李小龍退場 香港功夫文化衰落

HONG KONG — Bruce Lee was 14 years old, and on the losing end of several street fights with local gang members, when he took up kung fu.

香港——在幾次與當地黑幫成員街頭鬥毆、卻被打敗後，14歲的李小龍開始學習功夫。

It was 1955, and Hong Kong was bustling with schools teaching a range of kung fu styles, including close-combat techniques and a method using a daunting weapon known as the nine-dragon trident.

那是1955年，香港有着各式各樣、教授不同風格功夫的學校，有教人近距離打鬥技術的，也有教人使用一種名爲“九龍鞭”的令人生畏的武器的。

Mr. Lee’s decision paid off. After perfecting moves like his one-inch punch and leaping kick under the tutelage of a grand master, he became an international star, introducing kung fu to the world in films like “Enter the Dragon” in 1973.

李小龍的決定讓他受益匪淺。在一名大師的指點下，他把一些動作學到了完美的程度，比如他的截拳和跳躍踢。後來他成了一名國際巨星，在1973年以影片《龍爭虎鬥》把功夫引進了世界影壇。

Decades later, cue the dragon’s exit.

幾十年後，龍該退場的暗示來了。

The kung fu culture that Mr. Lee helped popularize — and that gave the city a gritty, exotic image in the eyes of foreigners — is in decline. Hong Kong’s streets are safer, with fewer murders by the fierce crime organizations known as triads that figured in so many kung fu films. And its real estate is among the world’s most expensive, making it difficult for training studios to afford soaring rents.

在李小龍幫助下流行起來的功夫文化正走向衰落，這種文化曾讓香港在外國人眼裏有一種堅韌不拔、充滿異國情調的形象。香港的街道很安全，謀殺案比許多功夫片中那些所謂“三合會”的犯罪團伙間激烈戰鬥造成的少得多。香港的房地產價格屬於世界上最高的，讓武館很難承擔高漲的租金。

Gone are the days when “kung fu was a big part of people’s cultural and leisure life,” said Mak King Sang Ricardo, the author of a history of martial arts in Hong Kong. “After work, people would go to martial arts schools, where they’d cook dinner together and practice kung fu until 11 at night.”

“功夫作爲人民文化和休閒生活重要組成部分”的日子已一去不復返，曾寫過一本關於香港武術史的書的麥勁生(Mak King Sang Ricardo)說。“以前下班後，人們會去武術學校，在那裏一起做晚飯，然後練功，直到晚上11點。”

With a shift in martial arts preferences, the rise of video games — more teenagers play Pokémon Go in parks here than practice a roundhouse kick — and a perception among young people that kung fu just isn’t cool, longtime martial artists worry that kung fu’s future is bleak.

人們對武術的愛好發生轉變，電子遊戲隨之崛起。在香港的公園裏玩口袋妖怪的青少年，比練習迴旋踢的人數要多得多。年輕人心目中有一種看法，那就是功夫不夠酷，這讓武術老手們擔心功夫的未來將頗爲暗淡。

“When I was growing up so many people learned kung fu, but that’s no longer the case,” said Leung Ting, 69, who has been teaching wing chun, a close-combat technique, for 50 years. “Sadly, I think Chinese martial arts are more popular overseas than in their home now.”

“我小的時候，有特別多的人學功夫，但現在已經不是這樣了，”69歲的樑挺說，他教授近距離打鬥技巧詠春拳已經50年了。“可悲的是，我覺得，中國武術在海外比在國內更受歡迎。”

According to Mr. Leung’s organization, the International WingTsun Association, former apprentices have opened 4,000 branches in more than 65 countries, but only five in Hong Kong.

據樑挺的組織“國際詠春總會”，以前的校友已在逾65個國家開設了4000個培訓所，但只有五個在香港。

Few kung fu schools remain in Yau Ma Tei, a district of Kowloon that was once the center for martial arts. Nathan Road — where the young Bruce Lee learned his craft from Ip Man (often spelled Yip Man), the legendary teacher who was the subject of Wong Kar-wai’s 2013 film “The Grandmaster” — is now lined with cosmetic shops and pharmacies that cater to tourists from the mainland.

仍有功夫學校留在油麻地，這是九龍的一個區，曾經是武術中心。在彌敦道，年輕的李小龍曾從葉問（王家衛2013年影片《一代宗師》就是以這位著名師傅爲主題人物）那裏學藝，現在那裏沿街都是投大陸游客所好的化妝品商店和藥店。

Though he lives in Yau Ma Tei, Tony Choi, a recent college graduate, has never been tempted to check out the remaining schools. Mr. Choi, 22, said that “kung fu just never came to mind.”

