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4[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drunken_boxing.png]]
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6Drunken Boxing, also known as Drunken Fist or Drunkard's Boxing, is a traditional Chinese martial art. It is a style of Wushu that imitates a drunkard in its movements. The postures are created by momentum and weight of the body, and imitation is generally through staggering and a certain type of fluidity in the movements. Part of the idea here is to [[ConfusionFu make one's movements unpredictable]] (because it doesn't look like any normal martial art). It is considered to be among the more difficult Wushu styles to learn, due to the need for powerful joints and fingers. Think about the kind of strength you need to be able to lie flat on your back and stand up without using anything but your toes and ankles.
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8Drunken Boxing techniques are based on the legend of "The Eight Drunken Immortals". Each of the techniques in the Drunken Set demonstrates an attribute of one of the Immortals. These "elements" from all eight Immortals' styles are combined to form a beautiful and effective fighting art.
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10It also provides an interesting-looking set of movements for a character, or makes him stand out among other more linear fighters. In an animated setting, this can be a way for the artists and animators to show off their technique and ability in drawing and animating dynamic poses.
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12Variant of the DrunkenMaster in which the character performing this combat style doesn't need to actually be drunk. Related to the story trope ConfusionFu.
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14Unfortunately, although fighters with confusing styles have occasionally thrived in combat sports, true drunken boxing is often considered a good example of AwesomeButImpractical, as it performs poorly in competition.
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16----
17!!Examples:
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19[[foldercontrol]]
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21[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22* [[BadassNormal Rock Lee]] in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Lee is actually a good enough fighter to begin with, but Kimimaro, at the time of his fight with Lee, noted that Rock Lee has a very direct, frontal attacking style of fighting, which could lead to predictability. With alcohol helping to keep his movements unpredictable combining with his freakish speed, Lee becomes a monster when using his Drunken Fist. He's also [[CantHoldHisLiquor very easy to get drunk]], which has caused problems when he did stuff like wreck entire restaurants with Might Guy needing to pin him down. (In ''Anime/NarutoShippudenTheMovie'', his sensei gives him a liquor bonbon and instructions only to take it in direst need.)
23* Parodied in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. After Kuno has forced a whole bottle of sake down female-Ranma's throat, she begins to sway and dodge in unpredictable patterns. A teacher (whom Kuno shortly intimidates into silence) complains about underage drinking, but Genma tries to explain that it's really a form of Drunken Fist, especially when she kicks Kuno out cold... and she passes out right there, tanked out of her skull.
24* Chuu from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' even incorporates alcohol into his KiManipulation, making them more powerful.
25* Master Roshi uses Drunken Boxing in the original ''Manga/DragonBall''. The broadcast dub [[{{Bowdlerise}} changed this to]] "Mad Cow" style with the addition of cow-head clip art to the scene, but the DVD version left it unchanged.
26* In ''Manga/HoshinEngi'', Taikobo eats a peach infused with sake from the Sennin world to get drunk and use this technique against Raishinshi, who otherwise outmatched him in bare-handed fight.
27* In ''Anime/AirMaster'' , during the fight against the gang of [[JapaneseDelinquents delinquents]] who had kidnapped Mina, Tokita drink a flask of alcohol for the first time in his life to get drunk and use this technique. This render his movements unpredictable to his opponents, but this also make him too drunk to chase after the guy who was holding Mina.
28* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', [[TheAce Bacchus Glowe]] of Quatro Cerberus has mastered a martial arts fighting style that, when he's drunk, allows him to unleash his full unrestrained strength and speed on a target such that they can't keep up with his unpredictability. Elfman, however, manages to exploit the flaw in it that since [[BareFistedMonk he uses his hands]], he coats his body in incredibly tough and spiky scales so that Bacchus ends up damaging ''himself'' in attacking him.
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31[[folder:Comic Books]]
32* This is the preferred method of fighting a [[CombatClairvoyance psychic or precognitive]] opponent.
