KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 21 -- Their head scarves kept slipping with every high kick. Their toes and knuckles scraped the concrete floor during warm-up stretches. Their lungs and muscles, unused to any exercise, tired easily
"Try to take as much pain as you can stand," urged Mahbooba Rezahi, 17, the instructor of the only martial arts class for girls in the Afghan capital. "Breathe deeply . . . keep your elbows bent." She glanced up from a deep bend with a mock frown. "No giggling!"
There were only nine students in Rezahi’s tae kwon do class at the Afghan Youth Club this morning -- a fraction of the 300 boys who attend its martial arts classes in the evenings. There were 13 girls participating until last week, when police came and locked the clubhouse doors twice, unnerving some of the teenage students and their parents. |