雖然剛從大學畢業的蔡少洲(Tony Choi)住在油麻地，但他從來沒想去那裏的武術學校看看。22歲的蔡先生說：“腦子裏從來沒想過功夫。”

He added, “Kung fu is more for retired uncles and grandpas.”

他補充說，“功夫更多是退休的大伯和大爺們練的。”

When they do train in martial arts, younger people here tend to pick Thai boxing and judo.

這裏的年輕人如果學習武術的話，更傾向於選擇泰式拳擊和柔道。

Valerie Ng, a 20-year-old college student, says she prefers Thai boxing because it is “attractive and charming” and does not take as long to master. She noted that kung fu masters often do not have defined muscles and that some of them look, well, a little chubby.

20歲的大學生瓦萊麗•吳(Valerie Ng)說，她更喜歡泰拳，因爲它“有吸引力，也很迷人”，而且不需要很長時間就能打好。她指出，功夫師傅往往沒有線條明顯的肌肉，其中一些看起來，怎麼說呢，有點胖。

“You can see how fierce Thai boxing is from watching professional matches,” she said. “But I rarely see such competition for kung fu, which makes me wonder whether those kung fu masters really are good at fighting or they just claim to be,” she said.

“從觀看專業比賽就能看出泰拳有多麼激烈，”她說。“但我很少看到這樣的功夫比賽，這讓我懷疑那些功夫高手們是真擅長格鬥，還是他們只是自稱有本事，”她說。

So Tak Chung, 59, remembers how different things were. When he was a boy, he and his friends would run home from school as fast as they could to watch kung fu shows on television.

59歲的蘇德忠記得以前多麼不一樣。他小的時候，他和朋友們會在下學後儘快跑回家，以便看電視上播放的功夫節目。

“Kung fu always gave me a sense of justice and pride in being Chinese,” Mr. So said while stretching his legs for a Sunday night lesson at Kowloon Park. “It feels like if you knew kung fu, you could beat the bad guys and help the needy.”

“練功夫總讓我有一種正義感，還有作爲傳統中國人的驕傲，”一個週日的晚上，正在九龍公園裏上課的蘇德忠一邊做腿部拉伸一邊說道。“就好像如果你會功夫，你就可以伸張正義，爲民除害。”

Mr. So’s master, Mak Che Kong, 64, is less hopeful about the future. He ran one of the last studios in Kowloon, but soaring rents caused it to shut down, along with other family businesses that were once a fixture of Hong Kong street life, like Dit Da, or bone-setting, shops that use traditional Chinese medicine to treat sprains and fractures.

對於未來，蘇德忠的師父、64歲的麥志剛相對沒那麼樂觀。之前他在九龍有一家武館，是香港最後剩下的幾間武館之一，但後來因爲租金不斷飆升，不得不關掉。隨之消逝的還有其他的家族生意，比如用中醫治療扭傷和骨折的跌打醫館。它們曾是香港街頭的一景。

Mr. Mak, who is not related to the author of the martial arts history, has fewer than 20 students now, down from twice that number several years ago. Most students are over the age of 40.

麥志剛——與前面談到的武術史學家麥勁生沒有親屬關係——幾年前還有近40名學徒，現在只剩不到20個，而且年齡大多在40歲以上。

He holds classes all over the city because “students will not come if they need to travel much.” On Tuesdays, he teaches at a pier in the city’s Central District; on Wednesdays, near a government marriage registry in Sha Tin in the New Territories; and on Sundays, at a public park in Kowloon.

他要跑到香港各處上課，因爲“如果你讓他們跑來跑去，他們就不會來了”。週二他在香港中環一個碼頭上教學；週三在新界沙田區一個婚姻登記處附近；週日則在九龍一座公園裏。

Describing himself as “old school,” Mr. Mak fiercely defended kung fu traditions. “Chinese kung fu is not about fighting; it is about patience and hard work,” he said.

自稱“老古董”的麥志剛竭力捍衛功夫傳統。“中國功夫不在於打，在於耐力跟勤力，”他說。

When he learned kung fu in the late 1960s, masters were father figures and apprentices had deep respect for kung fu. Students were willing to spend months or years perfecting just their horse-riding stance, a rest position often used for practicing punches and strengthening the legs and back.

他是在上世紀60年代學的武術，當時師父就如同父親一般，學徒也對武術有深深的敬意。學徒單單爲了掌握馬步就能練數月乃至數年。那是武術中的一種中立位，常用來練習出拳動作，或加強腿部和背部的力量。

“Today, if you ask a student to practice horse-riding stance for one lesson, he will not come again,” Mr. Mak said. “They are used to living a comfortable life.”