33-->'''Iron Fist:''' ''[to Mr. X]'' You may hear my thoughts, but my Drunken Style [[ConfusionFu gives no warning]].
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36[[folder:FanWorks]]
37* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNightmaresOfFuturesPast'': After Harry starts teaching his friends martial arts, for both fitness and self defence, Luna turns up having learned some drunken monkey kung fu [[TaughtByTelevision from Jackie Chan movies]]. Harry is skeptical, but when he hears that it's a real martial art, he just decides to get her some books to learn it properly.
38--> '''Luna''': I watched how he did it and practised it a bit while I was home. It looked like it would be very surprising and quite fun to do.
39%% * In this ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FGOcomics/comments/q5xmzy/drunken_battle_royal/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share doujin]], a drunk Baobhan Sith, who normally is the ButtMonkey in ''[[https://www.reddit.com/u/danielxd21?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share danielxd2's series]], get drunk on sake and is able to defend Ritsuka and Kadoc from three drunken servants, who consisted of Nagetora, Jing Ke, and Ushiwakamaru.
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42[[folder:Film]]
43* UsefulNotes/WongFeiHung has displayed this type of kung fu in a good number of movies, especially the ''Film/DrunkenMaster'' series with Creator/JackieChan and the ''Last Hero In China'' series with Creator/JetLi.
44** Jackie Chan revisited this style in ''Film/TheForbiddenKingdom'', where he played one of the Drunken Immortals.
45* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', Drunken Boxing is one of the many styles [[PowersAsPrograms uploaded into Neo's head]] during his training on the ''Nebuchadnezzar''.
46* ''Film/RagingPhoenix'' is sometimes billed as "drunken ([[DanceBattler B-boy]]) muay thai vs. drunken kung fu."
47* In ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'', the pubcrawlers, while not martial artists in any sense of the word, get progressively better at fighting their robotic foes the more they drink, even displaying a couple of recognizable moves from Drunken Master- this should be expected given that the stunt coordinator was Brad Allen, a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. However, more frequently they use [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestling moves]].
48* Panda Style, the Kung Fu style invented and used by Po in the ''Franchise/KungFuPanda'' franchise shares many similarities with Drunken Kung Fu, namely that it relies less on avoiding damage than on receiving it and using the momentum and, well, body-fat. It's also highly irregular and mobile, compared to other styles.
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51[[folder:Live Action TV]]
52* Kazu, the [=KirinRanger=] from ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'', used this as his fighting style. This may be one of the reasons 75% of the Dairanger footage was dropped when it came time to use it for ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' that year.
53** Some ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' heroes also use this in probably one episode. Examples include Remi Hoshikawa/[=FiveYellow=] from ''Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman'', Koume "Umeko" Kodou/[=DekaPink=] in ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'', and Retsu Fukami/[=GekiBlue=] in ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger''
54* [[Series/TinMan Glitch]][[WesternAnimation/ReBoot !]] Drunken Master!
55* ''Series/IronFist2017'' featured Hand operative Zhou Cheng who used this style, chugging booze throughout his fight with Danny Rand, and even incorporating his liquor bottles as improvised flails and projectiles.
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58[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
59* ''TabletopGame/{{Everway}}'' supplement ''Spherewalker Sourcebook''. The combat system called The Entangling Art involves the user appearing clumsy, staggering out of the way of blows, accidentally tripping enemies and clumsily dashing weapons out of their hands. It can be used to break arms, knock down stout warriors, and even kill opponents.
60* One Terrestrial Martial Art in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is called Orgiastic Fugitive Style. Basically Drunken Boxing mixed with copious amounts of narcotics and marathon sex.
