Drunken kung fu began in Buddhist and Taoist folklore. The Buddhist version says that during the Song Dynasty, a well known martial artist named Liu Chi Zam mistakenly killed a man. He then became a monk to evade the authorities. One day Liu got drunk on powerful Chinese rice wine and was banned from the monastery. In a drunken rage he challenged and defeated over 30 monks in hand-to-hand combat. Still not satisfied, Liu continued on his path of destruction until he tore down the monastery gates. The next morning, Liu remembered his drunken condition and vividly recalled the odd rolling and tumbling techniques he used against the 30 monks. He practiced those techniques diligently' and taught them as drunken kung fu. His particular style was referred to as drunken lohan. Lohan describes the first stage of Buddha-hood and only refers to Liu's brief Buddhist encounters.
Years later, with the advent of Taoism in China, a new drunken kung fu story emerged, known as the legend of the eight drunken immortals. This story ultimately became the foundation for most drunken kung fu forms.
Immortality is one goal of Taoism, and the story says that eight people who happily achieved that goal got uproariously drunk while crossing the ocean. In this particular ocean existed a crystal palace belonging to the ocean's gods. The behavior of the drunken immortals completely disrupted life in the crystal palace. A fight between the drunken immortals and the ocean gods took place, with each of the eight immortals using his or her own brand of drunken kung fu.
Drunken kung fu has moves that other styles might consider odd. For instance, if you're on the ground, it's natural to kick your opponent's face if you're a drunken kung fu stylist. A typical kung fu strike to the jaw would come straight in. But with drunken kung fu, it can often rise sharply from beneath, totally surprising your adversary.
Although only a folktale, the drunken immortal story let people use their imagination in developing a drunken kung fu that displayed a high level of martial arts expertise. Since each drunken immortal had a distinctive character, inventive martial arts instructors created a diverse form of drunken fighting. It became so advanced that it was kept highly secretive. In Taoist folklore, the eight immortals achieved immortality through rigorous self-discipline and worthiness. They are said to travel occasionally into the human world to continue their good work, which often appears in comic and bizarre forms, such as the drunken story.
You will notice that in every drunken style practitioner, their hands seem to be closed like a fist but not entirely. Its like if they are holding a cup of tea. View the images below to see jackie Chan trying to crack two nuts with his bare knuckles.
This is an important exersize while learning the drunken art, it strenghthens your hands & forearms. This style is also known as these following names: Zui Quan, Jui Quen, Drunken Style, Drunken Fist, Drunkard Boxing, Drunkard Style, Drunkard Fist, Drunken Gods & Drunken Immortals.
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