37 Albert Street, Mordialloc:

Panther Kung Fu (Bao Chuan)

The outcome of a battle is decided
long before the first encounter!

Prologue

The Panther is a Tiger, except it is not. It is the 2nd born, smaller and thus does not inherit the family title of King the Animals. Thus, like a 2 ^nd born it needs to find something to specialize in, to be best at. In real terms, this means, that all the great Cats that are not Tigers, have a specialization to balance out the lack of size and strength. Some examples are;

∞ Lions organization for hunting and have a great mane which makes it near impossible for a predator to go for the quick kill.

∞ Cheetahs have superior stalking and ability and near impossible speed

∞ Snow Leopard are invisible in even shallow snow, and can jump 9 meters, 30 feet.

∞ Pumas, Cougar can also can manage pray three times their own size (not Tigers) and have massive front paws to grasp their pray and climb.

∞ Jaguars are the fun loving swimmer and are the largest of the lesser cats. It kills by crushing the prays skull with its jaws and usually while still in the air.

∞ Lynx are night hunters who love the snow specializing in hearing it's pray but can also see a mouse over 80 meters away.

∞ Serval are the patient and enduring stalker with the longest of legs compared to the other lesser cats. Their ears are also like radar and they can even hear soft underground movement.

∞ Clouded Leopard love elevation and usually live above 2000 meters, and then also in trees. That is also how they get their prey, drop down from above whilst hanging upside down from a branch!

∞ Panthers do much the same but at night, always seeing the higher ground advantage, even sleeping and eating in trees.

∞ Black Footed Cat had adapted to the desert environment where other cat predictors can not easily survive. Their foot pad protection and again fantastic hearing. They are the smallest of the lesser Great cats.

∞ Fishing Cat (The Fisherman) as the names says, specialized in fishing including having partially webbed front paws. It's camouflage is such that it looks like a tree branch from which it prefers to fish.

∞ Bob Cat is stillness personified. It is possibly one of the oldest breed of cats going back one or even two million years which attest to the skill of ambush and stillness.

∞ Caracal Cats are night hunter and again have superior hearing with 20 separate ear muscles to pinpoint their pray in a dark night!

Conclusion; the Panther style is one of ultimate specialization. Each of these cats has a specialized way of evading or hiding from an apex predator, Tiger or human. A way specialized way of hunting and always a unique safe place to go to when threatened.

Understanding the Message; Shaolin Monks chose a Great Cat (Greater Yang) and a Lesser Great Cat (Lesser Yang) to represent the two proactive Animal Styles and Types. From all the animal symbolism they could choose, they chose what to the uniformed looked like one and the same animal. Two so very similar aspects telling us that there are a lot of similarities but some significant differences. There can only be one King but there can be many Princes. But if these princes want to survive they better have a darn good speciality/skill/survival trait.

Shaolin Panther Kung Fu

Specialization and unpredictability are the way of Panther Kung Fu. Even when hunting, the Panther will not go head on with its pray, preferring the ambush and quick kill rather than a protracted chase. The same for the Panther stylist, you will neve meat you attacker head on but seek to avoid direct attacks in favor of unusual, unpredictable and illogical counters. The Panther Style is for thinkers, planners and/or strategist, out of the box thinkers (or just different thinkers) that will prefer unusual techniques, ways of delivery and movement. When attacked, you will create chaos.

The Panther is an incredibly intelligent and agile animal that is very seldom seen by people in the wild. They are generally very quiet and cautious animals which prefer to see but not be seen. Their dark fur camouflages them well to hide in shadows and dark place and almost invisible on a dark night. Panther are usually solitary animals that prefer a nocturnal lifestyle, spending much of the daylight hours resting safely high in the trees. Like both the Leopard and the Jaguar, Panthers are incredible climbers and they not only rest in the trees but they are also able to keep a watchful eye out for prey without being spotted.

The Panther is an incredibly powerful, fearless, aggressive and territorial (The panthers territory is their livelihood and ability to procreate). Particularly males who share some areas with females will immediately go after another male should they enter their territory.

