Zui quan
Zui Quan (, drunken fist) is a general name for all the styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate a drunkard. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the famous Buddhist and Daoist sects. The Buddhist style is related to the Shaolin temple while the Daoist style is based on the Daoist tale of the drunken Eight Immortals. Zui quan has the most unusual body movements among all styles of Chinese martial arts. Hitting, grappling, locking, dodging, feinting, ground and aerial fighting and all other unsophisticated methods of combat are incorporated.
Zui quan features
The technical features of zui quan are based on imitating a drunkard. The main body method is called sloshing, which refers to "Hollow Body, Wine Belly" concept, as though the body is hollow and the lower abdomen () is filled with wine (instead of Qi), which travels through the body adding power to the movements. The postures are driven by weight and momentum of the whole body, staggering around, creating sudden power from awkward positions, and fluidity in the movements and transitions from one pose to another. Drunken body style seems peculiar and off-balance, but it is actually in balance.
Drunken style is among the most difficult styles of wushu due to the need for advanced basic requirements. Its intangible, heavy sloshing power is gained through training the body to be soft and agile through basic training and the drunken forms. While in fiction practitioners of zui quan are portrayed as being actually drunk, zui quan techniques are highly acrobatic and require a great degree of balance and coordination, such that attempting to perform these moves while drunk is dangerous, if not impossible.
Zui quan styles
A great variety of kung fu schools have drunken styles, but the two major schools are the Buddhist and Daoist styles: Because of the emperor's permission, the monks could abandon the Buddhist rule of not consuming meat and wine. This happened around 621 AD and since then, some Shaolin monks have consumed wine.
Drunken style was first introduced in the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). a drunken luohan sways to the sides with disorderly steps.
As with other Shaolin styles, Shaolin zui quan is not a complete stand-alone system itself, but consists of a few barehanded and weapon forms which together with other forms and styles comprise the whole system of Shaolin quan. Every lineage of Shaolin monks may have one or two barehanded and one or a few weapon forms of zui quan. The main weapon is the drunken staff, but other weapons such as the drunken sword are also practiced. Though the technical contents are almost the same, the drunken forms of different lineages are different and their historical sources are mostly unclear.
Daoist style
The Daoist style of zui quan imitates the characters of the "Drunken Eight Immortals" (). This style is a complete system itself comprising 8 forms, each representing one of the eight immortal characters:
#Lü Dongbin (), the leader of the 8 immortals, with a sword on his back that dispels evil spirits, swaying back and forth to trick the enemy; the drunkard with internal strength.
#Li Tieguai (), Li, the cripple, walks with an iron cane, feigns the weakness of having just one leg, to win the fight with one powerful leg.
#Han Zhongli (), the strongest immortal, carries a large cauldron of wine, tackles the enemies with strength.
#Lan Caihe (), sexually ambiguous, carries a bamboo basket, attacking the enemies with swaying waist, mostly feminine postures.
#Zhang Guolao (), old man Zhang, donkey rider, with his entertaining postures on the donkey, and his donkey's lethal swift double kicks.
#Cao Guojiu (), the youngest immortal, a clever, controlled fighter, locks and breaks the joints (), attacks the deadly soft parts of the enemy body ().
#Han Xiangzi (), flute-playing immortal, denying and countering the enemy attacks with powerful wrists.
#He Xiangu (), Miss He, flirting with the enemy to cover her short-range attacks, evading the enemy attacks with the twisting body.
These elements combine to form a complete fighting art. This style has also several weapon forms. The main weapon is the drunken sword, but other weapons such as the staff are also used.
Variations of the Drunken Eight Immortals are found in different Daoist kung fu lineages, some with different training methods and interpretations than listed above. While the Eight Immortals have been linked to the initial development of qigong exercises such as the Eight Piece Brocade., there are training groups that specifically train the Drunken Eight Immortals for kung fu combat methods, Qigong, neigong and Daoist Yoga.
Other styles
Many Chinese martial arts have drunken style methods.
*Some lineages of Choy Li Fut contain drunken forms.
*Houquan or monkey style contains a drunken monkey form.
*Some family styles incorporate drunken techniques. In modern times the Ma family style known as Eight Shadows style (BaYingQuan) has a large drunken curriculum with a long involved hand form, weapon forms including staff, spear and sword, as well as a wooden man set. This lineage also includes drunken eight immortals training.
