"Radio gymnastics will start now, and we will walk in place..."
When the loud and magical voice—"the times are calling" melody sounded in your ears, does it remind you of the memories of a runaway when you used to exercise between classes?
Data map: In 2017, the first set of "Sichuan Opera Radio Gymnastics" entered some elementary and middle schools in Chengdu and was enthusiastically praised by students.
Image source: Visual China
How many people do exercises like sleepwalking every time, taking a peek at the flowers and grass behind them by turning around?
How many people get through the jump and perform the "Avalokitesvara of Thousand Hands" standing in place?
How many people hide in the classroom and pretend to be sick in order to avoid exercises between classes?
...
When we grow up, we bid farewell to the inter-class exercises full of memories.
This former "national movement" is also quietly changing.
Students dance during exercise time between classes.
Recently, the topic of dancing square dance between classes has been frequently searched.
Many schools introduced active songs to their campuses, coupled with the cheerful dance steps of the students, which instantly attracted a large number of media attention.
Some schools changed the inter-class exercises to "ghost dance", some schools introduced street dance, the schools in Inner Mongolia danced Mongolian dance between classes, and the schools in the Northeast did not accidentally twist the big Yangko...
Students dance "ghost step dance" during exercise time between classes.
In the context of national fitness, more and more forms of inter-class exercises make children's exercise time full of fun.
However, in the impression of many young people, broadcast gymnastics is "old-fashioned", which was also an "exotic product" many years ago.
The first broadcast gymnastics in New China dates back to 1951. The arranger created the first broadcast gymnastics in China based on Japanese "chili exercises".
Students dance "ghost step dance" during exercise time between classes.
Later, every few years, a new set of broadcast gymnastics will come out.
Up to now, domestic broadcast gymnastics has iterated to the ninth set.
The sonorous and powerful melody connects the youth of generation after generation.
It is worth mentioning that the first radio gymnastics belonged to adult radio gymnastics.
It was not until 1998 that broadcast gymnastics specially prepared for elementary and middle school students began to be implemented nationwide.
Compared with the former, the music in this series is more lively, with more brisk movements, and is more suitable for elementary and middle school students.
Among them, the second set of broadcast gymnastics for elementary and middle school students, "The Times Are Calling" and "The Rising Sun", have become memories of many post-90s students.
Data map: On October 15, 2015, in Xiangyang, Hubei, thousands of freshmen in a college were doing radio gymnastics on the playground late at night, shouting slogans, and the scene was shocked.
It is understood that this move is to prepare for the school’s radio gymnastics competition, and students sometimes insist on returning to their dormitory until 9pm.
Image source: CFP Vision China
Nearly 70 years have passed since the birth of the first broadcast gymnastics.
At first, broadcast gymnastics, which does not require any equipment and is not restricted by location, was warmly welcomed by the masses.
About half a year after the first set of radio gymnastics was released, the "People's Daily" published an article "Radio gymnastics is widely implemented throughout the country".
The article pointed out that at that time, there were already 40 People's Broadcasting stations across the country broadcasting radio gymnastics programs.
These programs occupy 52 wavelengths per day, totaling 1205 minutes.
According to incomplete statistics in 13 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing, the number of people participating in broadcast gymnastics was as high as 1.048 million.
Every day at 10 o'clock in the morning, 40 radio stations across the country broadcast simultaneously.
People put aside what they were doing, rushed into the nearby open space, and started doing exercises.
Radio gymnastics, the former "sports for all", has a wide coverage of the population and has been popular for a long time, and other sports may be hard to beat.
However, with the development of the economy and the times, the scenes of doing exercises in empty alleys have long ceased, and people's fitness methods have become more diverse.
New sports such as yoga, cycling, and aerobics are sought after by the public. Even the "ten minutes between classes" in schools is being replaced by a variety of square dances.
The radio gymnastics that has accompanied the Chinese for more than half a century gradually has a new carrier in people's memory.
At the beginning of this year, after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, home fitness has become a last resort.
Taking this opportunity, the radio gymnastics seems to have radiated more vigor.
Prior to this, CCTV began rebroadcasting the ninth set of radio gymnastics, and this nationwide sport with the brand of the times has once again returned to the public eye.
When people miss youth, they also pick up this skill again.
After earnestly doing exercises with music, many people find that we have underestimated the exercise effect of radio gymnastics, and many people’s childhood exercise enlightenment has also taken root in the rhythm.
Nowadays, it is more like an enduring melody of the times that runs through the development of society. Whenever familiar background music sounds, we can still think of the restless and active ten minutes between classes and the never-fading youthful memories.
(Author Xing Rui)