Panthers are also great athletes (active or resting) and excel in jumping and tree climbing. They can leap up to 8 meters in a direction and as high as 3½ meters. The cat is very powerful for its size and with it's natural skills is often able to successfully attack prey that is larger and weighs more than itself. The Panther's neck and shoulders are massive to allow it to drag it's catch up in a tree where it is safe from larger (Lion, Tiger) and pack predators (Hyenas), to eat and store. As a hunter, the Panther is a stalker, not a runner (like the Cheetah). Stalking pray may take hours, working itself cautiously, slowly, quietly and invisibly on its large soft padded paws are soft with noise absorbing fur. With exceedingly good day and night sight, keen sense of smell and excellent hearing the panther latches on to a target and stalks it until the time is right.

After a kill, Panther will eat what it wants and will hide the carcass in a tree and will return to eat it later. When it finishes eating, the Panther spends hours scrubbing itself with its tongue. It cleans itself until it is free of the prey's scent. That way other animals cannot smell the Panther and warn them but also it's own sense of smell would be impaired if it reeked of that which is hunts for food.

The Panthers Spirit

The Shaolin Panther practitioner emits no specific power; they do not show any specialization; there is no Alpha behavior of any kind for this would be giving their secret away. A Shaolin practitioner might even seem meek and mild and would by all means prefer no direct, immediate or forceful confrontation. They prefer Patience, Planning and Preparedness.

Much in the same way, Panther Kung Fu is not direct and frontal like Tiger Kung Fu and Snake Style for that matter; it is indirect, circumspect, from above, from below, from the side and from behind, but never from the front..... unless that is the last place the attacker expects you to come from!

Shaolin Panther Kung Fu is a Hit, Damage and Run style designed to overcome superior forces (and that is a key purpose of a style to overcome superior forces with inferior resources) either the attacker is larger or there are multiple attackers. Counter attacks are sudden, indirect, short with the aim of landing a debilitating technique. Where Tiger just enters the fray immediately, the Crane just reacts to attack, The Panther has everything planned out before the encounter ever happens. Some of the Key Sun Tsu quotes that could be applied to the Panther are;

Panthers Strategies

◊ The greatest victory is that which requires no battle (this applies to all Shaolin Kung Fu).

◊ To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of skill; to subdue the enemy without fighting is.

◊ Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

◊ Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

◊ Superior warriors win first and then go to battle, inferior warriors just go to battle and take it as it comes.

◊ To defeat your Enemy, you must know your enemy, thus you must become your Enemy.

◊ Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:

Panthers Mind Set

● They will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

● They will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

● They will win who is convinced of the rightness of action.

● They will win who who prepared himself and waits to take the enemy unprepared.

● They will win who is unencumbered, focused and ready without distractions.

Panther Motive Operandi

Always have A Back Door Exit. Expect all possible outcomes, from total win to the surprising loss. The Panther Stylist will have at least one safe fall back position, usually more; a place to go when the place you set up as a first position no longer available. So, if you are in conflict, have at least two safe places, one near and one far; or one easy and one complex, one logical one illogical....

The Right Knowledge is Power. Tigers work on Instinct and Intuition, Panthers work on Information and Planning and plans without information are like lottery tickets except if you don't win you loose. Even the Capricious Monkey (the Loki aspect of the Panther Style) makes plans and develops appropriate habits based on what works best. Inform, Think, Plan, Execute and Win.

Choose the time, and the Place. If it is not a time a place of your choosing, get out, leave, use the back door. The Panther is a Pragmatic, Patient, Persevering and Prudent Planner.

Systematically, Create Chaos. One of the key strategies of the Panther is to change the very foundations that an attacker is working on. As with the Tiger story, it had assumed to know everything so the Panther shifted the playing field into the trees where the Tiger could not use their Strength and Size or even get there. A favorite Panther Strategy is Change; change the rules, change the assumptions, change the perspective, change... what ever but change it to something you are good at and if this is not possible, change it to something the other is bad at!

Live to eat and have fun another day. You are useless to yourself, family and such if you are in a hospital or worse. The best laid plans of mice and Panther can go wrong and it is important not to loose sight of what is important, you. If defeat is imminent run; and seek to fight another day. Give yourself time to Inform, Think, Plan, Execute a more likely win.

