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Thread: Thoroughly ancient Buddhist monastery found in Afghanistan

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
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    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
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    Random article post for this random thread

    At least this allowed me to poach this thread from it's previous sub-forum to the Shaolin sub-forum. All the Buddhist posts might go here.

    Afghan women practice ancient Shaolin martial arts
    By ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Published: 1:01 am
    Updated: 5:11 am


    Associated Press Photo
    Shaolin martial arts students follow their trainer, Sima Azimi, 20, in black, during a practice session on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2017. The ten ethnic Hazara women and girls practice the martial arts of Shaolin on a hilltop in the west of Kabul. They are preparing for the day that Afghanistan can send its women’s team to the Shaolin world championship in China. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini)

    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — While Afghanistan’s Buddhists were carving the giant sandstone statues in Bamiyan in 500 A.D., Buddhists in China were creating martial arts in the Shaolin temple in Henan Province.

    Fifteen hundred years later, 10 ethnic Hazara women and girls practice the martial arts of Shaolin on a hilltop in the west of Kabul. They are preparing for the day that Afghanistan can send its women’s team to the Shaolin world championship in China.

    Sima Azimi, 20, who is originally from Jaghuri, in central Afghanistan, trains nine students in the martial arts to prepare for Olympic competition, but also to protect themselves on the streets of Kabul, where women are routinely harassed. Azimi remembered an incident in which a thief tried to snatch her purse, but with her martial arts skills she fought back and saved it.

    Raihana Amiri, also 20, hopes to participate in international Shaolin competitions and bring honor and pride to Afghanistan, which is battered by decades of war.

    When they aren’t training on the snow-covered hills that surround Kabul, Azimi trains her students in a grungy, dark club financed by a young cinema actor. Azimi said it was difficult to find all the tools needed to train. For instance, she had to order a Shaolin sword from Iran, where she had studied the art for three years. They could not find Shaolin uniforms, but, undeterred, they designed and ordered uniforms made by a Kabul tailor.

    While studying in Iran, Azimi competed in two competitions where she won gold and bronze medals. A year after returning to Afghanistan, she decided to train young girls who lived in the Hazara-dominated neighborhoods of the capital. Most of her students are teenagers, while a few of the older students study in universities. Azimi charges between $2 and $5 a month depending on what they can afford.

    “Some of my students’ families had problems accepting their girls studying Wushu (martial arts),” she said. “But I went to their home and talked to their parents.”

    In religiously conservative Afghanistan, girls are often discouraged from aggressive sports. Many parents fear a sporting accident could result in a girl breaking her hymen before marriage, which is considered deeply shameful.

    While strides have been made for women in Afghanistan, Azimi said there’s still much to change. She firmly believes that girls and women can stand toe-to-toe with boys in Shaolin martial arts. In an Olympic Committee competition in Kabul, Azimi took first position among female Shaolin participants.
    Shaolin Wushu in Kabul, Afghanistan
    Source:Xinhua Published: 2017/1/20 10:12:09


    Seema Azimi (Front) teaches Afghan girls Wushu on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)


    Seema Azimi (L) teaches Wushu for Afghan girls on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)


    Afghan girls from Shaolin club perform Wushu on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)


    Seema Azimi (Front) teaches Afghan girls Wushu on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)


    Afghan girls from Shaolin club perform Wushu on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)


    Afghan girls from Shaolin Wushu club pose for photos after taking training on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2017. There are 20 Afghan girls learn Wushu in the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul. Most of them are students. The eldest girl among them is 20 years old, and the youngest one is only 13 years old. They have been practicing this martial sport for almost two years. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    A vid

    Sima Azimi went quite viral with this. Here's another facebook vid, which our forum claims to be able to embed. Maybe I'm still not doing it right.

    The Guardian

    February 9 at 2:00am ·

    https://www.facebook.com/theguardian...4570150064085/

    20-year-old Sima Azimi is teaching young women in Kabul a Chinese martial art called wushu. Women are discouraged from contact sports in Afghanistan, but Sima is fighting against gender prejudice. She hopes her classes will help her students feel safer in a country plagued by insecurity

    Play -1:33
    1.9M Views

    28K Likes 918 Comments 21K Shares
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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