Li Tie Kuai a lame begger,Taoist teacher and meditator and was leader of the 8

Iron Crutch

Gourd

Floating on a Crab or Standing by a Deer

Li Chuan  encountered Shi-Chang during astral-projection

Trans-migrated to an old cripple's body

This form is performed by standing on one leg and is known for two-handed grabbing technique "lo kiu"-of pressure points & for his limp during his fighting technique & powerful right leg.

 born around 500 A.D.

associated with the Trigram Li of the Bagua. Li, a yin fire trigram relates to the direction South, and is represented by the color red

Li Tie Kuai   The name of Li Tie-guai in traditional Chinese format.

His real name is Li Chuan. He was born around 500 A.D. and was a very respected Taoist teacher in China and had many disciples. His meditation reached a very high level; passed Bodhisattva level and beginning toward the Nirvana state which eventually ended in Buddha or enlightenment. It was during this state of meditative training that he practice what modern terminology would call Astral-projection. At this state of meditation, his soul left his body and traveled through space to the various parts of China. In this dream-like travel, he encountered another Immortal, Shi Chang, who possessed a meditative level that surpassed his. Li Chuan begged Shi Chang to teach him his technique. The legend has it that Li Chuan was so absorbed by Shi Chang's teachings that a year had passed by before he realized that he must return to his body immediately or lose his immortality. He quickly bid Shi Chang good bye and returned to his hometown. Upon reaching his quarters, Li Chuan found out that his body had disappeared. His disciples had thought that he had passed away and buried his body a long time ago. Li Chuan knew he must find a new body right away or lose his immortality forever. the body he sought must be found at the instant the person died and his soul must replace the soul of the previous owner at once. At the moment of his search, there were only three candidates available; a child, a woman, and an old man. Li Chuan was very disappointed at the selection. Nevertheless, he know he must enter one of the bodies right away. As it turned out, the old man passed away first, and thus Li entered the old man's body. As soon as he possessed the body, Li was furious to find how miserable, ugly, and unsightly, not to mention crippled his new appearance was. At the height of his anger, he pulled and twisted the short stick that the old man left and transformed it into a crooked iron crutch. Hence he obtained his name Li Tie Kuai - The Iron Crutch Li. He was the leader of the Eight Immortals and known for his "limp" during his fighting techniques.