The Panther chooses the Time and the Place and sets the rules, where possible. Confuse, attack, debilitate, run to return at the Panthers convenience - Sijo.

The Panther Stylist Character

The Panther Kung Fu Stylist is planner, schemer and director of encounters. They chooses the time, the place, the conditions, the style, the everything. They are in command of any situation, not by brute power but by the breadth of their skills, abilities and cunning. It never does the expected unless that is unexpected. It will usually avoid conflict at the time conflict is sought preferring to choose their own time and place. An example of this would be is something went wrong at work and it is your fault. You would not be available when summoned but would approach the person who summoned you at a time and place convenient to you. If this is not possible, you would stall the meeting in favor of 'getting all your facts right'. This is Panther.

The Panther Stylist can attack from any direction, with any technique at any time in a hit and run fashion. It is always well prepared, well informed and always surprising. It likes to use and even create confusion for use to it's own advantage. It would never attack frontally unless that is where it is not expected. As a Style is has the greatest amount of technical expertise (not always skill), and uses their techniques in the most unusual ways. It is always the attacker, never the attacked. Whatever you expect, expect 1 million other possibilities!

You do not telegraph any specific power; you do not show any specialization; you do not behave like an Alpha, you do not dominate and for all intents and purposes you seem to be a grayling, vanilla, nothing special. Yet, in a social environment you will be, after a while, the center of attention for a small group of people (never all). In a competition you will seem to be on the receiving end initially and your opponents will not understand how they lost. In conversation you will not stand out but have the ability to say the right thing, at the right time to swing things the way you want them to go; without this being noticeable. In reality, you achieve all the things a Tiger will achieve, without this being obvious, without leaving as much broken China as a Tiger would (less resentment).You are a Panther Personality if you are a director, manager and planner but without this being obvious.

Panthers are often the character traits that are least easy recognized and relished. Whereas Tigers and Snake types can be fairly clear from an early age and Crane Types a bit later; Panther types may not come to clear light until they have had a real opportunity to use their Panther abilities and learn Panther skills. This may happen as early as in your 25's age but also as late as in your 50's. Often, one notices that one is a Panther type by noticing that one is NOT a Tiger, Snake or Crane type. Also, both Snakes and Panthers need a good education to relies their full potential; Snakes are often best in subjects requiring/using/having a lot of information, facts, figures, history, date and to do with the past; whereas Panthers prefer subjects relating to Planning, Management, Strategy, Forecasting, Building and the Future.

There is another proviso with Panthers; Nature vs Nurture; are you who you are because of your Genetics or dues to Environment & Upbringing; The Tiger and Snake traits/nature is almost impossible to Nurture-out but Crane and Panther personalities can be fairly easily denaturalized by upbringing and environment. Thus, you need to give yourself time to see if you are truly a Panther by design.

Panther Kung Fu Techniques

Panther Style techniques are geared towards single, two or three technique combinations that cause a lot of damage, break a knee, inhibit breathing, disorient the attacker or even blind. But most of these are not acceptable to Shaolin style Kung Fu!

The Shaolin Panther Style seeks to achieving similar results without the permanency of damage and harm by more benign techniques including corking the thigh, winding and irritation techniques, hyper extending the attackers-attacking limbs, tripping maneuvers aimed at destabilizing and disorienting techniques. The Strategies of the Shaolin Panther practitioner are Attack what is Offered (attack the Attackers Limbs) and Attack what is Open (Hit and Run). The Panther either seeks these opportunities but more often than not creates the opportunities for the attacker to open themselves.

This is achieved through medium stances, quick positional changes, unusual distances, quick hands and a dazzling variety of excellent and unusual techniques. The Panther specializes in techniques that are not straight forward, come from unanticipated direction, move in unusual ways or speeds and generally do not keep to the normal combat ranges. Elbows and Knees are preferred Panther tools but also the 9 great Claws, Forearms and Shins, Head, Shoulders and a variety of specialist fist shapes. Remembering that the Shaolin Panther is part of the 5 Animal Style, we can be very highly specialized in choice of techniques to unsure learning and understanding of the style.

