CAT POWER

💥 ..CAT POWER: In response to a request from a FB friend and fellow teacher, Belida Han Uckun, to share a story that was shared with me about GM George Dillman's famous training camp in the PA outback, I thought I would combine it with a lesson on "Cat Power," which is how my teacher shared it with us...many well known and famous martial artists and others would train there, most notably the great Muhammad Ali, along with the likes of White Dragon GM, Dr. Daniel K. Pai- Ali's bodygaurd and one of Mr. Dillman's teachers...well, on one visit there to train when my teacher accompanied Dr. Pai (early- mid 70's he received an unforgettable lesson in "Cat Power." Mr. Dillman is one of the leading pioneers in the arts from our country, and a truly powerful and skilled martial artist...he apparently has always had a showman's streak as well...in fact for years he had a pet mountain lion/ cougar, which he raised from birth like it was his little 100lb. kitty kat- declawed and defanged for safety...he would even wrestle the cat in public shows they would give, to the delight and horror of the audience, who no doubt were afraid the big cat would maul him! But they were friends and just goofing around...at any rate, on one visit to Mr. Dillman's camp my teacher awoke in the middle of the night to answer the call of nature...the bathroom was upstairs from where he was sleeping...of course it was pitch black and as he went up the stairs, at the very top of the stairs the cougar was chilling out, in the dark, unbeknownst to him...as my teacher arrived at the top of the stairs the big cat playfully swatted at his legs, effortlessly upending him and sending him tumbling down the stairs!! Now, my teacher was hard as nails, very powerful and weighed twice as much as the cougar- but he might as well have been a little child the cat was toying with. So, the lesson is the power of cats, of any size...which comes from their bones, sinews, tendons and cat energy- which can be very intense and of course, predatory- in martial arts cats are one of the key archetypes studied, with innumerable cat techniques and methods...typically one studies a big cat such as the tiger or lion; and a smaller, more agile cat such as a leopard or panther...from these studies one can incorporate lessons/ methods from cats with unique qualities, such as the clouded leopard, jaguar, cougar, snow leopard...heck, even the housecat!! To develop "cat power" one needs a good teacher who knows how to train students properly, and one must work very, very hard, as naturally humans are like soft pudding next to the awesome power of the big cats- so train hard and train well! And be careful going up the stairs at night if a cougar is on the loose! 😂