Comments on: The Young Vagabond http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/ life, time and waste Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:18:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Craig http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5279 Craig Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:22:03 +0000 http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5279 Correct. From what I've seen of drunken steps, one needs to be very sharp to use them at all. The balance and timing look excruciatingly difficult. I'd be wary of trying them sober, let alone drunk. Correct. From what I’ve seen of drunken steps, one needs to be very sharp to use them at all. The balance and timing look excruciatingly difficult. I’d be wary of trying them sober, let alone drunk.

]]> By: Reverend Matt http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5275 Reverend Matt Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:10:09 +0000 http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5275 Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, I'd not thought that drunkenness was being portrayed as purely positive, but it sure does seem to help sometimes. Also, I'd heard of actual Drunken styles, but they don't rely on actual drunkenness, correct? Not for reals. Also, please be advised that I would have been incapable of making the Conficianism guess before I came under your tutelage. Again, I thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, I’d not thought that drunkenness was being portrayed as purely positive, but it sure does seem to help sometimes. Also, I’d heard of actual Drunken styles, but they don’t rely on actual drunkenness, correct? Not for reals.

Also, please be advised that I would have been incapable of making the Conficianism guess before I came under your tutelage. Again, I thank you.

]]> By: Craig http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5271 Craig Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:14:04 +0000 http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5271 In large part, yes. Note the strained, peculiar student-teacher relationships between drunken fighters in <em>Drunken Master I-III, Swordsman, Drunken Monkey, Come Drink With Me</em>, and, of course, <em>Young Vagabond</em>. And in another direction, we frequently see the drunken hero as an archetypal wuxia character, a man whose wisdom has grown to the point where he can no longer interact with square society on its own terms. The drunken hero grew up in the Jiang Hu world of betrayal and death; he becomes cynical, and retreats to the bottle, not just to drown his sorrow or forget his cares, but to exit the social system he has known, and become a hermit. Again, all the aforementioned titles hint at this, but <em>Drunken Monkey</em> is probably the clearest example. The drunken hero is often a closet intellectual, skilled in music or poetry, doling out a Buddhist philosophy of detachment from worldly concerns. Another angle I look at, one hinted at by <em>Drunken Master II, Hero Among Heroes,</em> and <em>Young Master</em>, and hammered home in <em>Last Hero in China</em>, is that booze is a catalyst for violence. It loosens people up, increases their pain threshold, destroys their judgment, and lowers their inhibitions. This role blends into the polar opposite of the drunken hero, the drunken fool. This is Chan's character in DMII when he is singing in the restaurant. See also the opening of <em>Ten Tigers of Kwang Tung</em>. These are drunks who make public asses of themselves, and wake up the next morning thinking they were charming. There's also the pure tactical view. Many fighting styles include a few "drunken" steps, where the fighter shifts his weight and leans in unusual ways to create confusion. <em>Young Vagabond</em> takes this to its logical conclusion, borrowing from the Taoist military scholars the notion that form is vulnerable, but formlessness cannot be attacked. In large part, yes. Note the strained, peculiar student-teacher relationships between drunken fighters in Drunken Master I-III, Swordsman, Drunken Monkey, Come Drink With Me, and, of course, Young Vagabond. And in another direction, we frequently see the drunken hero as an archetypal wuxia character, a man whose wisdom has grown to the point where he can no longer interact with square society on its own terms. The drunken hero grew up in the Jiang Hu world of betrayal and death; he becomes cynical, and retreats to the bottle, not just to drown his sorrow or forget his cares, but to exit the social system he has known, and become a hermit. Again, all the aforementioned titles hint at this, but Drunken Monkey is probably the clearest example. The drunken hero is often a closet intellectual, skilled in music or poetry, doling out a Buddhist philosophy of detachment from worldly concerns.

Another angle I look at, one hinted at by Drunken Master II, Hero Among Heroes, and Young Master, and hammered home in Last Hero in China, is that booze is a catalyst for violence. It loosens people up, increases their pain threshold, destroys their judgment, and lowers their inhibitions. This role blends into the polar opposite of the drunken hero, the drunken fool. This is Chan’s character in DMII when he is singing in the restaurant. See also the opening of Ten Tigers of Kwang Tung. These are drunks who make public asses of themselves, and wake up the next morning thinking they were charming.

There’s also the pure tactical view. Many fighting styles include a few “drunken” steps, where the fighter shifts his weight and leans in unusual ways to create confusion. Young Vagabond takes this to its logical conclusion, borrowing from the Taoist military scholars the notion that form is vulnerable, but formlessness cannot be attacked.

]]> By: Reverend Matt http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5270 Reverend Matt Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:13:44 +0000 http://www.dimfuture.net/wordpress/2008/01/01/the-young-vagabond/#comment-5270 The hooch certainly does have its good side in fightin' China. Why do you suppose that is? A reaction to the orderliness of Conficianism? I dunno. The hooch certainly does have its good side in fightin’ China. Why do you suppose that is? A reaction to the orderliness of Conficianism? I dunno.

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