alarich's page

From the srd:

Spring Attack (Combat)
You can deftly move up to a foe, strike, and withdraw before he can react.

Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility, base attack bonus +4.

Benefit: As a full-round action, you can move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from the target of your attack. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.

Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack.

So, let's say that a crane master style that we'ell name him "wuxiaguy" uses crane style fight vs a fighter that we'll name "bob".

Now, wuxiaguy spring attack bob. Wuxiaguy has fast movement, then he can, for example, attack from a minimum distance of 10 feet and move after the attack 80 ft. ( wuxiaguy is at least lvl 18 ).
Well done wuxiaguy. Now it's bob's turn. And Bob use 4 times his movement to be adjacent to wuxiaguy. Next turn: wuxiaguy can't spring attack.
Sure, he can tumble bob to try spring attack later, or maybe can take a standard action to attack and move ( using tumble to avoid Aoo ). But Bob is a fighter, he has a feat/lvl, maybe he wield a spear and has stand still, or maybe has step up and strike, etc.

Alternatively, bob has this fantastic feat:

Catch Off-Guard (Combat)
Foes are surprised by your skilled use of unorthodox and improvised weapons.

Benefit: You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised melee weapon. Unarmed opponents are flat-footed against any attacks you make with an improvised melee weapon.

and this:

Improvised Weapon Mastery (Combat)
You can turn nearly any object into a deadly weapon, from a razor-sharp chair leg to a sack of flour.

Prerequisites: Catch Off-Guard or Throw Anything, base attack bonus +8.

Benefit: You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised weapon. Increase the amount of damage dealt by the improvised weapon by one step (for example, 1d4 becomes 1d6) to a maximum of 1d8 (2d6 if the improvised weapon is two-handed). The improvised weapon has a critical threat range of 19–20, with a critical multiplier of ×2.

Now, if bob use as weapon a chair, this chair does 2d6+str damage, and wuxiaguy maybe is flat-footed ( or maybe not, if he use a temple sword, for example, but personal experience says that a playe, when play a monk, use only unarmed attack, ignoring monk's weapons :P ).

If wuxiaguy is flat-footed, he can't use Crane Wing. And if he can't use Crane Wing, he's screwed. And Bob say to wuxyaguy: well, you've spent decades of your life to be a fine and nearly invincible martial artist, fighting, training, etc. when you lose against a douchebag with a chair. Not bad, wuxiaguy. Not bad... * hit him wit the +5 flaming burst chair *