Drunken Fist is an
empty-hand martial arts form. As for
its style, the name says it all.
Its postures and
movements are extremely evasive and
fluid, emulating drunken behaviour in
their erratic and unpredictable
manner. Through stumbling and
staggering, with unorthodox rolling
kicks and back-pedalling falling
twists, the performer smacks his way
towards his opponent(s) – he would
roll over his attacker’s arm if he
is to be pushed, and he may sink his
whole weight upon his rival from
sideways.
The secret power behind
Drunken Fist is the sudden release of
force from awkward positions. With
its trademark cup-holding hand-form,
the agile footwork enables the
exponent to totter, sway, fall, rise
up on the tips of his toes then drop
to low and crouched positions, all in
an unconventional and unexpected way,
which makes his opponent(s) confused
and muddled.
With its high demand on
powerful joints and fingers, a great
deal of flexibility, as well as deep
comprehension of the martial arts
theories and philosophies, it is
reputed as one of the hardest martial
arts styles to accomplish.
The creation of this
ancient kung fu is a myth. As legend
has it, that once upon a time a kung
fu master lived alone in a cave. When
he became old, he took a disciple,
but soon realised that he might not
have enough time to teach the whole
style to that boy - so he taught him
a poem instead, and ordered him to
view the images on the cave walls.
After his death, the young disciple
spent a lot of time watching the
pictures, yet was unable to discern
the meaning in them. Disheartened, he
decided to give up. Before leaving,
he somehow got drunk, and when he
returned to the cave to collect his
belongings, he saw the images
animating and looping - and that was
how he discovered the essence of his
master’s style.
The following is a list
of the Kung Fu films featuring
Drunken Fist:
Drunken Master
(1978), in which Jackie Chan
plays a juvenile delinquent
sent by his father to learn
Drunken Fist from his uncle.
This is followed up by the
1994 film Drunken Master
II, in which he returns
as a Drunken Fist master.