Panther Kung Fu Skill

The Panther is familiar with almost every technique in the book, and many that are not known. it is like a Vagabond, Ninja, Assassin, Sniper, and Agent except not deadly. Just like the wide variety of smaller great cats which the Panther represents, a Panther Stylist will have a not small but limited number of unusual techniques that it will master to a high degree. And, like a Magician, it will never do a technique a second time or reveal a technique. With the Panther, the mind is quicker than the eye.

A Panther Story - The Tigers Teacher

Tiger was strong. Tiger was fast. But, Tiger was loud and clumsy. With all of his strength and speed, he still had trouble catching small animals to eat. Every day, Tiger left his home to hunt. Many nights, Tiger came home, exhausted and had no food to eat. He often went hungry.

One morning as Tiger went out to hunt, he saw Panther chase and catch a large bird. The Tiger was mighty impresses with the Panthers smooth, quietly and graceful movements, and how seemingly easily it had caught its prey. "If only I could move like that," thought Tiger. He started to approach the Panther who was about to bolt from the much larger and more powerful Tiger.

The Tiger bellowed out; "Cousin, would you give me lessons so I might learn to move as smoothly as you?". The Panther, from a very safe distance responded "How do I know that you will not use the skills I teach you to hunt me for your dinner?". "Oh my dear cousin," said Tiger "I could never feast on a cousin a family member. How could I ever live with myself if i hurt someone I am related to? If you help me, I will become your protector, I will never allow anyone to harm you and i will share my territory with you". "Become my teacher! If I ever harm a hair on your head, may I be cursed by all animals. May I go hungry forever if I ever allow you to come to harm," appealed Tiger. Tiger did his best to look truthful to Panther.

Positioned to quickly run the Panther thought this through and considered both the Dangers and the Benefits; to have such a one as the Tiger indebted to him, possibly not having to hide from Tiger all the time. Panther was not convinced but also saw the opportunity and decided to take the risk.

Panther taught Tiger to do gymnastics and to move smoothly and quietly. Panther was very good at what he did and was also a good teacher and coach. She taught Tiger move after move. She did her best to teach Tiger all she knew to be successful at hunting and catching pray. Tiger was a good student. He learned every trick that was taught, not a well as Panther but well enough. Tiger was was strong but now he also became fast, quiet and smooth in his movements. He was ready to hunt. He was ready to eat. Tiger looked at Panther; Panther looked delicious. All the days of training and learning has made Tiger very hungry and less rational.

Panther saw Tiger staring at him. Tiger smiled and showed his teeth and drooled down the side of his Maul. Panther new that this time would come; he knew that Tiger could not be trusted any more any further. Distancing himself slowly from Tiger, Panther growled "Your lessons are almost over, I have taught you all that you need to hunt and eat". Tiger, trying to come closer to Panther followed and said, "You are a wonderful teacher, a graceful hunter and a wise great Cat, Is there truly nothing else to teach me?" As he talked, Tiger's claws extended, maul slightly parted in a Tigers grin, Tiger leaped through the air jaws now wide extended; my, Tiger was fast.

Panther, instead of running, jumped straight up into a tree and climbed for his life; he climbed as high as he could go. Tiger leaped and growled, clawed at the bark, tried every new and old skill but he could not climb the tree. He did not have the skill and he was rather very large. Panther leaped from branch to branch and from tree to tree until he felt that Tiger could not get him and then he spoke back to the Tiger.

"Tiger" wily Panther said, "your nature is true and you can not help yourself being so very hungry and all, so i knew that, finally, i could not trust you in this matter. I know that if you were not so hungry you would honor our bargain and i expect, when you have hunted and sated yourself you will be inclined to do so; but i also expected this and held back one skill; and it is a good thing I never taught you to climb trees".

Tiger was a bit ashamed but also realized that what Panther said is true. Also, the Tiger was not without some wisdom so he said "You have taught me well, all but one skill, so i will honor our agreement all but for one time; I will become your protector share my territory and will never allow anyone to harm you; as long as what you taught me keeps me feed and i not hunger".

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