---
title: Drunken Groundwork Saber (醉酒地躺單刀) — the mantis ground-fighting specialty
---

The **Drunken Groundwork Saber** (**醉酒地躺單刀**, *Zuìjiǔ Dìtǎng Dāndāo*) is a rare **ground-fighting single-saber (刀)** form within [**Seven Star Praying Mantis**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/seven-star-mantis) — combining the staggering, deceptive footwork of **drunken (醉)** boxing with the rolling, falling, low-line work of the **groundwork (地躺)** tradition. Recorded by [**Wong Hon Fan**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/wong-hon-fan) (photographed for *Tin Tin Daily News*, winter 1960; published as a book, Hong Kong, 1972), the set is **46 postures**. Wong's own preface notes that the Mantis system has **very few sets involving groundwork**, which makes this a genuine specialty piece in the curriculum.

## Character

"Drunken" here is tactical, not literal: the apparent loss of balance — staggering, lurching, dropping — is bait, each stumble disguising a saber cut or a sweep from the floor. The **groundwork (地躺)** element takes the fight deliberately *low* — rolling, falling, and rising — a register the upright mantis forms rarely use. The Big-Dipper / Seven-Star posture name (**七星劈刀式**) confirms the form's Seven-Star house identity even as it borrows the drunken and tumbling vocabularies.

## Representative postures

A selection from the 46 (the complete set is in Wong Hon Fan's manual, translated in full by Brennan — linked below):

| 中文 | English |
| --- | --- |
| 跨虎拉刀式 | Sitting-Tiger Stance, Pulling Back |
| 七星劈刀式 | Big-Dipper Stance, Chopping |
| 轉刀旋風式 | Spin Around, Whirlwind Kick |
| 騎馬平刺式 | Horse-Riding Stance, Level Stab |
| 藏刀朝天式 | Storing the Saber, Kicking to the Sky |
| 一字劈刀式 | Lower Into a Split, Chopping |

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="yan-qing-single-saber" text="Yan Qing Single Saber (燕青單刀) — the upright single-saber form" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="seven-star-mantis" text="Seven Star Mantis (七星螳螂拳) — the parent branch" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="mantis-canon-english-translations" text="Mantis Canon — the full index of Wong Hon Fan forms in open English" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="wong-hon-fan" text="Wong Hon Fan (黃漢勛) — who recorded this rare form" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="praying-mantis" text="Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the parent system" />

## Sources

**[1]** 黃漢勛 (Wong Hon Fan), *醉酒地躺單刀* (Hong Kong, 1972; photographed 1960), Mantis-school form — full open English translation by Paul Brennan: [Drunken Groundwork Saber](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2022/03/17/drink-guinness/). Brennan's translation is in copyright; linked, not reproduced.

**[2]** *Praying Mantis Master Wong Hon Fan Collection*, Chinese University of Hong Kong Library ([repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/collection/whf](https://repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/collection/whf)).