1947 self-defence film shows woman kicking butt in kitten heels

We've learned a lot about how our forebears stayed in shape , but few examples are as impressive as this self-defence "soundie" from 1947.

Take a moment to admire onesie-wearing, kitten heel-clad Mary Parker as she moves through a spectacular cavalcade of throws, head-bangs and hair-pulls known as "Judo Jymnastics".

Her training partner is an obliging gentleman named as Lou Leonard, and while we don’t know much about the pair, it seems that Soundies Films were in the business of producing everything from instructional clips like this one, to "music videos" (see: "'Give Me My Boots and Saddle', singing and whistling around campfire" in the link above) and mini documentary-style news clips, so there's a chance they did this kind of thing professionally.

The video has been floating around for some time, but is back in the spotlight after it reappeared recently on Reddit.

While Parker's performance is impressive by any standard (note how she remains totally unrattled by a pretend gun to the back), consider the era: while the 1930s saw women participating enthusiastically in group fitness for the first time, by the 1940s and beyond women were largely forced indoors, taking up roles traditionally performed by men who'd gone off to war.

You go, Mary Parker.