70 COMMENTS
Italian soldiers fear Samurai Granny +
This is one granny you don’t want to mess with, and Italian soldiers know it first hand.
The Italian military has just hired 77 year old Keiko Wakabayshi, who bears the nickname “Samurai Granny”, to train recruits in hand to hand combat. Wakabayshi-san is trained in the disciplines of jujitsu, jojitso, kenjitso, judo, kendo, and karate.
She believes the best way to train is by sparing, and after throwing recruit after recruit to the floor, she tells them,
Don’t think it’s unbelievable. The physique doesn’t matter.
If after being thrown to the floor by a 5 foot, frail-looking Japanese woman doesn’t make you believe that, nothing will. Telegraph via FG.
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June 24th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Duh. Its an old lady! I would let her beat me around but I can’t find the will to hit someone like that. She’s a woman and she is old. I’m pretty sure she can counter and avoid attacks since she is a martial arts veteran but a single hit from a strong guy would be a very bad thing for her. I think the guys here are learning from her expertise but also trying not to harm her.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am
What a sexist and ageist comment that is! Having trained with some of the best martial artist around, many of them small and getting on in years, I would *never* deign to think that the soldiers are ‘letting her hit them and trying not to harm her’! I suspect they’d have a job actually being fast enough to touch her in the first place! The strongest, fastest, hardest and meanest SOB I ever knew stood 5′ tall, weighed 7st dripping wet and was in his late 60’s. NO ONE messed with him and he could deck the biggest, strongest men around with ease. It’s not all about strength and size as anyone who trains in the martial arts will tell you. I, for one, wouldn’t like to come up against her! If there’s any justice then you would get that opportunity and I’m sure she’d enjoy teaching you a lesson or two.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Shut it. I have experience in martial arts and I know what I’m talking about. You think I would gain knowledge from a master? I’ve been there and done that. I’ve combined technique, power, and personal knowledge to develop my own style. As would any martial artist. If I sparred against that old lady, I don’t care if I lose, but I’ll definitely give her a hard time. And I wasn’t sexist, you dolt. I was incorporating the fact that she is a girl and she is old. What kind of boy hits a girl? Apparantly a noob like you.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
“And I wasn’t sexist, you dolt.”
“What kind of boy hits a girl? Apparantly a noob like you.”
Moron.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
“…Apparantly a noob like you.”
Al-san, I detect that you are merely a 15yr old liar! Go back to /b/.
Oh yes, and I’m sure you’ll have some retort that says you can take me down, blah blah blah.
Anyways; Go granny go! :)
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:01 am
Hahaha, Al-san just makes me laugh like shit
July 5th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I believe there are errors on both sides of this argument.
Firstly, the original post was sexist in tone but not actual content.
Secondly, “What kind of boy hits a girl?” is not a sexist attitude. It may well be a little belittling, or even presumptuous, however the fact of the matter is, 99% of women are NOT martial arts experts, and men are generally of greater physical strength, hence the reaso this attitude is prevalent, because a man fighting a woman is generaly considered an abuse of power.
So while it may be belittling to that VERY small minority of female bodyuilders and martial artists, the sentiment expressed is still true, because these are exceptions and NOT the rule. I don’t believe any negative intent was present with either of the posts personally.
Secondly, while I’m sure maybe a couple of them DID hold back the first few times because of the stature and appearance of this woman, they will have quickly learned that it was a fruitless endeavour. They are there to learn, not to hold back.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
It’s entirely possible that an woman of Keiko Wakabayashi’s age could take down a person of any age, build, etc. For the simple fact that she is obviously very proficient in Aikido. When I took Aikido I had a teacher who was probably 4′ 10″ and in his 60s. He could take anyone, and I mean anyone (considering there was a guy who was at least 6′ 10″ in the class) down to the floor with no effort. Aikido relies upon technique not strength.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:09 am
“Al-san, I detect that you are merely a 15yr old liar! Go back to /b/.”
Hey! I take offence to that! /b/ is not THAT bad…
July 8th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Yeah martial arts is great and everything, except most of it is useless in the real world. When are you ever going to be fighting for your life against a single, unarmed opponent? It’s great for exercise but on the whole Martial Arts is basically a dead style of legitimate deadly combat, and in fact has been since the Roman Empire.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
That’s pretty funny. Do you think the modern army that this woman is training still maintains their black powder cannons and horse infantry as well?
July 12th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
i’d be scared of her too -_-
July 14th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
photoshopped
August 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
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