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How about for once, just once we allow the monk to have some cake and eat it too!
The idea of them having nice things and not having overpowered things are not mutually exclusive.
I was thinking about taking Crane Wing with my rather high AC Paladin/Bard, perhaps via a couple levels of Unarmed Fighter or Master of Many Styles. I've decided not to do it mostly due to the GM/Player dynamics somebody mentioned earlier. The DM already complains that my PC is hard to hit. If he rolls a natural 20 and I tell him, "No, you still don't hit" I think his head will pop, especially since we already have an Oracle who sometimes forces enemies to reroll 20s.
Honestly the mechanics of getting into the stance as a swift action seemed like a bit of a pain too since my PC has some other things to use swift actions on. On the other hand, I do also see some potential for "abuse". It has been mentioned that few higher CR monsters except the T-Rex have just one attack. That's only true until the moment your party includes somebody with Gentle Rest or Frigid Touch. Then most monsters can be reduced to one attack pretty easily.
I know there's a lot of wisdom on the boards about never, ever using a single monster for a fight, but many GMs like to do it at least once in a while, and many APs include fights with single monsters. PFS adventures are no different, and I could imagine this combo really raining on a DM's parade. I'm not sure if it is really "overpowered", but it could certainly cause some tension at least in certain games. I think instead I'll go with some debuffs which help the rest of my party too.
As an aside, a lot of monsters can beat Crane Wing by simply grappling the PC, but my PC happened to find a ring of freedom of movement which was laying around in a dungeon in the AP we're running (kind of nuts since I think we were under 10th level)
@RavingDork - I agree that Ability Focus should only apply to a single type of Hex (presumably Slumber, which itself could be material for another "is this ability overpowered?" discussion)
I took Crane style with a halfling fighter (brawler). With stalwart I could choose either a +6 dodge bonus or DR 10/-. It was quite nice.
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Crane Style is about as OP as a fighter with a nodachi. At first it looks OP, then you realize how much has been invested and sacrificed to make the only trick you are good at, be amazing. With crane style, on most non-monks it requires 5 feats. with monks it still requires 3 feats. With a nodachi fighter, he will need power attack, weapon focus, weapon spec., greater weapon focus, and greater weapon spec. to remain the king of damage. That's 5 feats. Crane Style will only work in melee, so will the nodach fighter. So, are there going to be "Nodachi Fighters are unbalanced" threads?