Shaolin Kung Fu Combat Styles: 18. drunken form (醉拳: zui quan)

instructor: monk Heng Xin
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- combat strategy:

the drunken style teaches to "ambush" the opponent. its main tactics are:

tactic 33 - "sowing discord tactic (反间计)": abnormal moves from unlikely angles confuse the opponent.

tactic 34 - "be wise, play dumb (假痴不癫)": pretending abnormal states, like being off-balance, etc., deceives the opponent.

tactic 35 - "self-infliction tactic (苦肉计)": pretending injuries deludes the opponent, making him underestimate and loosen guard.

tactic 36 - "toss a brick, take gem (抛砖引玉)": exposing part of your body as bait lures the opponent into ambush.

Shaolin drunken style follows no standard and, unlike other Shaolin styles, doesn't have a standard form. it is a free-form style and everyone can have his own drunken form(s).
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- history:

Tang dynasty (618-907):
at the beginning of the dynasty, in 621 AD, 13 monks from Shaolin temple intervened prominently in a war to help the new dynasty. Li Shimin (李世民), son of the new emperor and the commander of the Tang army, appreciated it and endowed the monks with officialdom, land, and wealth, and came to Shaolin temple in ceremony of the victory, and gifted the monks with the permission to disavow the Buddhist rule of not consuming meat and wine. monk Zhi Shou (智守), one of the 13 monks, had a prior interest in wine before becoming a monk and is said to had been able to drink 5 catties of wine in one breath. following the permission, he grabbed a jar and drank a huge amount of wine. monks blamed him, but fully intoxicated, he challenged the monks in disorder with his staff and then bare hand when disarmed, and could defy a vary large group of monks. the abbot praised this 'drunken style' and it was adopted, refined, and inherited over generations. because of their Buddhist vows, monks did not standardize this style, but most lineages of the monks developed their own drunken form and kept it as their hidden advanced style.
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- note: there are various other drunken forms and styles in Chinese kung fu, and they are different from Shaolin zui han quan. most of them are based on imitating the Daoist tale of the 8 drunken immortals, while Shaolin zui han quan is based on the Buddhist character of a drunken luohan. though technically similar, these are different styles.
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