian province as a form of protection against the bandits and wild animals they met on their travels.

    To most martial students, “the moves are not pleasing to the eyes”, but the technique was “extremely useful” in real combat situations, Li said.

    To truly master the art, students had to think and act like a dog, and in lesson one that meant learning how to take a blow, he said.

    “Above all you must drive fear out of your mind. Dog kung fu teaches you how to prepare for a counterstroke after being forced to the ground by your opponent.”

    By staying low, and making effective use of both hands and feet, a dog kung fu fighter was at his or her most dangerous from an inferior position, Li said.


    By staying low, and making effective use of both hands and feet, a dog kung fu fighter is most dangerous from an inferior position. Photo: 163.com

    Sadly, most people living on China’s mainland these days had little respect for dogs and so the style had fallen out of favour, he said.

    Now 46, Li said he learned the combat style from an old kung fu master who visited his village when he was just eight years old. He said he spent the next two years watching stray dogs on the street and copying the way they moved.

    According to the newspaper report, the martial arts master is not a man to be messed with. It takes him just 50 seconds to crack open 150 coconuts with his bare hands, it said.

    But you do not have to be a martial arts master to benefit from dog kung fu.

    One move enabled the practitioner to lock their opponent’s lower legs while lying on the ground, Li said.

    “So even the underdog has the chance to win.”
    Thread: Fujian Dog Boxing
    Thread: 2018 Year of the EARTH DOG
    Thread: Year of the Dog - Top Dog Championship
    Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns
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  12. #87
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    back in the news again

    This pic. Those shades.

    "Ladakh No Longer Safe For Women": Kung Fu Nuns Step In To Empower
    A total of 40 girl students, in the age group of 12 to 20, participated in the event and learned the techniques to guard themselves.
    All India | ANI | Updated: August 01, 2018 14:34 IST


    Kung Fu nuns are women from Buddhist sect who are using their martial arts. (Reuters)

    LADAKH: Fourteen Buddhist nuns, who are specialized in Kung Fu, trained local girls in Kung Fu in a six-day workshop which concluded at Naro Photang Hemis on Wednesday.
    A total of 40 girl students, in the age group of 12 to 20, participated in the event and learned the techniques to guard themselves. Kung Fu nuns are women from an age-old Buddhist sect who are using their martial arts expertise to challenge gender roles in this conservative culture and teach women self-defence.

    The program executive of the organising body, Rigzin Angmo said that the incidents of harassment against women are increasing in the region and Kung Fu is a good way to shield ourselves from social evils.

    "Since many years, we have seen an influx of tourists in Ladakh. It is no longer a peaceful and safe area. We have seen many crimes and an increase in sexual molestation and harassment cases, Ms Angmo said.

    "In such a situation, I believe that when women are empowered and they know self-defence, they can do much better. With Kung Fu, girls can feel safer in the homeland," she added.

    Girls, who participated in the event, were ecstatic to be a part of the workshop and they admitted that the workshop has helped them build their confidence.

    Talking about the need to conduct such workshops, one of the participants, Padma Youron said that the society is not a safe place and if your confidence level is high then you could deal with any kind of situation.

    "While learning Kung Fu, my confidence level has increased and we were taught a lot of techniques to handle harassment. I felt the need to learn Kung Fu as the society is not a safe area and if the confidence level of a girl is low then she does nothing to protect herself," Ms Youron said.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  13. #88
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    ttt 4 2019!



    Climate change and kung fu nuns: the fight for women’s safety in South Asia
    A FUTURE WORLD LIFE & CULTURE 14.05.2019
    Text Brit Dawson
    Illustration Marianne Wilson

    In South Asia, there’s a devastating correlation between weather-related disasters and the rising number of women being trafficked for sex

    Every year, in the remote depths of the Himalayas, hundreds of nuns clean plastic from the waterways of the mountain range. Trekking miles, the group picks up tonnes of rubbish, carrying it down the mountains, and shipping it back to Delhi to be recycled.

    Known as the Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa Lineage, these women are at the forefront of environmental and social change in the Himalayas. With an increasingly temperamental climate exacerbating natural disasters and rapidly melting the mountain’s glaciers, Himalayan communities are facing extinction. For women and girls in the region, there’s an even more immediate threat: as they’re thrust into poverty and displaced from their homes, they become increasingly vulnerable to sex trafficking.

    In the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Kung Fu Nuns offered aid to remote villages in need. Observing a disturbing increase in people selling off their daughters following the disaster, the nuns took direct action by way of bike rides across the Himalayas. “It was to show these villages that women were strong and capable enough to bicycle,” the group’s communications coordinator Carrie Lee tells me, “so they’d also be physically strong enough to farm, thereby worthwhile keeping and raising, and not selling off.”

