Parkour: China as a Playground跑酷：把中國當作游樂場

瑪麗安娜·切里尼　李方超/譯

Urban sports are having a moment. Walk through a park in most big cities today and youll easily see kids riding a skateboard， rollerblading or doing some freestyle running. China is no exception. The country has witnessed a surging popularity of “extreme” expressions of athleticism that use the city as their playground. Although still far from being mainstream.

城市運動當下正風靡。如今，你若在大多數大城市的公園里漫步，兒童玩滑板、滑旱冰，或是隨性奔跑的畫面隨處可見。中國也不例外。運動才能的“極限”表達是把整座城市當作游樂場，這種表達方式在中國迅猛流行起來，盡管遠未成為主流。

“Parkour feels like flying. To me， it represents freedom.”

“跑酷就像飛一樣。對我來說，它代表自由。”

The discipline grew through young Chinese athletes exposure to films. “Most Chinese traceurs learned about parkour through movies，” explains Ma， a former parkour practitioner in Beijing. “Thats how we were first exposed to it. Until， of course， it physically arrived in China.” The disciplines entrance into China dates back to 2006， when a few individuals decided to bring those free-spirited stunts from screen to reality， and started practicing as traceurs in parks and urban compounds.

這項運動在中國的興起源于年輕一代運動愛好者接觸到相關電影。“大多數中國跑酷者都是通過電影了解跑酷的。”生活在北京的前跑酷玩家馬先生解釋道，“我們正是以這樣的方式首次接觸到跑酷。當然，后來中國真的有人練起了跑酷。”這項運動進入中國的時間可追溯至2006年，當時有幾個人決定把那些不受拘束的特技動作從銀幕上搬到現實中，他們開始以跑酷者的身份在各大公園和城市建筑群中練習。

“Jumping off buildings wasnt exactly well received by people at first.”

“從建筑物上往下跳，人們一開始的確不太能接受。”

In China， of course， back-flipping and gravity-defying jumps were nothing too out of the ordinary： flailing， spinning heroes pour out of kung fu and wu xia tales that are the fixture of many a Chinese television series. Yet parkour had a difficult time taking off. “No one really knew what it was，” says Matt Talbot-Turner， co-founder of parkour magazine， BreathePK. “Jumping off buildings wasnt exactly well received by people at first， in China more than other places.” Undeterred by public perception， the first generation of Chinese traceurs continued practicing， and the sport grew quickly—albeit remaining niche.

當然，在中國，后空翻和反重力跳躍并不是特別稀奇的事情：功夫和武俠故事是中國電視連續劇的常設主題。這類電視劇很多，拳打腳踢、縱身騰空的主人公層出不窮。然而，跑酷曾經起步艱難。“沒有人知道跑酷到底是什么。”跑酷雜志BreathePK的聯合創刊人馬特·塔爾博特-特納說道，“從建筑物上往下跳，人們一開始的確不太能接受，中國的接受度比其他國家更低。”中國第一代跑酷者未受公眾看法的影響，他們持續訓練，于是這項運動迅速發展起來——盡管依然屬于小眾運動項目。

Soon enough， the word parkour was being translated as paoku （literally “cool running”） and drawing a growing number of athletes. By 2007， parkour routines1 were being posted on Tudou and Youku， while clubs were popping up like mushrooms across the nation. Talbot-Turner， who was in Shenyang between 2010 and 2012 fostering the discipline， says its growth was “phenomenal.”

很快，parkour這個詞被譯為“跑酷”（字面義是“炫酷奔跑”），并吸引了越來越多的運動愛好者。到2007年，一套套跑酷動作不斷發布在土豆網和優酷網上。與此同時，跑酷俱樂部也在中國遍地開花。2010年至2012年，塔爾博特-特納在沈陽推廣這項運動，他稱跑酷在中國的發展是“現象級的”。

A handful of keen devotees in China have even made the sport their full-time profession. Martino Chen， founder of Shanghai Parkour Community and Link Parkour， the first gym in Shanghai solely dedicated to the discipline， is one of them. He fell for the sport in 2008， after watching District 13， a film notable for its depiction of parkour in a number of stunt sequences that were completed without the use of wires or special effects. Like many other Chinese traceurs， he had no idea that the visually stunning acts in the movie were part of an internationally practiced sport. “I was just fascinated by the way people were jumping and flying over walls，” he recalls. A white-collar worker at the time， Chen started having a go at a few moves on his own. In time， he mastered the sport， becoming one of Chinas most prominent practitioners， and decided to make parkour his life pursuit. He quit his job and opened Link， aiming to teach parkour professionally in a safe environment.

中國個別跑酷狂熱愛好者甚至已經把這項運動當作他們的全職工作，馬蒂諾·陳就是其中一個。他成立了上海跑酷社群，還創辦了上海第一家專門致力于跑酷的訓練館“Link跑酷”。2008年，陳先生看完電影《暴力街區13》后就愛上了跑酷。這部電影因大量的跑酷特技鏡頭而著稱，而這一系列鏡頭的拍攝并未依賴威亞或是特效。與其他眾多中國跑酷者一樣，當時的陳先生并不知道片中極具視覺沖擊力的表演竟是世界各地有人在練習的一項運動。他回憶稱：“我當時被片中人物飛檐走壁的方式吸引住了。”于是，當時身為白領的陳先生開始自己嘗試訓練幾個動作。一段時間后，他精通了這項運動，成為中國最有名的跑酷玩家之一，并決定把跑酷當作自己畢生的追求。他辭掉工作，創辦Link跑酷訓練館， 目的就是在安全的環境中以專業的方式傳授跑酷技能。

“Its amazing what parkour can make you do.”

