News stories about women and martial arts: 15 February 2016

Inspirational and interesting stories about women training in martial arts around the world . . .

Goa’s women cricketers to get Israeli martial arts boost
The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) has contacted an Israeli martial arts school to develop self-defence workshops for its women’s Under-19 and Under-21 teams to boost the players’ mental and physical fitness and develop a winning instinct […]

Source: CanIndia News, 10 February 2016
http://www.canindia.com/goas-women-cricketers-to-get-israeli-martial-arts-boost/

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Women in Jordan fight for their rights: A gym offering specialised self-defence and martial arts training for women hopes to continue expanding its reach.
SheFighter, the first gym in Jordan to provide specialised self-defence and martial arts training for women, was founded in 2012 and commended last year in a speech by US President Barack Obama […]

Source: Aljazeera, 9 February 2016
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/02/women-jordan-fight-rights-160205105852464.html

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Gender equality in MMA (Opinion piece)
Yes, women have been competing in the sport for some time now, but are they being treated equally? In some ways yes, and this has been a very recent notion […but…] there still seems to be a difference between men and women’s MMA […]

Source: MMA Micks, 8 February 2016
http://mmamicks.com/gender-equality-in-mma/

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Defying age with a sword: Meenakshi Gurrukkal, Kerala’s grand old Kalaripayattu dame
At 74, she is possibly the oldest woman exponent of Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial arts from Kerala […]

Source: The News Minute, 6 February 2016
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/defying-age-sword-meenakshi-gurrukkal-kerala%E2%80%99s-grand-old-kalaripayattu-dame-38620

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Taekwondo stylist shares message for all women (Interview with Esther Meijer)
Esther Meijer began training in Taekwondo at the age of five and earned her first black belt seven years later. Noticed for her exceptional talent, she went on […] eventually becoming a five-time Dutch Champion […] From her home in The Netherlands, she wished to share her own inspirational message to all women around the globe: “Follow your dreams and become versatile martial artists […]”

Source: Examiner, 5 February 2016
http://www.examiner.com/article/taekwondo-stylist-shares-message-for-all-women-1

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How India’s women are using martial arts to fight back against sexual violence
Following the gang rape and murder of student Jyoti Singh in 2012 in Delhi, an increasing number of women and girls have signed up to martial arts and self-defence classes […]

Source: International Business Times, 1 February 2016
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-indias-women-are-using-martial-arts-fight-back-against-sexual-violence-1541199

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Olympics allows ‘transgender’ men to compete as women without genital surgery
So-called male-to-female transgender athletes, already allowed in the Olympics since 2012 after castration and two years of hormone therapy, will be allowed in the Rio Olympics without surgery as long as their testosterone levels have been below male levels for a year, the International Olympic Committee has ruled […]

Source: LifeSite News, 26 January 2016
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/olympics-committee-males-calling-themselves-females-will-now-race-box-actua

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Kolkata’s karate girl story part of international documentary
The inspiring story of how Ayesha Noor, a Kolkata slum girl suffering from epilepsy fought against all odds to become karate champion and train other women to fight against violence is now part of an international documentary […]

Source: Business Standard, 19 January 2016
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/kolkata-s-karate-girl-story-part-of-international-documentary-116011900291_1.html
(See also this news clip on YouTube)

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Accosted for her hijab, woman now empowers
Rana Abdelhamid teaches young Muslim women how to protect themselves and serve as role models, too […].

Source: Portland Press Herald, 1 January 2016
http://www.pressherald.com/2016/01/01/accosted-for-her-hijab-woman-now-empowers/

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Please let me know if I missed any . . . !