    Although the Kung Fu Nuns are one of a kind, the plight of those they’re determined to help is not unique to the Himalayas. With 18.8 million people displaced from their homes due to weather-related disasters in 2017 alone, climate change is an enormous threat to countless women and girls – not in some far-off future, but right now.

    A Future World, Kung Fu Nuns


    The Kung Fu Nuns on their 2016 bicycle ‘yatra’ Courtesy Live to Love International / Wendy J.N. Lee

    With some of the highest numbers of climate-related displacements in the world, people in South Asia are particularly at risk. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, in 2017 there were a total of 2.7 million new disaster-related displacements in India (1.3 million), Bangladesh (946k), and Nepal (384k). Dubbed ‘climate refugees’ – though this term isn’t recognised by international law – those migrating are often doing so within their own country, meaning they don’t have legal rights specific to their situation (unlike refugees crossing borders to flee conflict). This lack of recognition, and the fact they’ve typically been uprooted with no warning, often means internally displaced people don’t get the help they need, and it’s within this insecure environment that traffickers thrive.

    Drawing on research conducted after two cyclones hit Bangladesh (in 2007 and 2009), a 2016 report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) identified women-headed households as especially vulnerable to exploitation.

    “The poorest and most vulnerable will be hit first and worst,” Steve Trent, co-founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, explains. “And among those, it’s nearly always women and children. Where you have environmental degradation and forced land clearance, you see migration towards urban city centres; there you see women who are incredibly vulnerable being coerced or forced into the sex trade, as they have no other means of survival.”

    This gender imbalance is reflected in broader trafficking statistics. As reported by The Global Slavery Index, there were 40.3 million people worldwide living in modern slavery in 2016, 71 per cent of whom were female. Of this percentage, nearly three out of every four women and girls trafficked were done so for the purpose of sexual exploitation. While in South Asia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states that in 2016, women and girls made up 59 per cent of the region’s total number of trafficking victims.

    “There’s a perception that it’s somewhere else and in the future, but it’s not, it’s here and now” – Steve Trent
    Although there’s largely a lack of both media attention and state action when it comes to trafficking, there are local organisations working tirelessly to rescue victims and prosecute perpetrators. One of these is India’s Rescue Foundation, a non-governmental organisation taking direct action to rescue trafficked women and girls from prostitution. Speaking over the phone from their base in Mumbai, project director Gerard Mukhia tells me he believes climate-related trafficking directly correlates with how quickly and efficiently governments respond to disasters.

    “If you have a chaotic response to a situation like an earthquake, in that chaos families will get scattered,” Mukhia reveals. “But if you have a response team who are coordinated, and focus their efforts on not just helping families recover, but also protecting them from being separated, I think that would really play a big role (in the reduction of human trafficking).”

    Mukhia tells me that following the 2015 Nepal earthquake, trafficking into India “increased by 500 per cent”, meaning victims were more spread out across the country. “A lot of the prostitution was brothel-based,” Mukhia reveals, “but now it’s branched out into massage parlours, spas, commercial residences, and private residences.” Based on this, the Rescue Foundation started running community awareness programmes, in order to educate local people who could then provide rescue help. “It’s something that’s in their peripheral, but they don’t want to acknowledge it exists,” Mukhia explains, going on to tell me that local cooperation has increased since the awareness programme began.

    Education is also central to the Kung Fu Nuns’ method of working. “The nuns’ motto is: ‘No one’s coming to rescue you’,” Lee tells me, “so they do self-defence training. Not that in a week a girl is going to learn to be a badass kung fu master, but in these regions it’s the only safe place for these girls to come, and for the first time in their lives they’re learning the words ‘molestation’ and ‘rape’.”

    A Future World, Kung Fu Nuns


    Kung Fu Nuns, 2017Courtesy Live to Love International / Wendy J.N. Lee

    It’s a bleak idea that nobody is coming to rescue trafficking victims, and although organisations like the Rescue Foundation are working tirelessly to help, there isn’t nearly enough acknowledgement of how big the problem is, particularly when it’s linked to climate displacement. “There’s a perception that it’s somewhere else and in the future,” Trent asserts, “but it’s not, it’s here and now. The Western world has benefited the most from carbon, and yet people in poorer states are feeling the real impacts – whether it be forced migration, or the ultimate destination for a vulnerable woman into the sex slave trade.”

    With Greta Thunberg leading weekly school strikes, and activist group Extinction Rebellion taking direct action, climate change is being talked about now more than ever, but it seems little is actually being done when it comes to legislation in severely affected countries, particularly when human rights are involved. “There’s a role for education in rural areas, but you don’t need everyone to understand the connection between climate migration and trafficking in order for a city authority to put a plan in place to prevent people being trafficked,” Alex Randall, programme manager at the Climate and Migration Coalition explains. “You’ve got to create cities that can grow, where rural migrants can go to and be safe, and that’s as much about their work, housing, and education rights as it is about social safety nets.”

