The Eagle/Crane Defense System: Origins and Development
By
The Eagle/Crane
Defense system (which is an important part of “STOP”—Self Defense Training for Ordinary
People) is a contemporary system based on one of the most ancient points of
origin—the survival behaviors of animals.
Specifically the Eagle/Crane Defense system was derived from the nest
defense techniques I observed five years ago in a nature documentary.
The Eagle defended
the “no fly zone” above its nest by circling around behind the “trespassing”
bird, flew in behind it, and knocked it out of the sky. The white crane defended its nest
against the strike of a water snake by deflecting the strike with its wing and
killing the snake the moment it hit the ground. Without the use of slow motion photography, I doubt if I
would have seen any of the crane’s actions clearly, because they happened so
fast.
At the time I
observed these two highly effective nest defenses, I knew that I had witnessed
the essence of self defense, but I certainly did not envision the development
of a human defense system. That
unfolded slowly over time as I was able to translate the gestures of the
animals into equivalent actions for humans.
My logical mind, for
example, dismissed the crane’s nest defense in large part since I don’t possess
a razor sharp beak that can strike and stop an enemy I have driven to the
ground. Likewise, my legs hinge
backwards instead of forward like the crane’s, so the lighting fast use of the
crane’s legs and feet in trapping and holding the snake to the ground simply
doesn’t work for me. The problem
with the eagle’s tactic, on the face of it, is similarly out of reach, because
I cannot fly.
On the other hand,
Dr. Wong’s instruction in Pai He Ch’uan, White Crane Boxing, opened my mind
back in 1972 to the wisdom of the crane, so, in time, I began working on a
translation.
The first door was
open. The first key word was
simple and wonderfully powerful.
The crane’s wing was extended downward and swept across the path of the
striking snake. I call this the
“crane’s deflecting block.” The
crane’s wisdom is immediately clear.
In human deflecting blocks and catches of incoming torso-level knife
thrusts (the equivalent of a snake strike) we have the width of a hand to do
the deflecting. The crane’s
lowered wing protects it from its shoulder level down the full length of its
torso. And the same increased
coverage is given a human using this block. So the thrust can be deflected whether it comes straight in,
slants down, or up—a major advantage in poor light when tracking an incoming
thrust is very difficult.
The crane sweeps the
lowered wing across the weapon’s path leading with its shoulder. This rotates
the torso automatically out of the path of the incoming threat. The same thing happens when a human
uses the crane’s wing block. This
vital rotation out of the path of the weapon is a major advantage in using the
crane’s wing block. In all of the
deflecting blocks I am familiar with, the defender has the option of rotating
the torso away from the path of the weapon. However, the closer the aggressor stands to the defender (so
common in muggings and abductions), the quicker the blocking hand has to move,
and the less the torso rotates out of the way. But even in an extreme close up
assault, the crane block works differently and more efficiently, since the very
act of rotating the leading shoulder pulls the torso automatically back and
away from the incoming strike.
While the process of
translating the rest of the crane’s and the eagle’s actions into human terms
may be of interest to some, I will proceed here directly to the results of that
rather lengthy process.
Over time, I found
that the crane’s tactic of striking the incoming snake after it is secured on
the ground is best accomplished by human means if one places the hand of the
other arm immediately against one’s shoulder, palm out. Then, as one feels the incoming thrust
brush past the lowered crane’s block, the “intercepting” hand slides quickly
down the surface of the crane’s block and secures the incoming knife bearing
hand on or just behind the wrist.
This weapon-bearing hand is secured against the crane’s blocking arm,
and, as soon as this is accomplished, the human equivalent of the crane’s beak
(the elbow) drives up to strike the attacker under the chin—as many times as
needed.
This elbow strike has
the basic effect of the crane striking the snake pinned on the ground because
the attacker is held in place to absorb the elbow strike’s force by the
attacker’s own weight. Striking
upward therefore is a viable equivalent to the force the crane achieved by
striking downward against an enemy pinned on the ground. Lifting the
aggressor’s striking arm also greatly reduces his contact with the ground and
has the effect of immobilizing him—much as the snake pinned to the ground
is immobilized.
If the incoming
strike is aimed, or an aggressor’s weapon is pointed, at the defender above the
level of the defender’s sternum, the crane’s deflecting block must be inverted
and executed by the hand opposite the aggressor’s weapon-bearing hand,
in the form of a willow hand block. This block moves in from the outside and drives the
defender’s weapon-bearing arm over to the attacker’s center line. The intercepting/catching fist is
then the forward hand which catches the aggressor’s weapon-bearing arm just
behind the elbow and drives it upward and across the aggressor’s body at eye
level. This rotates the
aggressor’s body in the direction it would naturally turn—but well beyond where
it was intended to go. This
neutralizes the ability of the opposite arm to enter the conflict and strike forcefully.
But more important,
by forcing the weapon-bearing arm across the aggressor’s face, it frees the
hand performing the willow hand block to drop down out of sight, and then rise
up forcefully, unseen, close to
the aggressor’s chest, and deliver
a stunning iron palm blow. So,
once again, the crane’s trapping and striking of a secured target is
accomplished—upward against the aggressor’s body weight instead of downward
against the ground.
My basic problem in driving
an aggressor to the ground is the extreme danger one always faces from
bystanders. The crane, I would
note, sacrifices none of its mobility and tactical security with a ground
strike because of its flexible neck and long beak—in a word, it uses the
ground, without ever having to go there.
The variations on
these defenses needed to handle attacks from various angles as well as the
translations needed to apply the crane’s deflecting and trapping blocks to
incoming kicks is best demonstrated in a brief video which I am preparing.
The same can be said
of the eagle’s circling attack, except that a good grasp on the principles can
be had by visualizing an overhead sword strike caught by the forward hand of an
Aikido master. He too rides the
sword’s path with his hand while rotating out of the sword’s path. His technique typically ends in a
throw. The Eagle/Crane technique
can end in a throw but also has a place for a disabling attack on the elbow of
the sword bearing hand—with other follow-up strikes if needed. The Eagle/Crane system makes a point of
stopping an attacker in ways that the defender has an ample opportunity to
escape. Too often, a person can
recover from a throw quickly enough to require further action.
As one can see, the
Eagle/Crane Defense system is primarily focused on dealing with defenses
against the use of strikes or weapons of some kind. To meet the needs of personal self-defense in general, a
number of other techniques are added to the STOP training. These additions include CAPE techniques
designed for the mental health community to enable persons in that field to
deal with verbal and physical aggression without injuring or being injured by
the patients—which is appropriate for anyone dealing with a person has a duty
to protect. Eagle/Crane plays an
important role in dealing with situations that involve weapons and can be
modified to progress from deflecting blocks to restraints instead of
counterstrikes. The final
component of the STOP system is a selection of various contemporary preemptive
strikes and escape techniques using the releases and joint locks common to Chin
Na.
So my thanks go out
to the nameless animal masters I had the privilege of observing defending their
nests. But equally vital was Dr.
Wong’s training back in the early 70’s that prepared my mind to respect, and in
time, to understand and translate the wisdom of these masters of survival into
human terms.