Close your eyes for a moment and concentrate... when you hear the word "nun", what image comes to your mind? Perhaps an old devote woman dressed in garb making her look oddly like (to steal a Blues Brothers reference) a penguin.
Not exactly...
Each morning, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, dozens of nuns arrange themselves into combat formations around a golden Buddhist shrine. In one motion, the nuns, who range in age from 9 to 52, slam a clenched fist into their opposite palm, breath deeply and wait motionless in the rising heat of the morning.
These particular nuns are not gathering to pray or mediate, they gather each day to undergo rigorous and aggressive martial arts and self-defense training. The sisters of the Amitabha Drukpa Nunnery come from Nepal, India, Tibet, and Bhutan and are trained in the ancient art of Kung Fu. The 800 year old "Dragon" Sect is changing the foundations of Kung Fu however by training its women. Kung Fu was brought to the group only four years ago when its spiritual leader, His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, visited Vietnam where he saw nuns receiving combat training which was used by Viet Cong guerrillas.... so impressed by what he saw, he immediately added Kung Fu to the yoga classes to help the flow of Karma.
The nuns, unlike women in most other Buddhist groups, are taught to lead prayers, are taught basic business skills, drive jeeps, and run coffee shops... This group is challenging traditional gender roles by making a very public show of empowered women taking part in activities long considered to be "male"...