Girls Karate Training In The State of Kuwait Katherine Loukopoulos

Kuwait known as Grane/Qurain and officially the State of Kuwait is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the North and Saudi Arabia to the South. Kuwait also shares maritime borders with Iran.

Wikipedia

In 2007 I was hired by Combat Support Associates, Ltd. (CSA) and worked progressively as a Sports Specialist, Researcher, Writer, and eventually as an Athletic Director for three US Army Installations, Camp Virginia, Ali Al Salem, and Camp Beuhring.

Due to the nature of the jobs, frequently I came in contact with Kuwaiti businesses headed by Kuwaiti males, and learned most of the ins and outs of Kuwait City and surrounding towns. I was not confined to an office, and although highly restricted by US military rules and regulations and Kuwaiti severe laws, I came and went as I pleased in order to get the jobs done.

On the economy, Kuwaiti male citizens were the ‘bosses’, and 95% of the work was done by Indian, Sri Lankan, and Philippine nationals. European, Canadian, South Americans and Americans held higher lever administrative positions and were paid considerably much more with plenty of benefits.

My Japanese etiquette training and my US military sponsorship helped me jump hurdles and successfully conducted business with Kuwaiti men. In the course of the three and a half years that I was there I kept an eye for martial arts dojo, events, and demonstrations. As a researcher I read all the English newspapers and that is how I noticed an advertisement for a need of a Karate Kumite Coach. Specifically, the National Karate Federation of the State of Kuwait wanted to hire a Kumite coach. I applied.

To my surprise I was short listed and I was given an appointment for an interview. I went to the interview, and when I entered the huge Sports Hall I was amazed to see a string of elderly Kuwaiti men all clad in their immaculate white long robes (thobe), and their rectangular scarf (ghutra) along with the rope bands to fasten their scarf in place. I made a mental note that they could be the sponsors.

An impeccably dressed Kuwaiti came out of the office and asked what I wanted. When I replied that I was there for the Kumite Coach interview, he seemed uncomfortable and stated that the position was only for males. I insisted that I was short listed, and he admitted that they did not realize that I was a female. It was an awkward moment. I believe he must have felt embarrassed because he went and offered an explanation that their laws did not allow for mix gender training; furthermore, females could not instruct males. Females, however, could teach and train other females. The irony of course was that there was no female national karate team.

A year or so passed, and I noticed in the newspapers that the National Karate Kumite Team of Kuwait had a public demonstration. I went to see it. When I entered the Sports Hall already there was a huge number of Kuwaiti men dressed in their most elegant attire. The same person who once had ‘interviewed’ me came up to me and asked why I was there. “I wanted to see the demonstration” I replied. He called upon two Indian employee servants and pointed to the furthest corner of the gymnasium they were instructed to place an easy chair and a small table. I walked there while I felt all eyes were upon me. The servants offered me tea and sweets but clearly I had no appetite. I saw the demonstration and felt satisfied that the Kuwaiti National Karate Team would not be bringing WKF Kumite medals any time soon.

I decided when my CSA contract was finished, to return to Kuwait as a private citizen and to open up a dojo in order to teach females.

In June of 2011 my contract came to an end. After six months of rest and relaxation in Athens, Greece, I returned to Kuwait (January 2012) as a private citizen with a Kuwaiti Visa.

During the course of working in Kuwait I had made many Indian and Philippine friends who rose to the occasion and accommodated me while I searched for an apartment and cheap furniture basics. In order to rent a car one must have a company sponsor or a Kuwaiti national who could sign a guarantee. Although I had some Kuwaiti friends they did not want the responsibility of signing a guarantee because they believed that a karate school for women would fail as a business. On the other hand, my American friends were bound by US military rules and regulations and also could not guarantee for me.

I sent proposals to every school for girls in Kuwait City. American Academy for Girls (AAG) accepted me. It was difficult to convince Kuwaiti parents that karate training as an after school activity offered life-long benefits. Their hesitation stemmed from the fact that the girls would be educated; however, they would not need to work. The girls were from very wealthy families and each one came to school with their own individual nannies and drivers. How could I overcome the cultural wall without rocking the boat?

I wrote presentations explaining the benefits of studying aspects of Japanese culture. I broke down the benefits of Japanese culture using the vehicle of karate, specifically Goju Ryu, and I focused on Self Defense for fun. I met the teachers, I met the parents, and I even met nannies and drivers. In the meantime students noticed all the commotion and there was excitement in the air; something different was going to take place in their school.

Participation was from Elementary School Fourth Grade and up, Junior and Senior High School students.

2012 March 2: It was a historic day for American Academy for Girls as we held our first training class. It was a pilot program. If it was deemed successful, I would be given a contract, housing allowance, and of course plenty of benefits as of the new school year.

What can I say after that? The students loved coming to the training as an escape from their home room teachers. In the large training area, the girls went wild climbing on the stage and jumping down, yelling, screaming, running, and completely out of control. It was a pandemonium.

Quickly I established a buddy system, and gave small ‘jobs’ to each student. I assigned leaders to take attendance, and leaders to return equipment to its original place. I made rounds during home room hours to praise students for every little thing. My strategy worked and I brought order into the chaos. Now they could start to learn.

Gym Best Jump Shouroqe

Little did I know that students loved the karate classes. At home they practiced; I learned from parents that their daughters in the morning would make their own beds. And I also learned that girls started to express themselves at home by saying things like “I can be whatever I want to be.” To the amazement of their nannies, girls started to take responsibility for themselves.

With parental supervision I took students to cultural events that occurred outside the school. On May 7 and 8 one such event sponsored by the Embassy of Japan in cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters was a Japanese Folk Dance and Music Show “Chura”. For the first time students saw the performers execute karate and kobudo (classical weapons of Okinawa) moves in their dances. Students were so excited that some of them attended both days.

Somehow parents started to feel concern regarding their daughters’ change of walk and demeanor. The parents of High School students voiced their concerns to the AAG Director who in turn informed me. Parents viewed karate training and its philosophy as a bad thing for their daughters’ fragile psychology. High School students, therefore, were forbidden to come to class. Some would leave their home rooms in order to just secretly watch the class.

Next came the parents of the Junior High School students with the same concerns. Those students also were forbidden to take the class. Classes decreased to the Elementary school students and although classes continued to take place there was no agreement among the parents.

AAG was an expensive private institution that depended on parental cohesion. Therefore, the pilot program was not viewed as successful since the benefits of karate training for girls caused altered behaviors. Parents wanted their daughters to grow into obedient adults and shunned the strong independent attributes.

Although the girls showed exceptional athletic ability, a strong will in order to develop solid techniques, and enjoyed every class, the ‘system’ was not yet ready to support that kind of development.

Above: Facing Off! Below: With the Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait and his wife

I was not disappointed. The results of the four months proved that karate training could flourish among the female population in Kuwait.

Perhaps at a different school?

Katherine Loukopoulos Bubishi Team Austria 27 September 2022

Editor’s Note: The images appearing in this article have been deliberately modified in order to protect the identity of the children.

On the following pages I have added the article “Manners and Etiquette in Traditional Japanese Martial Arts” as an addendum or post script to the main article above. This article was amongst one of many written by Katherine Sensei in an effort to educate the parents of the students in Kuwait. I felt that this was a part of the story and to have omitted it would not have done justice to the main text.