Buddhists in Nepal showcase the deadly martial arts moves they spend two hours a day perfecting
The Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery teaches women how to punch, kick and hand chop
THEY'RE usually renowned for being a quiet, calming influence on the local community but these Nepalese nuns are anything but.
A group of female Buddhists at the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery have become experts at the deadly martial art of kung fu after honing the sport for two hours a day.
Women in the monastic system were only allowed to do menial domestic tasks, such as working in the kitchen or tending to the garden, until a rebellion was held 26 years ago.
Members of the 800-year-old Drukpa order demanded that women be treated with the same respect as men.
His Holiness The Gyalwang Drukpa, leader of the Buddhist sect, said: “When I was very small, I was already thinking that it was not right to suppress women in our society.
“But then when I grew up, I started to think what can I do for them?
"Then I thought what I can do is to build a nunnery and then give them an opportunity to study and practice spiritually.”
Chores at the hillside nunnery just outside Kathmandu are now split equally, and women get to lead prayers, practice meditation, take English lessons and classes in managerial skills.
In 2008 the Gyalwang Drukpa decided to introduce martial arts into the nunnery, after seeing women from Vietnam receiving combat training that was previously used by Viet Cong guerrillas.
Every day the nuns don burgundy jumpsuits and take part in intense training sessions complete with hand chops, punches, high kicks and exaggerated kicks.
“It’s good for our health. Meditation is very difficult and if we do kung fu, then afterwards meditation becomes much easier,” 16-year-old Rupa Lama .
Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo added: “It’s excellent exercise, secondly it’s very good for discipline and concentration, thirdly it arouses a sense of self-confidence which is very important for nuns, and fourthly when any young men in the area know nuns are kung fu experts, they keep away.”
The progressive views of the the Gyalwang Drukpa have boosted the number of young women who want to become nuns.
Jetsunma continued: “Many of them say, wow, if I become a nun I can study, I can practise, I can do these rituals, I can live together with all these other lovely nuns and lamas will visit us and give us teaching."
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The kung fu nuns get to experience things other Nepalese cannot.
“His Holiness wants the nuns to be like the men, with the same rights in the world,” 18-year-old Jigme Konchok Lhamo .
“That is why we get the chance to do everything, not just kung fu.
“We also have the chance here to learn many things, like tennis and skating.
"And we have the chance also to learn English and Tibetan, dancing and musical instruments.”
Gyalwang Drukpa said promoting gender equality helps “give me great encouragement to work harder and live longer.”