“今天如果你叫學生練一節課蹲馬步，他明天就不會來了，”麥志剛說。“他們吃不了苦的。”

In English, kung fu is often used as an umbrella term for all Chinese martial arts. But in Chinese, it refers to any discipline or skill that is achieved through hard work.

在英文裏，功夫經常被用作所有中國武術的統稱。但是在中文裏，它可以指代通過艱苦努力所掌握的任何學科或技術。

Kung fu traces its history to ancient China, with hundreds of fighting styles developing over the centuries. But it soared in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century, as revolution swept the nation.

功夫的歷史可以追溯到中國古代，在數百年間發展出成百上千的武術流派。不過在20世紀初，隨着革命席捲全國，它一度極爲流行。

After the fall of the Qing dynasty a century ago, the Chinese Nationalist party, or the Kuomintang, used martial arts to promote national pride, setting up competitions and sending an exhibition team to the Olympics. But the government also tried to suppress wuxia, a martial arts genre of literature and film, as superstitious and potentially subversive.

一個世紀前清朝覆滅後，中國國民黨利用武術激發民族自豪感，舉辦武術比賽，還送武術隊參加奧林匹克運動會。但政府竭力壓制武俠小說和電影的發展，因爲其中包含迷信內容，而且具有潛在的顛覆性。

When the Nationalists fell in 1949, the new Communist government in Beijing sought to control martial arts from the Chinese mainland. The Shaolin Temple, said to be the home of Asian martial arts in central China, was ransacked during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 and its Buddhist monks jailed.

1949年國民黨倒臺之後，在北京的共產黨新政府試圖控制武術在中國大陸的發展。位於中國中部的少林寺據說是亞洲武術的發源地。在1966-1976年的文化大革命期間，這座寺廟遭到洗劫，廟裏的和尚被關進了監獄。

Throughout those decades, martial artists from mainland China sought refuge in what was then the British colony of Hong Kong.

在那幾十年裏，大陸的武術家紛紛逃往當時還是英國殖民地的香港避難。

By the 1970s, kung fu fever had spread around the world. In addition to Bruce Lee’s films, the television series “Kung Fu,” starring David Carradine, became one of the most popular programs in the United States.

至70年代，功夫熱傳遍世界。除了李小龍的電影，大衛•卡拉丁(David Carradine)主演的電視劇《功夫》(Kung Fu)也成爲在美國最受歡迎的節目之一。

Though Hong Kong’s kung fu films do not draw the attention they once did, the genre has influenced a generation of directors, including Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee, and the actor Jackie Chan and others have kept it alive as comedy.

儘管香港功夫電影不再像過去那樣受關注，但這個電影類型影響了包括昆汀•塔倫蒂諾(Quentin Tarantino)、李安在內的一代導演，也影響了成龍等將它作爲喜劇延續下來的電影人。

In a twist, kung fu has enjoyed a renaissance in mainland China, where the government has standardized it and promoted it in secondary schools as a sport known as wushu to foster national pride.

意外的是，功夫反倒在中國大陸得到復興。在那裏，政府將之標準化，以一個叫做“武術”的體育項目在初中進行推廣，由此培養民族自豪感。

As the martial arts center of gravity shifts to the mainland, some in Hong Kong have expressed hope that the government might support a revival here, too. Others are trying to carry on the tradition themselves.

隨着武術發展的重心轉向大陸，一些香港人表示，希望香港政府也能在這裏支持武術復興。還有一些人則在盡力自己延續這一傳統。

Li Zhuangxin, a trim 17-year-old, has been studying the wing chun technique for more than four years. He was inspired by his grandfather, a devotee of the fighting style hung ga who gave Mr. Li his first kung fu lesson at age 8.

17歲少年李壯鑫身材瘦小，學習詠春拳已經有四年多。他是受愛好洪拳的祖父的啓發，後者在他8歲的時候給了他武術啓蒙。

He hopes to open his own kung fu school one day — maybe on the mainland, where interest is higher and rents are cheaper — and has already set up a small wing chun club, with eight members, at his high school.

李壯鑫希望有一天自己能開一個武館。或許會選擇開在大陸，因爲那裏學武術的興趣更濃厚，租金也更便宜。他已經在自己所在的高中創立了一個詠春俱樂部。規模不大，有八名成員。

Few of his classmates had ever heard of wing chun before. Mr. Li, undaunted, says he wants to impart “the concentration and determination of kung fu” to his friends, who he laments are “only interested in playing with their cellphones.”

他的同學幾乎沒人聽說過詠春。李壯鑫沒有爲此泄氣，他說他想讓朋友們感受“功夫的專注跟堅持”，感嘆朋友們“只對玩手機感興趣”。