    Although it might feel like a problem far too big to tackle, there’s so much that can be done in the face of this mass climate displacement – whether that’s educating both those at risk and the wider world in general about the heightened danger of sex trafficking, or fighting to make social and legal change. India’s proposed anti-trafficking bill, for example – though flawed – is a step in the right direction, proving the country is paying attention to the problem.

    With human trafficking at a 13-year record high, and the world in a climate emergency, action needs to be taken now. “Many causes are driven by a kind of dialogue that says perfect is possible,” Trent concludes, “and in this situation perfect is not possible, but I refuse to let perfect be the enemy of good. If we get to good, we can be changing the lives, right now, of many tens of thousands of people.”

    In the film below, PhD student Otto Simonsson meets some of the young Bangladeshi girls forced into prostitution following climate displacement. The documentary will be screened in UK parliament on May 22.

    My favorite nuns in the world today...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  14. #89
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    Drukpa revisited

    I've been way overdue for making an indie thread for Kung Fu Nuns of the Drupka Order independant of the Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns thread.

    Kung Fu Nuns in Nepal Are Prepared to Fight
    by Matthew Hart
    Aug 15 2019 • 10:15 AM



    Writer’s note: Yes, kung fu is a very broad term, but because the featured video doesn’t specify which type of kung fu these nuns are practicing, we’re going to stick with it.

    Admit it: When you see the words “kung fu” you immediately hear Neo from The Matrix saying “I know kung fu” in your head. But while all Neo needed to do to learn kung fu was chill in a chair and have badass moves downloaded into his brain, learning the legendary martial art in real life takes an extraordinary amount of dedication. Just ask this group of hardcore Nepalese nuns who have been training in kung fu since 2008.



    The video above, created by the YouTube channel Great Big Story, gives a glimpse of the nuns belonging to the Buddhist Drukpa Order. Throughout the clip, we see them wielding sharp weapons and nunchucks, breaking bricks with their hands, and launching some seriously impressive flying kicks in the air. They also use fans sometimes, because why not learn to battle humidity along with vicious enemies? (Really though, they’re used to help master balance.)

    And if you’re saying to yourself “well, that’s just a lot of fancy dancing that anybody could pull off,” trust that the training regimen that these nuns execute on is seriously brutal. The Drukpa Order nuns wake up at 3 a.m., meditate, bicycle, and then train by running, climbing stairs, and practicing their martial art for three hours.



    According to the nuns, practicing kung fu helps them to feel stronger, more confident, better coordinated, and sharper mentally. There are also real-world applications for the nuns, who teach self-defense classes for women, and publicly demonstrate that “[girls] can do anything a man can do.”

    What do you think of these kung fu nuns? If you joined the Drukpa Order, how long do you think you’d last? Meditate on this topic in the comments!

    Images: Great Big Story
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  15. #90
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    Kung Fu Nuns & Shaolin Nuns

    GLOBAL JANUARY 17, 2020 1:00AM PT
    Fabula, Fremantle Partner on Marialy Rivas’ Ass-Kicking Nun Actioner ‘Talitha Kum’ (EXCLUSIVE)
    By JOHN HOPEWELL
    Chief International Correspondent
    @https://twitter.com/john_hopewell


    CREDIT: FÁBULA/FREMANTLE

    MADRID — Adding a new dimension to strong women action series, London-based global drama producer-distributor Fremantle is teaming with Fabula, headed by director Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”) and producer Juan de Dios Larraín (“Gloria Bell”), to produce “Talitha Kum.”

    Directed by Marialy Rivas (“Young & Wild,” “Princesita”), the high octane Mexico-set action series promises to deliver a original genre twist to the scenario of valiant women pushing back against toxic masculinity with its bad ass young ninja nuns battling mano a mano with lethal sex traffickers.

    “Talitha Kum” marks the second collaboration between Fabula and Fremantle as part of a multi-year first look deal between the partners, following on buzzed-up sexual abuse psychological thriller “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), showrun by Lucía Puenzo (“The German Doctor”), whose Ep. 1 premiered at September’s Zurich Festival to acclaim. As on “La Jauría,” Fremantle is co-producing “Talitha Kum” with Fabula and will handle international sales.

    Fabula and Fremantle will introduce a promo during targeted meetings at next week’s NATPE: Miami market looking for potential co-producers, said Angela Poblete, Fabula director of TV.

