This ^^^

Cougars are very secretive, skittish, and afraid of people in general. Especially men, because they are bigger than women.

It's only when a cougar is very hungry or defensive or protective that they will be aggressive towards a person.

If you show obvious fear, it feeds the aggression. If you stand your ground and flail your arms and yell, they may not run away, but they will stop advancing to assess the situation.

Standing your ground causes doubt. And throwing good sized rocks will make them flee. Cougars are already afraid of people. And when you act as the aggressor, it sends them flying.

That being said, you don't want to do this if you are still CLOSE to their kittens, because the protective instinct is strong enough to override the urge to flee, if the threat to their kittens is imminent.

The only time you hear of a cougar attacking a walker or hiker (and it's almost always a woman) is when they are starving and the victim has their back to the animal. They prefer a sneak attack.

The behavior displayed by that cougar was "bluff charges". And not to be ignored. But acting afraid and back-peddling is what was encouraging those bluff charges. If you stop and grab a rock and throw it at the cat, it would flee. Or at least stop in it's tracks.

It is true that it is unsafe to stand your ground when dealing with an animal that is overwhelmingly large, like a Brown Bear. But when dealing with a Mountain Lion, acting afraid and fleeing encourages an attack. You are better off waving your arms and yelling and throwing rocks.