61* Appears in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons, 5th Edition as the Way of the Drunken Master subclass for [[BareFistedMonk the Monk class]]. Despite having a similar name to a certain [[DrunkenMaster similar trope]], they are actually designed after this fighting style. Their subclass abilities include the ability to sway out of harm's way (Tispy Sway), redirect missed attacks towards enemies (Drunkard's Luck), and strike multiple people at once (Intoxicated Frenzy). They also get a bonus to performance checks and their flavor text encourages readers to play them as subversive and silly tricksters. They supposedly don't get drunk as part of their martial art, ''but'' they do start off knowing how to use brewer's supplies to make alcohol. Make of that what you will.
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64[[folder:Video Games]]
65* In the doujin fighter game ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', Nayuki Minase parodies this with her "sleepy boxing" technique, which looks just like drunken boxing, except she's asleep. In this case, alcohol is replaced with strawberry jam.
66** Something similar also shows up in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' where it turns out King Muscle and Kid Muscle have developed an elaborate sleep-fighting technique due to sleeping in the same bed. (Uh...)
67* Brad Wong from the ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' series of {{Fighting Game}}s. Incidentally, his only goal in the storyline seems to be a search for the ultimate beverage of legend.
68* Shun Di, a regular of the ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' series since the second game, uses Drunken Boxing as his fighting style of choice. Some of his more damaging and advanced moves require Shun Di to have a certain number of drinks in him to perform.
69* Chin Gentsai in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series. Like Shun Di above, he can execute certain moves by taking some drinks from his gourd. He spices his techniques up a bit from the classing drunken boxing by incorporating the ability to [[BoozeFlamethrower breathe fire with his alcohol]].
70* Bo Rai Cho in the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series has drunken boxing as one of his fighting styles, and carries a flask. His name is a pun on the Spanish word "borracho", meaning "drunkard". In fact, he is canonically the inventor of the style within the universe of the game.
71* The Pandaren Brewmaster of ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has this as an ability that gives them a random chance to dodge and do extra damage. They probably are drunk when they do it.
72** Pandaren are coming in the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' expansion ''Mists Of Pandaria'', and bringing their brewmaster fighting style with them, they're tanks who rely on dodging and "stagger" (shrugging off instant damage in favor of taking it over time, probably because they're too drunk to feel it right away).
73* Suika Ibuki, of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'''s first of two {{Fighting Game}}s, is an oni that is known to have a gourd that never runs out of sake. Translation: [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl she is never sober,]] even while fighting ([[IdleAnimation while standing, she sways quite noticably]]) and it just so happens she is the {{final boss}}.
74** Later, in ''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'', we meet Yuugi Hoshiguma, who carries a sake dish (filled with sake) throughout her entire fight with you (that is, the a large portion of the stage). While she's not shown drunk at all, it's implied that she and Suika were old fighting (and presumably drinking, both being oni) buddies ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic two of four particularly notorious oni]]...).
75* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', one of your party members has the ability to toss bottles of wine to you, allowing you to activate the Drunken Master fighting style.
76** Which, although powerful, is quickly and easily outmatched by ''any'' other martial style. Drunken Master cannot be leveled up with skill points, meaning it never gets more powerful, but it's about twice as powerful as a basic martial style with no skill points. It's also very slow, and hard to control. It's mostly for RuleOfCool.
77* ''VideoGame/GodHand'', with its customizable combos has several Drunken Boxing moves. You can make Gene a drunken boxer... however, the moves are relatively impractical.
78* In ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', the Russian boxer Soda Popinski was originally named VodkaDrunkenski, who used this style. [[FrothyMugsofWater His fighting style has not changed after he switched to soda.]]
79* The "not actually drunk" version is sort of exemplified by the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' ability Tangled Feet. Pokémon with this ability gain a 20% boost to evasiveness when afflicted with the confusion status effect.
80* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarPortable 2'' gives us the Ikku Hikku, a Photon Art for the knuckles weapon. At the end of the combo, the user reclines on the ground and takes a swig from a flask pulled out of HammerSpace.
81* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' there is a hero literally called the Drunken Master, who uses this technique while also being completely drunk, all the time. Though he's a Strength hero, he's surprisingly nimble and can close the distance and dodge projectiles effectively, even more while he's drunk. One of his abilities is called "Drink", which does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
82* In some of the earlier ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw]]'' titles[[labelnote:note]]Up until ''2008'', which removed the ability to change default stances altogether.[[/labelnote]], you can select drunken boxing as a stance in character customization... however, there are no actual drunk boxing ''moves'' in the game, and the walk animation doesn't change... so in effect, it's possible to make a character that stumbles drunkenly while standing still... and that's about it.
83* Fighting game ''Wu Tang: Taste The Pain'' has this as ODB's fighting style.
84* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' Neo can use Drunken Boxing as part of the fights.
85* This is one of the various combat styles in ''VideoGame/OneFingerDeathPunch''. It's primarily seen in Boss Fights, rather than the Mob Round free-for-alls where it would be the most entertaining.
86* In ''[[VideoGame/DefJamSeries Def Jam: Fight for NY]]'', Drunken Boxing is one of the fighting styles you can learn by combining specific styles. It's also the preferred fighting style of [[Music/PublicEnemy Flava Flav]].
87* ''{{VideoGame/Absolver}}'' has "Stagger" as one of four stances you can use in the game, and the only one not available from the start. The stance makes your character hobble around and your defensive ability lets you stumble out of the way of attacks (or into the opponent directly) and the moves all look like you're falling over as you perform them. It can also be the most dangerous style if it's mastered. Also included are sword moves, which are just as confusing to watch as the bare-knuckle ones.
88* Lei Wulong from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' has Drunken Boxing as one of his [[StanceSystem stances]]. As it's got fewer moves than most of his other stances, it's not a particularly good idea to rely too heavily on it.
89* Jamie from ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'' is the series' take on Drunken Boxing, but mixed with plenty of hip-hop and [[DanceBattler breakdancing]]. He can take drinks out of his bottle mid-battle to improve or unlock new moves, though the devs say [[FrothyMugsOfWater he's not actually drinking alcohol]] and according to him it's actually an herbal remedy that boosts your energy.
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92[[folder:Western Animation]]
93* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had two scenes where Jackie used Drunken Boxing in homage to the movies. Since they couldn't mention alcohol on a kids' show, they used workarounds. The first time, he was disoriented due to the venom from a snakebite. In another example, he was suffering from "the bends" (leaving the water too quickly after a deep dive).
94* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' had 2 scenes in the same episode. In the earlier scene, Po practices "Dizzy Kung Fu" with Monkey. This [[ChekhovsSkill turns out to be useful later]], when [[spoiler: Scorpion tries to poison the village]], leading to the second scene, where he's intoxicated[[spoiler:, as the poison didn't outright kill anyone, and being larger than most, he could endure its effects for longer, rather than passing out immediately like everyone else]].
95* The three main characters of ''WesternAnimation/SeisManos'' each have a different fighting style, and Jesus is a practitioner of Drunken Boxing. In an atypical twist on this trope, Jesus has a drinking problem, but he typically doesn't fight ''while'' drunk.
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98[[folder:Real Life]]
99* If you haven't guessed by now, Creator/JackieChan is a [[OldMaster Master]] of Drunken Boxing. He incorporates it into his movie choreography, giving us his entertaining performances.
100* While he wasn't an actual practitioner of drunken boxing, boxer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9TDcXvDCw Emanuel Augustus]] earned the nickname "the Drunken Master" for his radical, borderline-insane boxing style, weaving, swaying, ducking and sometimes even literally ''dancing'' around his opponents throwing out wild but calculated blows that seemed to come out of nowhere.
101* MMA fighter Shigeyuki Umeki became known by his bizarre style, mixing an invented form of drunken boxing with breakdance and UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, although due to his short career, his style was never properly challenged in competition.
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