SHAOLIN KUNG FU: Drunken tactics (zui quan)

Описание: instructor: monk Heng Xin
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combat strategy:

the drunken style teaches "ambush" tactics. 'unpredictability' is inherent in ambushing as it reverses the normal logic. luring the opponent into a seemingly good move, which is actually a trap. in feinting, you are the active party and the opponent is passive, but in ambushing you passively set a trap and the opponent is the active party. this is specially used in hard and losing situations:

tactic 33 - 'mental trap':
"play silly, not crazy (假痴不癫)" – do not reveal your true knowledge, let the opponent count on your incompetence, wait for his miscalculated move. for example, if he goes down for legs to uproot you or gets close to punch your face, don't take firm guard from the beginning, let him down or close, as a trap well in the range of your most serious blows. in addition, do not attack with firm pro moves, but abnormal moves from unlikely angles, so he doesn't take you seriously as a pro and thinks that was by chance, so you could exploit this same tactic again and again.

tactic 34 - 'body trap':
"self-infliction tactic (苦肉计)" – do not reveal your true body capabilities, let the opponent count on your weakness and miscalculate. for example, in response to opponent's attacks pretend being injured, fall, or falter, etc., to deceive him into the delusion of success and make him underestimate and loosen guard, while this is actually part of your attack. for example, after his punch you fall backwards–he thinks you fell and loosens guard–while you push your kick to his lower body. if performed awkward enough, though the blow is heavy, he thinks that was incidental and doesn't realize it was intentional. so you may exploit this tactic again.

tactic 35 - 'guard trap':
"toss a bait, attract gem (抛砖引玉)" – bait tactic says intentionally expose part of your body as bait to lure the opponent attack there. he thinks of it as an open area, an easy target, while it is actually a heavily anticipated ambush.

tactic 36 - 'move trap':
"sowing discord tactic (反间计)" – discord tactic says to move the opponent to a position, force to the opposite, he naturally opposes and so moves to your desired direction. for example, if you want to move a limb of him to the left, force it to the right first, if you want to move it closer, push it farther first, if you want to bend it, extend it first.

in hard fights when you are losing, you often get into awkward situations with no normal way of attack or defense. in this style, you intentionally ambush in awkward positions to persuade the opponent open guard for your moves which go to unlikely angles. this is how to turn an otherwise lost situation into a winning maneuver. these involve untimely reactions, being loose, falter, and fall, awkward guarding, and unlikely moves. you may look like a drunk, but the actual purpose is not to imitate drunkenness, but something else.
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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. son of the emperor and commander of the Tang army, Li Shimin (李世民), came to Shaolin temple in ceremony of the victory. one of the 13 monks, monk Zhi Shou (智守), who could drink 5 catties of wine in one breath before becoming a monk, grabbed a jar and drank a huge amount of wine. monks blamed him, but fully drunk, he challenged the monks and defied a large group of them with his staff and bare hand. the abbot praised this 'drunken style' and it was secretly 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 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 quan. while Shaolin zui quan is based on the Buddhist character of a drunken luohan, most other styles are based on imitating the 8 Daoist immortal characters. though technically similar, these are different styles.
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