Nepal's gongfu nuns practise karma with a kick

It is a hot, cloudless morning on a hillside on the outskirts of Kathmandu and dozens of nuns arrange themselves into lines around a golden Buddhist shrine.

In unison, each slams a clenched fist into their opposite palm, breathes deeply and waits, motionless in the rising heat.


But these devotees are not here to pray or to meditate, for they have gathered to undergo a rigorous and aggressive martial arts routine as the world's first order of gongfu nuns.

The sisters of the Amitabha Drukpa Nunnery - aged from nine to 52 - come from across Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan to learn the ancient Chinese discipline of gongfu, which they believe will help them be better Buddhists.

Every day, they exchange their maroon robes and philosophical studies for a intense 90-minute session of hand chops, punches, shrieks and soaring high kicks.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120509-344763.html
Content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.