*Most lineages of Hung Gar and Hung Fat contain drunken forms.
*Modern performance wushu contains several exhibition drunken forms.<ref name=chen-kfm />
Zui quan features
The technical features of zui quan are based on imitating a drunkard. The main body method is called sloshing, which refers to "Hollow Body, Wine Belly" concept, as though the body is hollow and the lower abdomen () is filled with wine (instead of Qi), which travels through the body adding power to the movements. The postures are driven by weight and momentum of the whole body, staggering around, creating sudden power from awkward positions, and fluidity in the movements and transitions from one pose to another. Drunken body style seems peculiar and off-balance, but it is actually in balance.
Drunken style is among the most difficult styles of wushu due to the need for advanced basic requirements. Its intangible, heavy sloshing power is gained through training the body to be soft and agile through basic training and the drunken forms. While in fiction practitioners of zui quan are portrayed as being actually drunk, zui quan techniques are highly acrobatic and require a great degree of balance and coordination, such that attempting to perform these moves while drunk is dangerous, if not impossible.
Zui quan styles
A great variety of kung fu schools have drunken styles, but the two major schools are the Buddhist and Daoist styles: Because of the emperor's permission, the monks could abandon the Buddhist rule of not consuming meat and wine. This happened around 621 AD and since then, some Shaolin monks have consumed wine.
Drunken style was first introduced in the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). a drunken luohan sways to the sides with disorderly steps.
As with other Shaolin styles, Shaolin zui quan is not a complete stand-alone system itself, but consists of a few barehanded and weapon forms which together with other forms and styles comprise the whole system of Shaolin quan. Every lineage of Shaolin monks may have one or two barehanded and one or a few weapon forms of zui quan. The main weapon is the drunken staff, but other weapons such as the drunken sword are also practiced. Though the technical contents are almost the same, the drunken forms of different lineages are different and their historical sources are mostly unclear.
Daoist style
The Daoist style of zui quan imitates the characters of the "Drunken Eight Immortals" (). This style is a complete system itself comprising 8 forms, each representing one of the eight immortal characters:
#Lü Dongbin (), the leader of the 8 immortals, with a sword on his back that dispels evil spirits, swaying back and forth to trick the enemy; the drunkard with internal strength.
#Li Tieguai (), Li, the cripple, walks with an iron cane, feigns the weakness of having just one leg, to win the fight with one powerful leg.
#Han Zhongli (), the strongest immortal, carries a large cauldron of wine, tackles the enemies with strength.
#Lan Caihe (), sexually ambiguous, carries a bamboo basket, attacking the enemies with swaying waist, mostly feminine postures.
#Zhang Guolao (), old man Zhang, donkey rider, with his entertaining postures on the donkey, and his donkey's lethal swift double kicks.
#Cao Guojiu (), the youngest immortal, a clever, controlled fighter, locks and breaks the joints (), attacks the deadly soft parts of the enemy body ().
#Han Xiangzi (), flute-playing immortal, denying and countering the enemy attacks with powerful wrists.
#He Xiangu (), Miss He, flirting with the enemy to cover her short-range attacks, evading the enemy attacks with the twisting body.
These elements combine to form a complete fighting art. This style has also several weapon forms. The main weapon is the drunken sword, but other weapons such as the staff are also used.
Variations of the Drunken Eight Immortals are found in different Daoist kung fu lineages, some with different training methods and interpretations than listed above. While the Eight Immortals have been linked to the initial development of qigong exercises such as the Eight Piece Brocade., there are training groups that specifically train the Drunken Eight Immortals for kung fu combat methods, Qigong, neigong and Daoist Yoga.
Other styles
Many Chinese martial arts have drunken style methods.
*Some lineages of Choy Li Fut contain drunken forms.
*Houquan or monkey style contains a drunken monkey form.
*Some family styles incorporate drunken techniques. In modern times the Ma family style known as Eight Shadows style (BaYingQuan) has a large drunken curriculum with a long involved hand form, weapon forms including staff, spear and sword, as well as a wooden man set. This lineage also includes drunken eight immortals training.
*Most lineages of Hung Gar and Hung Fat contain drunken forms.
*Modern performance wushu contains several exhibition drunken forms.<ref name=chen-kfm />
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