Kung Fu Nuns of Nepal win the Unesco Award

Women practicing martial arts are still believable. But Buddhist Nuns in the Himalayas are learning and teaching Kung Fu! Now they have also been bestowed with a prestigious UNESCO award. Believers of non-violence martial arts were also once a taboo in Buddhism.

In Nepal where women are exploited a lot, are learning, and teaching Chinese Kung Fu martial art in self-defence. Through martial arts, world- famous Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa order of Buddhism empower young girls to defend themselves, build confidence, and take on leadership roles in their communities.

Adept in both weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, they have begun a self-defence training initiative for young girls in the Himalayas, where violence against women is widespread but rarely reported. With nearly a thousand Drukpa nuns in the ranks, there is a long waiting list of women and girls who want to join them. Some of the nuns are also Black Belt, a coveted rank in martial arts.

The nuns have recently won the prestigious Martial Arts Education Prize 2021 from the UNESCO International Centre for Martial Arts for their brave acts of service this year. The prize recognises the Kung Fu Nuns’ heroic acts of service and championing of gender equality across the Himalayas. It also recognises the Kung Fu Nuns’ work in Indian and Nepali communities hit especially hard by the pandemic, leaving many marginalised groups in need of supplies and education.

The Kung Fu Nuns hail from the Drukpa Lineage of Indian Buddhism and began learning Kung Fu to build strength and confidence. They now use those skills to serve others through unimaginable acts of bravery including the recent 2,500 km “Bicycle Yatra for Peace” from Kathmandu to Ladakh, to speak out against human trafficking.

The Kung Fu Nuns have also transformed the way the people in the Himalayas view not only nuns but all women. Their Kung Fu demonstrations draw audiences in the tens of thousands, inspiring a new generational mindset that women can do anything. Through their acts of service, and by setting an example of empowerment for the marginalised, the young Kung Fu Nuns have become heroes.

The nuns are taught to drive, lead prayer, and many trades skills – including plumbing, typing, cycling, solar panel and even road and house building. After the 2015 earthquake, the nunnery was as devastated as the rest of Kathmandu Valley. The sisters repaired solar panels, laid new tiles in the front yard, and rebuilt their broken compound wall while still traveling to remote sites to help villagers recover.

Incidentally, all the nuns have the same first name, Jigme, which is Tibetan for “fearless one.” The order now has hundreds of sisters, ranging in age from 8-80, in four nunneries.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle