Kung Fu Grannies in Kenya

[SnowDog]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37134218...womens_health/ -

NAIROBI, Kenya - A two-finger poke to the eyes, a punch to the solar plexus, a kick to the groin, then turn and run, the instructor barks.

But this is not your typical self-defense class. The trainer is an elderly Kenyan woman who is teaching her peers how to combat a spate of rape attacks targeting elderly women in the slums. One Nairobi hospital treated 437 rape victims older than 60 last year.

In the sludge-covered alleyways of the Korogocho slum, 50 women, many of them grandmothers, have enrolled in twice-a-week self-defense classes at a run-down community center. The women say they must rely on themselves because the police rarely patrol the dark paths that wind through the maze of iron-roofed shanties. When suspected rapists are reported to the police, they often bribe their way to freedom, the women say.

At the Korogocho community hall, elderly women clad in headscarves, long skirts and petticoats pound punching bags with the heels of their bare feet.

"No, no, no!" screams 70-year-old Mary Wangui as she pounds the heavy hitting pad. Her open-palm blows force a 20-something instructor, Sheila Kariuki, to fall backward. A group of around 30 women between the ages of 50 and 80 cheer on Wangui as they wait their turn.

"When we hit the pad with an open palm we are training to target the nose, the solar plexus or the groin to hurt an attacker so that it can give you a chance to escape. Shouting 'no' repetitively is meant to draw the attention of people so that they can assist you," said Wangui, who has been training for almost two years.

"Don't feel any mercy. Was he coming to read the Bible with you?" Kariuki asks the women.

‘Life here is not good’
One of the causes of elderly rape is a belief by criminals that intercourse with an elderly woman can cure them of AIDS. Others think that raping an elderly woman will cleanse their sins after committing crimes, Kariuki said.

Ten elderly women have been raped and killed the last two years in Korogocho, but no suspects have been arrested, Kariuki said. Many other rapes are believed to have taken place but not reported.

1 in 5 rape victims is elderly
The Gender Recovery Center at the Nairobi Women's Hospital treated 2,357 victims of rape last year. Of the 1,118 adults who were victims of the crime, 223 women over the age of 60 — almost 20 percent of the victims, said the center's monitoring and evaluation officer, Lillian Kasina. National crime statistics are lower than the hospital's numbers, because of the stigma of reporting rape.

"Many of the reporting desks at police stations are manned by men who see rape as a crime of pleasure rather than seeing it as a crime that violates women's dignity," said Harun Ndubi, a human rights official with the group Haki Focus.

A national police spokesman, Charles Owino, said that reports of rape in general rose in 2008 and 2009, although he would not release statistics. He said the increase is because of more awareness of the crime and the introduction of stronger laws against sexual offenders.

Owino said the allegation that police do not act on reported cases could be true, and that if a police officer ignores a complaint, the victim or her family should talk to someone higher up the chain of command. "You can go all the way up and talk to the police commissioner," Owino said.

Julia Karinge, who is in her 80s and gets assistance from Ujamaa, said she has been raped twice.

"I did not resist either time because I did not want to die. They killed a friend of mine and dumped her body outside my house," said Karinge, who is not taking the defense classes.

No arrests were made, though she reported the crime to police and could identify her attacker.

"You need to pay them to get them to do anything," she said.


This is some seriously messed up Sh!t. Raping elderly women will cure you of AIDS WTF??????

But you have to love the pictures of the Old women in their traditonal garb kicking bags and throwing techniques at each other.

[GeneChing]

It was on our Give it up to the elderly!!!!! thread. But it's worthy of its own thread.

[SnowDog]

Oh man, you found this 4 days before me.

Your News-Fu is far superior

[GeneChing]

Not the realz Kung Fu, but a nice story.

Kung Fu Granny doesn't take no guff
Posted by Maxime Zech on 6:21 CET, Tuesday, 11, February, 2014 in Netherlands

She may be in her twilight years, but that doesn’t mean Larissa Olkhovsky can’t punch someone’s lights out.
Olkhovsky, from Gouda, encountered a young man at her door who pushed his way into her home on Friday. She promptly pushed him right back and out of her house using her fists. “I just became so fantastically angry, just like I learned at self-defense class.” She engaged in fisticuffs with the youth when he threatened her with a knife.
The teenager was on the look-out for easy prey, but ended up knocking at the wrong door. “He found himself the most wrong old lady you could imagine”, her family said proudly.
Larissa Olkhovsky has proven the most metal granny on the block by earning herself some bruised knuckles on her right hand, a left hand full of stitches, a bruised shoulder, sore ribs and wounds on her head. “But I survived it, all that training at the gym and my self-defense classes have worked! I am very strong and muscular, you know. An example, they always say at the gym.”
A few years ago, an elderly woman was attacked in her neighborhood, close to the train tracks in Gouda. “The whole neighborhood was scared, me too. And that is an unpleasant feeling: being scared. I asked the gym: ‘can you give me some self-defense classes’. More people wanted that: In no time around fifteen women signed up.”
Larissa works out around 6 hours a week. “I am always so careful, shut all the doors tight and never open the door after seven in the evening. But who expects a robber at three o’clock in the afternoon? Why he chose me, I don’t know: I think he just picked on the first person who opened the door.”
When she unsuspectingly opened the door, the young man forced his way immediately into the cramped hallway. Larissa always has a can of pepper-spray ready, and a small hand saw standing ready. Tip from the self-defense instructor. “But I didn’t have time to pick those up! The boy, an angel to behold, so handsome, immediately threatened me with a knife. I took the knife with my left hand, I didn’t feel anything. I only thought: that thing must not come near my neck or my heart! I didn’t let go for a second. With my right hand, I made a fist and I hit and hit, and threw all the dirty words at him that I knew! I just kept hitting, I was so angry! My rage saved me.”


