Getting Wasted

Isshinryu karate founder Shimabuku used to say "All bottles are good." This is supposedly a reference to different styles or techniques found in the martial arts. Students tend to embellish and over-interpret everything the master says. Who knows, maybe he was just talking about various types of booze.

Speaking of alcohol, I've always been curious about Zui quan - the Drunken style. The story is that some kung fu guy gets hammered one night and spontaneously creates a new style via inebriation.

Here's a clip featuring a Drunken practitioner (in black) going up against somebody from Kyokushin karate. Kyokushin is a rough and tumble full-contact style. Zui quan attempts to use a convoluted, desynchronized approach to fighting.



Now you could argue that the Drunken guy is a poor exponent, that perhaps Zui quan relies more on its forms or that it has other aims besides combat effectiveness. But this Drunken fighter basically has no game plan that allows him to score anything at all or even ward off the efforts of the Kyokushin man. All bottles are good, but they're clearly not the same.