拳擊文化在中國擁有悠久的歷史
Boxing is a major sport in modern Olympic Games.
In a little more than 10 years since 2004 Olympics, China has grown from a boxing underdog, which had never won an Olympic medal in boxing, to an emerging force in the boxing ring. China's boxing has experienced great evolution and attracted global attention.
拳擊是現代奧運會的重要比賽項目。自2004年雅典奧運會，鄒市明打破中國拳擊在奧運會上的“獎牌荒”開始到現在，短短十余年間，中國已由一個從未奪得過一枚奧運獎牌的拳擊弱國，一躍躋身為摘得3金、2銀、3銅的新興拳擊強國，中國拳擊已獲得世界矚目。
China's Boxing Tradition
中國的拳擊傳統
In most people's eyes, China is a big nation with little boxing tradition. But in fact, China has a centuries-old boxing history. Yet, it was rather different from boxing today.
在大多數人眼中，中國是一個沒有多少拳擊傳統的國度。然而實際上，拳擊文化在中國擁有悠久的歷史，只是那時的“中國拳擊”與今日的拳擊運動有所不同。
The history of China's boxing dates back 3,700 years, when China was in the Late Shang Dynasty, and the sport was one of the subjects for military training conducted by aristocrats.
By the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220), boxing became the mandatory subject for soldiers.
據史料記載，早在3700多年前，當中國還處在殷商時代，拳擊運動就已出現在了這片國土上。這項運動那時叫作“斗”，是貴族統治階級進行軍事訓練的一個科目。發展到了漢代，拳擊成為了軍人們必須接受的訓練項目。
Unlike boxing of the early times in western countries which was a mixture of both the boxing and wrestling, boxing in China was apparently distinct from wrestling as early as 3.7 thousand years ago.
與西方早期拳擊與摔跤混合在一起進行比賽的拳擊運動不同，中國的拳擊早在商周時代就已與摔跤運動截然分開了。
The book, The Combat Arts of Two Hands, which was written exclusively for boxing, appeared around 2,000 years ago. Unfortunately, this book was not handed down from generation to generation.
Moreover, wearing boxing gloves and protection started in China approximately 700 years ago.
The above shows that China has a long boxing tradition.
此外，在2000年以前，中國就出現了專研拳擊的著作——《手搏》，但到隋朝時失傳了。而戴護具的拳擊運動早在南北朝時期就已經出現在了中國。這些都很好地說明了，中國擁有悠久的拳擊文化傳統。
Modern Day Boxing
現代拳擊運動在中國的發展
Modern day boxing in China, which was initially called "western boxing", was first introduced in the late 1920s in the port city of Shanghai, along with a book, titled The Technique of Western Boxing, which was then translated into Chinese.
中國的現代拳擊運動始于20世紀20年代后期的上海，最初被稱為“西洋拳”。伴隨這項運動一同傳入上海的還有一本名為《西洋拳術》的書。這本論述西洋拳擊技巧的書隨即被翻譯成了中文在上海流傳。
In the '30s, some sports academies put boxing classes in their major curriculum and fostered a number of Chinese boxing talents.
At this stage, the sport of boxing was mainly carried out in the city's western rental area, where the majority of players were western sailors, soldiers and merchants, only a handful of Chinese took part.
30年代，南京國民政府的中央國術館、國立國術體育專科學校都將拳擊列為主課之一，并培養出了一批拳擊人才。在這段時期，拳擊運動主要在上海的租界內開展，參與者多為來自西方國家的水手、士兵和商人，僅有少部分中國人參與。
Before the Anti-Japanese War, boxing became prevalent in some port cities of China when the middle schools and colleges founded by Christian and the Catholic Church listed boxing as one of the major subjects in their physical education classes.
在抗日戰爭前，拳擊運動在中國的一些港口城市很盛行，當時教會辦的中學和大學都把拳擊作為體育課的重要訓練項目之一。
In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, China assigned 69 participants, two of which participated in the boxing competitions. However, they were all eliminated in the qualifying matches.
在1936年于德國舉行的第十一屆奧運會上，中國派出了69人參賽，其中包括兩名拳擊手，但他們都在預賽中即遭淘汰。
By the start of the Japanese invasion, western professional boxers began to withdraw from China, and the number of local fighters grew.
The professional bouts at the time were limited to four, six, eight or ten rounds, at maximum, which was for the championship fight.
抗日戰爭開始后，西方職業拳手逐步撤離中國，中國當地拳手數量開始逐漸增加。那時的職業拳賽一般都規定在四、六或八個回合，只有拳王爭霸賽定為十個回合。
In the early 1940s, boxing agents began to show up.
It was reported that one local fighter received a maximum premium of 4,000 yuan (approximately $570 US) for a single bout.
40年代早期，中國開始出現了拳擊經紀人。那時，一位中國拳手一場拳賽最多可以獲得4000元的收入。
After the liberation war, various forms of boxing matches were held in such big cities as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.
解放后，各類拳擊比賽開始在北京、上海、天津等大城市舉行。
Probably one of the grandest boxing pageants in Chinese history — 20-city boxing championship with the total number of competitors of 142 was staged in Beijing in 1958.