“跑酷讓你鑄就不可思議。”

Despite worries of its dangers， one reason for the growing popularity of parkour in China， Chen says， is its accessibility to athletes at all levels. Its not necessarily a competitive sport： rather， its about progress at a level thats meaningful for you.

陳先生表示，盡管人們擔心跑酷危險，但這項運動在中國日益受歡迎的一個原因就是各個水平的運動愛好者都可以參與。跑酷不一定要和別人競技，而是在自己的水平上持續突破。

Ma in Beijing agrees： “Parkour is a very personal sport. Its about setting your own goals， both mentally and physically. The resulting sense of achievement is just great.” Indeed， actually jumping off something tall takes not just strength and technique but also mental discipline： You have to be willing to face your fears and commit to movements， trusting your bodys ability to take you where you want to go.

生活在北京的馬先生同樣認為：“跑酷是一項非常個性化的運動，自己給自己定目標，包括心理目標和體能目標。實現目標后會有非常大的成就感。”實際上，真的從高處往下跳需要的不只是力量和技巧，還有心理素質訓練：你必須愿意直面自己的恐懼，專注于每一個動作，相信自己的身體有能力帶你前往心之所向。

“Its amazing what parkour can make you do，” says Chen. “Although safety is obviously a very important issue. As a traceur， you must learn and always be aware of your limits.” Yang， a professional traceur and coach who trains alongside Chen in Shanghai， has learned that lesson the hard way. As he performed a flip he had done many times before， he failed to notice a wet patch on the ground. As he landed， his knee ligament tore. Yang had a long recovery， but eventually bounced back.

“跑酷讓你鑄就不可思議。”陳先生說道，“但安全顯然是重中之重。當一名跑酷者，你必須學習，并且時刻要知道自己的極限。”楊先生以慘痛的教訓明白了這個道理。他本身是職業跑酷者，也是專業跑酷教練，和陳先生一起在上海訓練。他在做一個自己完成過很多次的空翻時，未注意到地面上有一塊濕滑區域。他一落地，膝蓋韌帶就撕裂了。他花了很長時間康復，最終得以重拾活力。

“Parkour goes over walls， not around them; it takes the stair rail， not the stairs.”

“跑酷是越墻跑，而不是繞墻跑；跑上樓梯扶手，而不是走樓梯。”

“I love the sport so much that an injury is not going to stop me.” His biggest regret about the accident is having missed a training tour of Europe with his Shanghai parkour crew. “I would have loved to go and learn from our foreign counterparts，” he says. “China has come to parkour pretty late， so theres so much we have to improve on. We are growing but are still at a very rough， early stage of our potential.” Chen agrees. “Compared to the West， theres some lagging in terms of practice here， which may be one of the main challenges facing the development of parkour in the country.”

“我酷愛這項運動，一次受傷無法阻擋我。”對于這次意外受傷，楊先生最大的遺憾是他錯失了機會，沒能和上海的跑酷隊友一起前往歐洲訓練。“我本來很想去的，非常希望向外國同行學習。”他說，“中國跑酷的起步相當晚，所以有很多我們必須改進的地方。我們在發展，但是目前尚處于非常艱難的早期階段，潛能有待開發。”陳先生表示認同：“相比西方國家，我們的訓練方式有點落后，這也許是我國跑酷運動發展面臨的一大挑戰。”

The fact that most people still look down on the sport is another factor hindering its development—both Chen and Yang say their parents are not supportive of what they do， and would be happier if they had “real” jobs.

大多數人仍然瞧不上跑酷，這個事實是制約其發展的另一個因素——陳先生和楊先生都表示父母不支持他們從事跑酷，更樂意看到他們有一份“正經”工作。

Government backing of the discip-line—only if and when practiced safely—has seen the rise of a few parkour facilities in metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai. Although the city itself is a traceurs playground， offering spaces to train without potential safety hazards no doubt allows for a less-intimidating approach to the sport. “The sport is a social media darling，” says Talbot-Turner. “It prospers on the Internet like few other disciplines do. China being at the center of todays digital revolution makes it the perfect place for it to thrive.”

中國政府支持這項運動，但前提是必須安全進行，因此像北京和上海等大都市建起了少量跑酷運動設施。盡管城市本身就是跑酷者的游樂場，但是提供無潛在安全隱患的訓練場所無疑能讓跑酷變得不那么令人望而卻步。“這項運動是社交媒體的寵兒。”塔爾博特-特納說道，“很少有運動像跑酷這樣在互聯網上蓬勃發展。中國處于當今數字革命的中心，這一地位使其成為跑酷蔚然成風的絕佳場所。”

Ma likes to highlight another main aspect for which， he says， the sport is set to win more acolytes among the younger generation. “At its roots， parkour is as much about helping others to achieve things as it is about achieving things yourself，” he says. “And I think thats enticing for a lot of young people these days.” Parkour， like kung fu and other Chinese traditions， is as much about the philosophical as the phys-ical—and that may be one major reason to be optimistic about its chances in China. “Parkour feels like flying，” says Chen. “To me， it represents freedom.”

馬先生想強調跑酷的另一大特色，他認為這個特色是跑酷定會吸引更多年輕人投入其中的原因。“說到底，跑酷的目的既是成就自我，也是幫助別人有所成就。”他說，“我認為這一點對如今很多年輕人而言很有吸引力。”跑酷和功夫等中國傳統一樣，不僅講究健身，也關乎哲學——這可能是人們認為跑酷在中國前景樂觀的一個主要原因。“跑酷就像飛一樣。”陳先生說道，“對我來說，它代表自由。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：四川民族學院）