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Fighting Style
White Crane
The elegant crane positions himself on one leg, his wings outstretched for balance and to prepare for an attack from a small but ferocious fox. The fox leaps; the crane feints to one side and bring one huge wing down upon his attacker's head. This description could be of the defense tactics of the regal white crane from a lakeside in Northern China; it also depicts a unique style of Chinese kung fu.
A Tibetan Monk during the Ming Dynasty created White Crane. The Tibetan Monk was meditating by a mountainside when he heard some disturbing noise. When the monk went to investigate he saw a crane and an ape fighting each other. The Ape had massive arms and kept advancing on the crane but the crane was able to avoid the blows from the ape. The crane used its wings to balance it self as it used its long legs to strike at the ape. The crane also used its long neck and beak to peck at the ape. After the ape lost his eye due to the crane pecking it out, the ape was discouraged to continue its attack at the crane.
The Tibetan Monk went back to his monastery and started to create a system called "The Lion's Roar". The Tibetan Monk use his knowledge of combat with what he had witness at the mountainside. He wanted to use the devastating strikes of the ape and the elegance's of the crane. Several generations later the system was renamed to Pak Hok (White Crane) and Lama Pai (Lama or Ape) kung fu.
White Crane is a system of Kung fu, which uses very precise strikes and requires the right mental state to execute the moves correctly. To reach the right mental state requires a lot of hard work and time. It is said the white crane system is one of the most time consuming kung fu system is you wish to master it.
The White Crane System has four main points, hurt, evade, penetrate and intercept. To hurt is to respond. When a White Crane master or his loved ones is about to undergo harm he/she will defend his/her self until the treat is no longer there. When an aggressor attacks, the White Crane master must become extremely aggressive and have a continues attacking spirit. To evade is another mandatory part of the White Crane system. They say it is better to evade a strike then it is to block one. Because if you block a strike there will be counter blocks followed with other strikes, but if you evade a strike and deliver a disabling strike to your opponent, there will be only one strike needed. To penetrate is to find a weak point on the attacker. The Attacker might be aware of his weak point so he/she may keep it protected but once the attacker's week point is expose the White Crane stylist will attack it. By Attack the attacker's weak point will allow the White Crane stylist to discourage his attacks and allow the stylist to gain an advantage of the situation. And finally to intercept is to attack your opponent before an attack could be made on you or to strike the root of the attack to neutralize the attack. For example attack someone's shoulder as that person tries to strike at you. By doing so you will stop the strike from the roots.