Judging from the case in this period, the number of athletes taking part in assorted boxing matches was growing, and the host region of boxing was becoming larger and larger.
1958年，中國拳擊史上規模最大的一次盛會——20城市拳擊錦標賽（實際參賽為21個城市）在北京召開。有142名拳手參加了比賽，獲得團體總分前三名的是上海隊、北京隊和天津隊。從過去歷屆比賽情況看，參加拳擊比賽的城市和地區越來越廣，選手也越來越多。
Although there were no international Chinese boxing champions up until the '60s, the national tournaments held in this period laid the foundation in China for future development of the sport.
雖然，直到60年代以前都一直沒有在中國舉辦過國際性的拳擊比賽，在這一時期舉辦的全國性比賽為中國拳擊運動的未來發展打下了基礎。
The Boxing Tragedy
拳擊悲劇
In 1959, the first National Games — which was the biggest domestic sports event in China — was held, and the Committee once listed boxing in the National Games' lineup.
However, due to the Great Leap Forward of this sport and its violent nature, a number of incidents concerning serious physical injuries of participant occurred. After several incidents, the committee felt that it was not the right time to develop boxing in such a large scale. Consequently, they temporally removed boxing from the National Games.
In March of the same year, boxing was outlawed by the government as a result of several unannounced reasons.
1959年，第一屆全運會籌備委員會曾將拳擊作為大會競賽項目，但由于體育運動的“大躍進”，各省市為了在第一屆全運會上“放衛星”，作貢獻，盲目發展拳擊運動，出現了傷亡事故。后來，組委會感到大規模全國性拳擊比賽條件還不成熟，就暫時撤銷了這個比賽項目。1959年3月，由于種種原因，拳擊運動被宣布暫停開展。
As Hong Fan, a scholar who specializes in China's athletic history, puts it, "People believed that boxing was very brutal, very ruthless. So it was banned."
就如一位專門研究中國體育史的學者所言，人們認為拳擊運動非常野蠻血腥，因此這項運動遭到禁止。
Resurrecting the Fight
重獲新生
Two decades later, boxing was revived in China. The philosophy of the "Ping Pong Diplomacy" triggered the restoration of the fight game.
這一禁就是20年。20年后，拳擊運動在中國重新獲得了生命。頗具傳奇色彩的是，是“乒乓外交”的理念促成了這項運動的重獲新生。
In December 1979, the former undisputed heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali paid a visit to China at the invitation of Chinese leader Xiaoping Deng. The little giant man hugged the boxing titan. They sat, and the word that boxing could also be the factor to push for the understanding and friendship between the Chinese and the Americans went out.
Right after that, boxing began to regain its status and exhibition matches were carried out.
自1979年1月中美正式建交后，拳擊就一直作為一個重要的媒介和載體，在中美文化和體育交流中扮演著重要角色。1979年12月，世界著名前重量級拳王穆罕默德?阿里首次應邀以美國體育大使的身份來華訪問。在這次訪問中，阿里獲得了鄧小平的接見。兩位“巨人”握手擁抱。阿里向鄧小平建議，中國應該開展拳擊運動，取消對拳擊項目長達20多年的禁止規定。對此，鄧小平說：“拳擊運動也可以成為增進中美兩國人民的了解和友誼的渠道。”當時，美國媒體對鄧小平與阿里此次見面的評價是：“一雙扭轉乾坤的巨手，與一雙所向無敵的大手緊緊地握在了一起！”正是這次歷史性的“握手”為中國重新恢復拳擊運動“定了調子”。在此之后，拳擊運動開始逐漸恢復昔日的地位，拳擊表演和比賽也陸續開展了起來。
The Road to Glory
邁向輝煌
The year 1986 and 1987 are two significant years for Chinese western boxing.
In March 1986, boxing officially returned to validity. The next year in April, the China Boxing Association was officially founded. In May, the first national boxing championships was held and in June, the China Boxing Association was officially admitted into the International Amateur Boxing Association as the 159th member.
From then on, China began to appear on the international boxing stage.
對中國拳擊運動而言，1986年與1987年是兩個極具歷史意義的重要年份。1986年3月，拳擊運動正式恢復。1987年4月，中國拳擊協會成立。同年5月，首屆全國拳擊錦標賽在南京成功舉辦。6月，中國拳擊協會被國際業余拳擊聯合會正式接納為第159個會員。自此，中國開始在國際拳擊舞臺上正式亮相。
Another two decades has passed and China has experienced even more great changes in the sport of boxing. The hidden Eastern Dragon finished the evolution and is now set to soar into the heaven!
又一個20年過去了，經歷了鳳凰涅槃的中國拳擊已浴火重生，即將以更為眩目的輝煌映徹九天！
（作者厲振羽，系國際拳擊歷史學家、國際主流媒體拳擊專欄作家、國際拳擊研究會會員、世界拳擊協會會員、世界拳擊組織中國區職業裁判，報道過三屆奧運會）
來源：人民網
