Martial Arts – Karate and Aikido – Nuns learn them as self-defense

Zachary Graves

Martial Arts – Karate and Aikido – Nuns learn them as self-defense


I think this video is from 1978, filmed at the New York Aikikai Dojo. I found it on an old VHS tape. I have no credits on this video and I do not know who is the director. Is this real or fake? I needed 30 years to solve this question. Now I know the truth …

40 comments on “Martial Arts – Karate and Aikido – Nuns learn them as self-defense”

  6. That was an awesome video! The slow-motion shots reminded me of Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite and The Osterman Weekend.

  7. Какая прелесть! !:)))

    Есть же монахи Шаолиня.

    А тут монашки %)))

  10. Am I the only one who lol’d at the priceless combination of Ninja Nuns brought to use with the soundtrack of classical violin?

  16. I am told to never get in the way of a nun. I did and it did not go well. I do not remember what happened after I did, though. That nun had some skillz!

  19. Couldn’t figure out if it was real or fake until the end where she used the cross as a weapon. That bit is just too over the top.

  20. The martial arts seems solid enough, however, the move demonstrated with the rosary would not work (speaking as both a martial artist and a Catholic with many rosaries). The rosaries are usually constructed with thin twisted metal or light weight twine, thin enough to allow the beads to be strung. It is not a long complete piece of twine or wire, and the twists or knots are designed to be only strong enough to support the weight of the beads. In a move such as that demonstrated, I would expect the rosary shown to fly to pieces almost immediately. It seems to me that the man being ‘bound’ with the rosary is actually pulling his punches for the same of the demo. Please note, that I have seen rosaries constructed of heavy twine and beads the size of chestnuts, with which this might actually work. 

  21. Not sure if these are real nuns or not, though I no a priest who is a former world stick fighting contender, but the martial arts are real enough. You can’t fake the form.

  24. «I needed 30 years to solve this question. Now I know the truth …»

    So what is the truth, Grasshopper?

  27. I needed 30 years to solve this question. Now I know the truth …”  
    So… what did you find out?  Is it fake or truthful?  Please post in the notes at the top of the page.

  33. yeah, a high scissor kick sweep like that would get even Ip Man into a lot of trouble.

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