Pepper Spray, a useful tool for disarming an attacker. Source: Wikimedia/Rapanog

She beat the robber out of the door. “He was gone, and I had the knife. It was double lucky: with his DNA on it!” She sat on the couch for a while, to recover. Then she called her daughter. She was very shocked. “There was blood everywhere.” She still isn’t scared. “I have self-confidence, that’s been proven now. The first night I did keep seeing that knife. Those few smacks: okay, but that knife… ah, but it’s done now. I have experienced so many things in my life, and I’ve always come away a stronger person.”

[GeneChing]

'Kung Fu Granny' has been honing her martial arts skills for the last 90 years
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON FEB 13, 2017 10:00 PM



Meet Zhang Hexian. She started to learn kung fu when she was just four years old. Now, 90 years later, she's better known as "Kung Fu Granny."



Even at 94 years old, Zhang still maintains a daily training regimen of practicing her martial arts moves, sometimes even showing off her skill with a staff for fellow villagers in Liyang town in eastern Zhejiang province.



Zhang is also credited with being the town's defender, keeping it safe from various scoundrels and bullies.



Best to watch your step when visiting this granny's village.



Or anywhere in China, really. Never can tell who is actually a kung fu master.

[Images via NetEase]

Wonder what her style is...

[-N-]

Wonder what her style is...

From the last pic, apparently the style of breaking your wrists when punching

[GeneChing]

Here's all her past posts:
1
2
3

Across China: "Kung fu Granny" becomes Internet celebrity
Source: Xinhua 2017-02-17 21:00:38
NINGBO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A stick in hand, 94-year-old kung fu granny Zhang Hexian fights local bullies and protect her fellow villagers.

The granny has long been well-known in her hometown, Ninghai County, eastern China's Zhejiang Province. Recently, she has become a celebrity on Chinese social media, with some netizens saying that they wanted to be her disciples.

Zhang started to learn martial arts from her father at the age of four. "My father would teach me kung fu skills even when in bed," she says.

Every day, she gets up at 5 a.m., practices kung fu moves, and has some porridge or noodles for breakfast. She grows vegetables, chops wood and cooks meals by herself, since her husband passed away several years ago.

Kung fu has brought her good health.

"My mom has never been to the hospital, and would recover from occasional colds after some sleep," said Feng Chuanyin, Zhang's son. "She never takes health products such as vitamins or supplements."

Video clips and pictures of her practising kung fu have went viral.

"My dear granny, You are so great!" read one post on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service. The netizen wished she would live more than 100 years.

"Granny, do you still want to have disciples," asked another netizen. Some netizens even said they wanted their children to learn kung fu from her.

Kung fu has not only brought her a strong body, but also romance.

At 14, she met a man named Feng Yongkai, who was four years older than her. He was a kung fu student of Zhang's father.

They would practice kung fu together in the mountain, gradually falling in love before getting married.

Zhang's kung fu has even helped her deal with robbers. Once coming across three robbers on a mountain, she shouted "Dare you come and fight me?" and brought down two of them before they could even react. The third, realizing he had no chance, quickly ran off.

Kung fu has given her strong arms, making her able to do large-pot cooking. Considered the best cook in her village in the 1970s, she once cooked as many as 52 dishes for a single banquet. Now in her nineties, she is still able to thread a needle by herself.

Practicing kung fu is a tradition in her family. Zhang has taught her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren kung fu.

"We practice kung fu for health reasons and self-defense," said Feng Chuanyin. "My mom tells us that attacking others is absolutely unacceptable."

In good spirits, Zhang said that she wanted to teach kung fu to younger generations and pass it on.

Editor: Xiang Bo

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Yesterday at 4:07am ·
Mit dieser Oma legst du dich besser nicht an! Die 94-Jährige Chinesin ist Kung-Fu-Meisterin.

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From the last pic, apparently the style of breaking your wrists when punching

At 94, you'll be lucky to be able to break wind and not poop in your shorts.

[-N-]

At 94, you'll be lucky to be able to break wind and not poop in your shorts.

That's actually an evolutionarily tested self defense technique widely found in nature

[GeneChing]

Learn that in MMA, did ya?

Remind me NEVER to get in a fight with you.

[-N-]

Learn that in MMA, did ya?

Remind me NEVER to get in a fight with you.

Another thing that MMA didn't invent

https://www.newscientist.com/article...of-its-bowels/

http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/2012/...n-defense.html

http://www.tested.com/science/life/4...s-poison-poop/

http://www.quantov.com/animal-world/...ect-themselves

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/b...s-a-weapon-111

Ever hear of Sea Cucumber Kung Fu?