How exciting are those times when you receive the news that the Lion is ready to have his breakfast, as the cameras begin to sharpen their mettle to shoot the rare scenes of the king of the jungle while he is preparing his breakfast, then devour it voraciously. The Breakfast may be a deer, a wild buffalo, or a wild zebra!

We were ready…Waiting for a breakfast graced by the royal presence… We saw the Lion approaching the deer, breaths began to withhold to capture the historical scenes, however the Lion mocked us! He walked by the herds of deers without attacking them… We started to wonder?! Did he want to prove to us that the law of the jungle is more merciful than the law of the human beings?! So, the Lion will not insult the deer in front of a stranger?! Is this really the Lion?! He sees the deer and does not attack him?! Not only this but also walk near him in pride, without any attempt to run, or even to roar?!

We learned later that the Lion is more active for hunting at night, in the dark and before sunrise. What a bad reputation! Where is the boldness and courage then?! So the Lion moves around in the dark?! What a miserable king he is!! Maybe he is the king of the jungle in our minds, while the animals did not seem to recognize him as so yet.

We came back empty-handed; we took few shots in a humiliating scene for him as a Lion, strutting without going behind a single deer! He started approaching us, I wondered… Is it possible that we will be his breakfast meal today?! Does he see that we look like a zebra to this extent?! But he also ignored us and did not even think in intimidating us by showing his teeth. He walked in front of us in pride. We followed him until he reached his cubs, teach them hunting, give them some lessons about the tactics of attack, I do not know why I felt he is directing these lessons to us…The manner in which he was giving his lessons and his words suggested this:

Master the Art of Hiding and Appearing: and know when to hide and when to appear, for the Lion hides until he becomes close to his prey, it does not lower his position as the king of the jungle that he hides between the savannah grasses, and then announce his appearance in a surprise to everyone. In addition, he becomes more active at night, especially with the absence of moonlight (1). The Lion can roar the whole period; to announce the presence and the prestige, but he certainly will not win any hunting, and his roar will kill him of hunger. When to talk and when to keep quiet, when to scream and when swallow your rage… All of these are tactics working in harmony, and only the Lion is up to them.

Retain your Full Strength: and select the timing of the attack carefully, especially if your strength does not bear the long attack. The Lion holds a weak heart which cannot stand distance running (2), and he usually chases faster animals, thus he does not start running unless the prey is within a short distance. Sometimes it is better not to overstretch your power by useless running or jumping, you think you are approaching the target, while you are actually moving away from it even though you are speeding up the pace towards it. The moment you approach the target your strength will be sapped, accordingly you may not be able to get it, and the moment of harvesting the fruit your hand muscles will be exhausted. Keep your full strength and chose when to start running and when to deplete your energy. Design your style based on your knowledge of yourself and your group.

Blitz: This is based on the speed and the short time, closer to achieve the gains with the least losses. As the length of time exhaust the opponent, it also does the same to you; it wastes your resources. The lion is not able to maintain his speed except for a short period. Therefore, he depends on approaching and surprise (3). 

Make the Target Look for you: through the selection of proper sites, for the Lions will not have to look for the deers, when they hide near the water which they go to. Then, you will find the deers are the ones searching for the Lions, or rather for the water. Make this lake, and the deers will come to you voluntarily. Achieve your goal by meeting the needs of your opponent… Love of fame…Love of prestige… Delusive victory… Etc.

Make your Opponent Feel Safe: do not raise the degree of his sensitivity against you, since inciting him will make you lose the element of surprise, and makes him ready for defense, escape or proactive attack. Once the deers herds see the Lions group approaching their place they become timid and ready to run at any moment.

Exhaust your Opponent: by approaching him from more than one side, so that his strength is weakened and dispersed. Lions resort to this when attacking a larger prey such as a wild buffalo. Surround it from all sides and spar until it weakens its forces (4).Sometimes the Lions follow the herds of buffalo for long distances without pouncing on any of them, aiming from this to confuse them and cast panic in them. This leads after a while to the dispersion of the herd, allowing the Lions to pick one of them later on to pounce on it (5).

Freeze yourself: Be like a statue, master stability and do not move, then attack whenever your opponent gets busy, for Lions pounce on their prey when they find that it does not look at them, or whenever it puts her head in the ground in search of food (6). Your continuous movement may take you away from your goal and take your goal away from you.

Do not Take the Bull by the Horns: do not get engaged in a direct confrontation with him, for the bull’s horns causes bleeding. Rely on the indirect approaching, and do not attack your opponent at his strength points. If his horn is his tool to encounter from the front, then face him from behind, and then a thousand horns will not harm you, because of this a group of Lions resort to circumvent around the bull, attack him from the back and hold his backbone (7).  

Do not Destroy your Opponent's Weapons: however, put him in a position of not being able to use them, even though they are in his hand. This is what the Lion does when he faces the wild buffalo from the back, then get very close to his head, holding it, so that he cannot use his horns. In order to be effective, the movement of the bull’s horns needs a space of free movement, the Lion prevents the existence of this space by getting attached to the bull’s head. The Lion did not think to pull the bull’s horns off; it is enough for him to get close to a distance that does not enable the bull from using his horns (8). Perhaps this is what causes the psychological defeat of the bull. His weapon is in his hand, still it is unusable!

By Wael Adel and Ahmad Adel Abd Al Hakim

Translated by Rana Mohammed

March 9th, 2012