A cloud hit promising Kung Fu champion Earl Blijd back to the beginning.

The Panther is back on his feet.

His last name is Blijd - pronounced �blite�. He is a Kung Fu fighter with international fame. In his world he is known by his honorary title: The Panther of Curaçao. He was born on Curaçao, a sunny island in the Caribbean and one of the 5 islands of the Netherlands Antilles. His phenomenal kick technics and body control of a ballet dancer made the public call him �The Panther of Curaçao�.

He was on top of the world: practicing Wushu, his favorite style of Kung Fu, training pupils Wushu, performing demonstrations, fighting, winning tournaments, coaching teams. His energy was seemingly endless.

Then, on a misty morning in May 1995 it all nearly ended. Like a jigsaw puzzle of flesh and blood he was sawed out of a car wreck. What happened to Earl Blijd?

The fog was very dense on that 6^th of May 1995. Very dense indeed. Earl was carefully driving the car on route A28 with three of his pupils in it. They left early in the morning from Groningen (up north in The Netherlands) to get in time to Antwerp (Belgium) about 300 kilometers further down south.

In Antwerp he was going to perform his famous demonstrations in Chinese martial arts.

He did not get further than Putten (middle of The Netherlands). In the white foggy clouds his car was hit from behind, thrusted it into a truck in front of him. Earl has no recollection of this at all. He was unconscious when they freed him from his crashed car with a saw; which took about half an hour. He was critically wounded and was in a coma for 6 days.

In the world of martial arts, Earl Blijd had established a name. Because of his exceptional kick technics and his phenomenal body control he got the nickname �The Panther of Curaçao�. His body is as elastic as a rubber band. Several European and world titles are on his track record. The number of trophies he won is truly amazing.

He says:
Kung Fu is actually an incorrect name by which Chinese Martial arts is known. Kung Fu means: hard labor, hard training. Wushu is a better name for the sport. Basically there are the fighting movements meant to eliminate somebody.

But all these movements have become abstract graceful forms in modern Wushu. Meaning that the basic movements have been elaborated into an almost acrobatic act.

Although I have won sparring tournaments, most of my titles I have won in forms.

Usually Earl�s younger brother Carl was the driver when going to a demonstration. But Carl could not go that day. Normally Carl would avoid route A28 because he hates it; he would take another route via Arnhem.

And as fate would have it, it was on route A28 where Earl and 20 more drivers were crashed into each other in a terrible chain collision. This crash left 3 people dead and more than 13 wounded. One of the wounded was Earl Blijd.

Earl had sustained several injuries and fractures: fractures of the skull base, fractured face ( jaw-bone, cheekbones, orbit (eye socket) and nasal bones), fracture of the left shoulder, fracture of the right kneecap, contusioned lungs and several severe bruises and cuts over the whole body.

The 3 pupils that were in the car with him, miraculously got away with only a few scratches and bruises.

When he awakened from the coma after 6 days, they operated on him for 9 � hours in which they reconstructed his face. His face was swollen and he had double vision. A few weeks later another operation of 17 hours followed. Earl has hardly any recollection of the first two months after the accident. He does remember that he was startled by his own reflection in the mirror. His face felt �hard�, his nose was flattened, his teeth were shoved over each other. He only looked in the mirror when he needed to brush his teeth. When going to sleep, he thought: tomorrow everything will be normal again. But it was not. He has had an accident.

When he was an adolescent Earl got interested in Chinese martial arts inspired by the TV-series �Kung Fu�. He imitated the moves he saw on television and in magazines.

In 1978 Earl left Curaçao, the island where he was born, to study chemistry at the University of Groningen. Within a year he met Kung Fu teacher Trieu Trung La. He took lessons and was �hooked�. In 1983 he became assistant teacher. When Trieu Trung La stopped in 1984, Earl decided to continue the Bao Trieu sports school.

The passion for Wushu had grown so big, that he stopped studying chemistry not long before he would finish. He could not concentrate on chemistry. When he sat in the library to study, he would draw fighting positions in stead of studying.

In 1985 he was selected to represent The Netherlands in the European Wushu Championships in Brussels (Belgium). That was the turning point in his career.

He visited other teachers in Europe to learn more. He performed demos across Europe; but also in Canada, Malaysia and China. He even made the Chinese newspapers. He was building up a sports school of international fame - that was his dream.

Train, teach, demos, win tournaments; his energy was seemingly limitless. Alas, on the 6^th of May 1995 he had this nearly fatal accident. He was in the hospital for 2 months. Taking little steps when walking was all he could do when he was released from the hospital. He had to eat thru tubes.

Friends of his wrote down some sentences he spoke at the time. Things like: �I want to drink, sleep and wait for the next day to come.�
And: �I find life terrible.� But also: �I want to take a shower before the competition starts.�

After the hospital, rehabilitation began in Beatrixoord in Haren (close to Groningen).

The Panther of Curaçao had to practice how to throw a ball. He had to learn anew to walk a line. Actually he had to learn everything from scratch again; basic things like writing and riding a bike.

He recovered amazingly fast. In his words: I was able to listen to my body b efore I had the accident. I had a trained body. I knew what I could do and what I wanted to do.

After a few months he was able to practice sports again. Five months after the accident he already participated in a Wushu demonstration. He left the rehabilitation center in December 1995, six months after the accident.

Two years after the accident, Earl felt he has re-lived his first 35 years of his life in two years. It was like going thru those first 35 years at high speed. He experienced his early childhood again, the insecurity of a child and his adolescence.

When visiting Curaçao in 1997, it was no more than a memory of the house of his parents at first. But as soon as he touched ground, he felt the warmth and love for that island in the Caribbean. It was his birthplace; there was recognition.

Earl Blijd fought back like a lion. He has regained his cat-like agility. His great passion for Wushu has also returned.

However, the accident did leave some traces.

Metal plates are still under his skin around his eyes. The re-construction of his face, left his eyes further from each other than before. Also, he is not able to look from the corner of his right eye. A thick scar goes from ear to ear across his head. His face has changed permanently.

Worst of all, is that because of the brain damage, he has trouble concentrating. He has trouble to remember things. Especially the short-term memory seems to suffer. Therefore, he has to write down everything.

The coordination between mind and body is not optimal anymore. He has to think before making a move � this used to be automatic. Now he has trouble keeping his balance.

Night and day, Earl is busy re-building his sports school Bao Trieu. It is his life. He is more of a teacher now; which shows when training a group of pupils: Earl and Wushu are one again.

After half an hour of training, his pupils wet of transpiration, Earl goes on passionately as ever.

I want to teach well. I want to show people how beautiful Wushu is.