LONDON: Anyone tempted to pick on a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman better hope they don’t run into a Ninjabi.

Every week around 30 Muslim women, most wearing veils, gather in a community centre in east London to learn how to block, knee and punch would-be attackers or lecherous men targeting passive-looking victims.

The organisers, who named the classes after Japanese Ninja warriors and women who wear the hijab, say Muslim women are looking to fight back against unwanted advances and a rising number of anti-Muslim attacks.

“The ladies love the Ninjabi thing. It gives them a good giggle,” said class instructor Dee Terry, who is not a Muslim herself.

One of the attendees, 31-year-old mother Mahmuda Mazid, said she took up the classes after a gang of youths tried to rob her teenage brother while she was with him in a local park.

“There was this sheer feeling of helplessness that I couldn’t help myself or my brother... and there was absolute rage,” she said. “I knew I had to do something to equip myself.

“In the classes I saw protection and self defence. That’s what I needed.”

The classes start with a warm-up and then the women – no men are allowed – practise punches, strikes using the heel of the hand, knee strikes to the groin and defences against knives and sticks. Terry also teaches the women how to deter potential attackers by looking assertive.

The loose full-length clothing favoured by Muslim women rules out high-kicking manoeuvres but does not otherwise hinder movement, says Terry.

The Hijab and the Niqab – which covers the face and leaves only the eyes visible – clearly identify Muslim women, increasing their chances of becoming victims of anti-Muslim hostility. But Terry says Islamic clothing itself does not make it easier to attack a woman.—Reuters