Sabera Bayanne, 20, a student at the Shaolin Wushu club, carries a tube before an exercise in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. On a snowy mountaintop to the west of Kabul, a group of Afghan girls practise the flowing movements of Wushu, a sport developed from ancient Chinese kung fu martial arts, stretching and bending and slashing the air with bright swords. In a country where women's sport is severely restricted, the Shaolin Wushu club in a part of Kabul that is home to the capital's Hazara ethnic community, is a rare exception. Sima Azimi, the 20-year-old leading the practice session, says Wushu teaches self-defence, but just as important, “it's really effective for body and soul”. Martial arts of all kinds are popular in Afghanistan, but it is a notoriously hard country for women, and the girls of the Shaolin Wushu club face regular harassment and abuse in addition to the normal dangers of life in Kabul. When possible, training goes on in a gym dominated by a poster of Hussain Sadiqi, a Hazara martial arts champion who fled to Australia in 1999 and later worked as a film stuntman. So far, all the girls in the club are Hazara, a Persian-speaking, mainly Shi'ite group who have faced a series of attacks claimed by Islamic State militants over the past year. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





A student of the Shaolin Wushu club practices in Kabul, Afghanistan January 19, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Students of the Shaolin Wushu club chat before an exercise in Kabul, Afghanistan January 19, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sabera Bayanne, 20, a student of the Shaolin Wushu club, practices in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Mena Azimi (R), 15, practices at the Shaolin Wushu club in Kabul, Afghanistan January 19, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Hatifa Rezai (R), 19, a student of the Shaolin Wushu club, is reflected in a mirror as she adjusts her scarf before her exercise in Kabul, Afghanistan January 19, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Hanifa Doosti (C), 17, and other students of the Shaolin Wushu club show their Wushu skills to other students on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi, 20, a trainer at the Shaolin Wushu club, shows her Wushu skills to other students on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi (L), 20, a trainer at the Shaolin Wushu club, and Shakila Muradi, 18, show their Wushu skills to other students on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi (C), 20, a trainer at the Shaolin Wushu club, poses with her students after an exercise on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Students of the Shaolin Wushu club climb a hill as they arrive to practice in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi (R), 20, a trainer at the Shaolin Wushu club, talks with her father Rahmatullah Azimi, 47, in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Students of the Shaolin Wushu club watch television at a friend's house in Kabul, Afghanistan February 2, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi (L), 20, a trainer and Sabera Bayanne, 20, a student at the Shaolin Wushu club, sit inside a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan February 2, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sima Azimi (L), 20, a trainer at the Shaolin Wushu club, eats lunch with her students at a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan February 2, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)