    Designed for mass audience viewership, “Talitha Kum,” is written by leading Chilean playwright Manuela Infante, who co-penned hit Finland-Chile co-production “Invisible Heroes,” as well as Enrique Videla, who worked with Pablo Larrain on the seminal HBO series “Profugos” and has become a lynchpin co-scribe on many titles in Chile’s recent premium TV boom such as “The Pack” and “Dignity.”

    Initial action centers on Tenanchingo, Tlaxcala, South-East Mexico, a notorious hub of sexual slavery. There, a faction of kick-ass liberation nuns, part of worldwide covert org Talitha Kum, train in kung-fu within the Convent of Sisters of Charity, before infiltrating the most feared gangs in Mexico as prostitutes, aiming to free its young girls from sexual trafficking.

    Magdalena, a young cloistered nun, will receive the call, and joins Talitha Kum, trading her habit for a trashy mini-skirt, as a savage war breaks out between rival gangs. One hell of a bad ass when it comes to martial arts, Magdalena also proves in other ways to be special.

    The series “has enormous potential to fly to the most unexpected of territories,” Poblete said. “Its issues are transversal, hot button. Mexico’s a fascinating market, with a rich diversity and actors which can convert this story into a series of worldwide quality.


    CREDIT: FÁBULA/FREMANTLE

    Like “La Jauría,” “Talitha Kum” is a show about young ass-kicking women fighting for social justice,” added Christian Vesper, Fremantle creative director for global drama, who executive produces the series with Poblete.

    “It also has something to say about big ideas, frames local issues very well but really speaks to a universal audience, is super commercial, radical and accessible at the same time.”

    Fremantle and Fabula have a fair number of scripts, know the story arc of Season 1, but are likely to look to tie down a broadcast partner before casting, Vesper added.

    “The Spanish-speaking market is so huge, there’s so much talent. There’s a real opportunity in the most commercial sense to make a bigger show by casting actors, Mexican or otherwise Hispanic,” he said.

    “Talitha Kum” continues Fabula’s mission of empowering women on and off the screen, being directed by Marialy Rivas, who burst onto the international film scene with stylish and sexual-souped coming of age tale “Young & Wild,” which won best screenwriting at the 2012 Sundance Festival.

    The series stems from Rivas’ reading a news item about a group of nuns who rescued victims of sexual trafficking. “The legend became an obsession. Around it I built a fantasy universe of avenger nuns, nuns by day, vigilantes by night,” she said.

    Attracted to a world of female empowerment, and highly interested in sexual trafficking and prostitution from “a contemporary, feminist viewpoint,” the series, which will have “pop, comic-book, attractive visuals,” Rivas explained.

    “Talitha Kum” targets “all demographics” who can take in its action or more profound political layers, she added.


    CREDIT: DANNY MOLOSHOK/INVISION/FELIPE TRUEBA/EPAAP/SHUTTERSTOCK

    “We’re ever more moved, as women, to enjoy the opportunity of creating fiction with issues that affect and interest us,” Poblete said. “The question is how. How can we get across our issues so that they’re attractive for large audiences? In this case, an action series, bordering on the supernatural, is the perfect and highly sexual wrapping as a way into the material. The scripts are mind-blowing, characters complex and diverse, the ninja nun team has the legs for multiple seasons.”

    The International Labour Organization estimated in 2016 that sex slavery generated $99 billion in global profits. Increased migration, the spread of neoliberal globalization, violence against women in war are cited as business drivers.

    Alongside Venezuela, Mexico was cited in a 2018 Global Slavery Index as the Latin American country with the highest vulnerability to modern slavery.

    “We’ve spent years talking about narcos and corruption, but we haven’t paid attention to human trafficking, the second biggest illicit business in the world,” said Poblete. “There are countries where sex slavery is an enormous sore, affecting millions of people.”

    “Talitha Kum” marks the third time in its first three TV shows that Fabula has worked with illustrious women film directors. It follows on sexual abuse psychological thriller “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), showrun by Lucía Puenzo (“The German Doctor”), and Amazon Prime Video soccer corruption drama “El Presidente,” directed by Mexico’s Natalia Beristáin (“The Eternal Feminine”).

    “At Fabula, we’re fascinated to work with powerful, brilliant women directors, such as Marialy Rivas, Lucía Puenzo and Natalia Beristain. There’s a dream team of arresting Latin directors and we’re truly thankful to have projects with many of them,” Poblete concluded.

    Vesper added: “Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín have made their mark with genuine filmmaking. Their TV series traverse the premium-mainstream line. They’re not overly auteur. They’re just really good storytellers – tight, crisp and focused.”

    (Pictured: “Talitha Kum” concept art; (left to right): Christian Vesper, Marialy Rivas, Angela Poblete)

    https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.c...g?w=1024&h=431
    CREDIT: FÁBULA/FREMANTLE
    Talitha Kum reminds me of our Kung Fu nuns.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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