64 Learning martial arts 学武术
Hi everybody, thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese. 欢迎大家收看今天的成长汉语. We’ve got a packed show lined up for all of you today, so let’s get straight down to business.
Mike and 小明 are on a mission today. Sounds intense, doesn’t it. Well, let’s check in with two of them and see just exactly what’s going on.
Mike：哈，左勾拳！ 哈，右勾拳，太帅了！
小明：麦克，你怎么又在看这部电影啊？ 我可给你数着呢，从昨天到现在，你都看了五遍了吧？
Mike：呵呵，不止五遍。你忘了，咱们在电影院还看过一遍呢，总共六遍。
小明：天哪，原来你也知道啊。看这么多遍，你不烦啊？
Mike：当然不烦啦，我百看不厌！ 中国功夫实在是太厉害了。小明，你学过武术吗？
小明：我没学过。麦克，你不会是想学武术吧？
Mike：是啊，我特别想学。你知道哪儿有武术学校吗？ 咱们一块儿学吧。
小明：我倒是知道一家挺有名的武术学校，但是我可不想学。累死人了。
Mike：小明，你看啊，学武术不但很帅、很时髦，而且还能强身健体呢，一举两得嘛。
小明：说得也是啊。关键是如果我练好了武术，身体更强壮了。就能打好橄榄球了。没准儿还能赢你呢！
Mike：你说得太对了。
小明：那好吧，走。我带你去那个武术学校看看。小明：您好，我们想在这儿报名学武术。
前台：好的。你们俩以前有基础吗？
小明：没有，没有。我们从来没学过。
前台：那你们得报初级班，从头学起。这是初级班的介绍。你们先看看。
Mike：对了，叔叔，请问初级班都学什么内容啊？ 学那种电影里的招式吗？ 就是这种：
小明：哈哈，瞧你这花拳秀腿。
前台：同学，武术要一点儿一点儿学。不能一口吃个胖子呀！ 现在初级班的学生正在上课，你们可以进去参观一下。
小明：那太好了！
Well it’s not hard to be inspired by watching martial arts movies, is it. 小明 and Mike certainly got moving quickly and it looks like they’re in for a good time. OK let’s take a minute to go over some of the more important phrases we just heard.
从昨天到现在, 你都看了五遍了吧? From yesterday till now, you watch the movie five times, right? 从昨天 from yesterday. 到现在 until now. Now the pattern here is 从 some time, 到 another time, from and to. 遍 denotes time so 五遍 is five times.
小明：麦克，你怎么又在看这部电影啊？ 我可给你数着呢，从昨天到现在，你都看了五遍了吧？
Mike：呵呵，不止五遍。你忘了，咱们在电影院还看过一遍呢，总共六遍。
小明：天哪，原来你也知道啊。
当然不烦, 我百看不厌! Of course I’m not fed up. I could watch it one hundred times and still not be tired of it. 百看不厌 is a saying of thoughts. 百 means one hundred, 看 means watch and 不厌 means not to be tired of something. 百看不厌. Mike really likes watching this movie.
小明：看这么多遍，你不烦啊？
Mike：当然不烦啦，我百看不厌！ 中国功夫实在是太厉害了。小明，你学过武术吗？
小明：我没学过。麦克，你不会是想学武术吧？
Mike：是啊，我特别想学。你知道哪儿有武术学校吗？ 咱们一块儿学吧。
小明：我倒是知道一家挺有名的武术学校，但是我可不想学。累死人了。
学武术不但很帅, 很时髦, 而且还能强身健体, 一举两得. Not only is learning 武术 very eye catching and trendy, but it’s also a great workout*1. So it serves two purposes at once. 一举两得 is a set saying meaning serve two purposes at once or kill two birds with one stone.
Mike：学武术不但很帅、很时髦，而且还能强身健体呢，一举两得嘛。
小明：说得也是啊。关键是如果我练好了武术，身体更强壮了。就能打好橄榄球了。没准儿还能赢你呢！
Mike：你说得太对了。
小明：那好吧，走。我带你去那个武术学校看看。小明：您好，我们想在这儿报名学武术。
前台：好的。你们俩以前有基础吗？
小明：没有，没有。我们从来没学过。
前台：那你们得报初级班，从头学起。这是初级班的介绍。你们先看看。
All right everyone it’s time to look at today’s vocabulary and our pinyin highlight.
And so first off let’s look at our specific vocabulary words.
- 电影院 movie theater, cinema. diàn yǐng yuàn
- 武术 martial arts. wǔ shù
- 基础 basics, fundamentals. jī chǔ
- 介绍 introduction. jiè shào
- 正好 as it happens, chance to. zhèng hǎo
- 坚持 persist in, persevere*2 in. jiān chí
OK, let’s take a look at 电影院 or movie theater for today’s pinyin focus.
Now, our 电 is pretty straightforward. It’s d-i-a-n, dian, dian. Now it’s fourth tone so we put our tone marker above the a. diàn.
影. y-i-n-g, ying. Now it’s not too complicated either but I just want to draw your attention to the g here. ying, yin, ying, yin. OK, it’s a slight difference but this is ying 电影, which means movie, and it’s third tone so our tone marker goes above the i, third tone marker, diàn yǐng.
And 院 is y-u-a-n, we have an a so our marker goes above the a and it’s fourth tone, yuàn. diàn yǐng yuàn.
Spotlight
For the most part when people say the term 武术, they are referring to one of two things.
The first is a general reference to Chinese martial arts of which there’re many different styles including kung-fu or 功夫.
And the other references to the actual sport of 武术. And this is an exhibition and contact sports that was developed from traditional Chinese martial arts. And the actual sport of 武术 isn’t even one hundred years old. Although it’s inspiration, there’re many different traditional Chinese martial arts, goes back thousands of years.
OK so there’re some really interesting styles of martial arts in China and I’m sure some of them you’ve heard of and maybe even seen.
OK so there’re some really interesting styles of martial arts in China and I’m sure that some of them you’ve heard of and probably quite a few of them you’ve even seen*3.
There is drunken fist or 醉拳 and 猴拳, which is monkey boxing and even snake boxing or 蛇拳. All these forms take incredible control and strength and some of my favorite to watch are these ones.
Now 少林 temple is a great place to visit if you’re interested in Chinese martial arts. I can remember visiting there when I was a kid, and staring at this big dip in a huge stone rock. And our tour guide told us that the dip was formed as the result of many students over the years stomping their legs and stomping their feet.
So 小明 and Mike’s 武术 teacher was absolutely right when he said today that while 武术 is a lot of fun, it can also be tedious or dry and dull. I suppose many disciplines can be like that, don’t you think?
Primer
All right it’s language point time, let’s start out with 不止.
不止 is a verb meaning more than or not limited to. Now we heard Mike used it today in response to 小明’s guessing he had watched the movie five times. Mike said 不止五遍 not just five times, or more than five times.
Now usually an amount follows 不止. But a noun or even a phrase can follow it as well. For example, you could say 他不止会说汉语, 也会说英语和法语. He not only can speak Chinese he can also speak English and French. OK, let’s check out some more examples.
- 你都看了不止三遍了，有这么好看吗？／当然了。
- 到了上海，我可以给你当导游。我都去了不止六次了。／那太好啦！
We’ve got a pattern: 倒…但是 or 倒…可是 or 倒…不过. Now it’s a pattern for using a concessional*4 clause so let’s look at how it was used today. 小明 said 我倒是知道一家挺有名的武术学校, 但是我可不想学, 累死人了. I actually know the pretty well-known martial arts school, but I certainly don’t want to learn it; it’s too exhausting. Now you could also say 这件衣服质量倒好, 但是太贵了. The quality of this clothing is very good, but it’s too expensive. Now in this example, 到 functions as an adverb. Let’s look at some more examples.
- 兰兰，我们一起去上海吧。／我倒是很像去，可是，我要和妈妈去新疆。
- 妈，你看这件衣服怎么样？／质量倒是挺好不过样子很一般。
关键是. The key is or what counts is. So today 小明 said 关键是如果我练好了武术, 身体更强壮了, 就能打好橄榄球. What matters is that if I get good at martial arts, I’ll be more physically fit, and will be better at American football. Now you could also say 成功的关键是什么? What is the key to success? Let’s look at some more examples.
- Mike，你的三分球怎么投得这么准？／关键是要多练。
- 为什么我总比你游得慢？／关键是你的姿势不对。
All right everyone we’ve come to the end of today’s show I hope you’re all inspired to learn some 武术 it’s a lot of fun.
Now please don’t forget to visit our website if you want to review or if you want to send us any comments regarding our show, or any questions you might have. Thank you for joining us. 好, 大家, 加油, I’ll see you all next time. 再见.
