Every other night in Japan, I step out of my apartment, I climb up a hill for 15 minutes, and then I head into my local health club, where three ping-pong tables are set up in a studio. And space is limited, so at every table, one pair of players practices forehands, another practices backhands, and every now and then, the balls collide in midair and everybody says, "Wow!" Then, choosing lots, we select partners and play doubles. But I honestly couldn't tell you who's won, because we change partners every five minutes. And everybody is trying really hard to win points, but nobody is keeping track of who is winning games. And after an hour or so of furious exertion, I can honestly tell you that not knowing who has won feels like the ultimate victory.
Svake druge večeri u Japanu, izađem iz svog stana, penjem se uzbrdo 15 minuta, zatim se zaputim u svoj mjesni sportski klub, gdje su postavljena tri stola za ping pong u studiju. Prostor je skučen pa za svakim stolom jedan par igrača vježba forhende, drugi par vježba bekhende, a svako malo, loptice se sudare u zraku i svi kažu "O!" Zatim, slučajnim odabirom, izaberemo partnere i igramo u parovima. Ali doista vam ne bih mogao reći tko je pobijedio, jer mijenjamo partnere svakih 5 minuta. A svi se jako trude da osvoje bodove, ali nitko ne prati stanje tko pobjeđuje. Nakon nekih sat vremena žestokog napora, mogu vam iskreno reći da se neznanje tko je pobijedio čini kao konačna pobjeda.
In Japan, it's been said, they've created a competitive spirit without competition.
U Japanu, kažu, stvorili su natjecateljski duh bez natjecanja.
Now, all of you know that geopolitics is best followed by watching ping-pong.
Svima vam je poznato da je geopolitiku najbolje pratiti gledanjem ping-ponga.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
The two strongest powers in the world were fiercest enemies until, in 1972, an American ping-pong team was allowed to visit Communist China. And as soon as the former adversaries were gathered around some small green tables, each of them could claim a victory, and the whole world could breathe more easily. China's leader, Mao Zedong, wrote a whole manual on ping-pong, and he called the sport "a spiritual nuclear weapon." And it's been said that the only honorary lifelong member of the US Table Tennis Association is the then-President Richard Nixon, who helped to engineer this win-win situation through ping-pong diplomacy. But long before that, really, the history of the modern world was best told through the bouncing white ball.
Dvije najjače svjetske sile bile su najljući protivnici, sve dok 1972. godine američkoj momčadi ping-ponga nije bilo dozvoljeno posjetiti komunističku Kinu. Čim su se nekadašnji suparnici skupili oko nekakvih malenih zelenih stolova, svatko od njih mogao je proglasiti pobjedu i cijeli svijet je mogao odahnuti. Kineski vođa Mao Ce Tung napisao je cijeli priručnik za ping-pong i nazvao je taj sport "duhovnim nuklearnim oružjem". I priča se da je jedini počasni doživotni član američkog udruženja stolnog tenisa tadašnji predsjednik Richard Nixon, koji je pomogao iskreirati ovu "win-win" situaciju putem ping-pong diplomacije. Ali puno prije toga, stvarno, povijest modernog svijeta najbolje je ispričana pomoću skakutajuće bijele loptice.
"Ping-pong" sounds like a cousin of "sing-song," like something Eastern, but actually, it's believed that it was invented by high-class Brits during Victorian times, who started hitting wine corks over walls of books after dinner.
"Ping-pong" zvuči kao srodnik "sing-song" (pjevušiti), kao nešto istočno, ali zapravo, vjeruje se da su ga izumili Britanci viših klasa u viktorijanskom dobu, koji se se počeli gađati vinskim čepovima preko zidova knjiga nakon večere.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
No exaggeration.
Ne pretjerujem.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
And by the end of World War I, the sport was dominated by players from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire: eight out of nine early world championships were claimed by Hungary. And Eastern Europeans grew so adept at hitting back everything that was hit at them that they almost brought the whole sport to a standstill. In one championship match in Prague in 1936, the first point is said to have lasted two hours and 12 minutes. The first point! Longer than a "Mad Max" movie. And according to one of the players, the umpire had to retire with a sore neck before the point was concluded.
Do kraja Prvog svjetskog rata, ovim sportom vladali su igrači iz bivšeg Austrougarskog carstva: osam od devet prvih svjetskih prvenstava osvojili su Mađari. Istočni Europljani postali su tako vješti u odbijanju svega što je bilo bačeno na njih, da su gotovo zaustavili razvoj cjelokupnog sporta. U jednoj utakmici prvenstva u Pragu 1936. godine, priča se da je prvi poen trajao dva sata i 12 minuta. Prvi poen! Duži od "Pobješnjelog Maxa". A prema jednom igraču, sudac se morao povući zbog bolnog vrata prije nego je poen zaključen.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
That player started hitting the ball back with his left hand and dictating chess moves between shots.
Taj igrač počeo je odbijati lopticu lijevom rukom i diktirati šahovske poteze između udaraca.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Many in the audience started, of course, filing out, as that single point lasted maybe 12,000 strokes. And an emergency meeting of the International Table Tennis Association had to be held then and there, and soon the rules were changed so that no game could last longer than 20 minutes.
Mnogi gledatelji, naravno, počeli su odustajati, jer samo taj poen trajao je možda i 12 tisuća udaraca. Hitan sastanak Međunarodnog udruženja za stolni tenis morao se održati upravo tada i ondje te su uskoro pravila promijenjena, tako da nijedna utakmica ne može trajati duže od 20 minuta.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Sixteen years later, Japan entered the picture, when a little-known watchmaker called Hiroji Satoh showed up at the world championships in Bombay in 1952. And Satoh was not very big, he wasn't highly rated, he was wearing spectacles, but he was armed with a paddle that was not pimpled, as other paddles were, but covered by a thick spongy rubber foam. And thanks to this silencing secret weapon, the little-known Satoh won a gold medal. One million people came out into the streets of Tokyo to greet him upon his return, and really, Japan's postwar resurgence was set into motion.
Šesnaest godina poslije, Japan dolazi na scenu, kada se nepoznati urar Hiroji Satoh pojavio na svjetskom prvenstvu u Bombaju 1952. godine. Satoh nije bio krupan, nije bio visoko rangiran, nosio je naočale, ali bio je naoružan reketom koji nije imao ispupčenja, kao svi drugi reketi, nego prekriven gustom spužvastom gumenom pjenom. Zahvaljujući tom prigušujućem tajnom oružju, nepoznati Satoh osvojio je zlatnu medalju. Milijun ljudi izašlo je na ulice Tokija kako bi ga pozdravili pri povratku, i zapravo, japanski oporavak nakon rata je počeo.
What I learned, though, at my regular games in Japan, is more what could be called the inner sport of global domination, sometimes known as life. We never play singles in our club, only doubles, and because, as I say, we change partners every five minutes, if you do happen to lose, you're very likely to win six minutes later. We also play best-of-two sets, so often, there's no loser at all. Ping-pong diplomacy.
Ono što sam naučio kroz svoje redovne igre u Japanu, više bi se moglo nazvati unutarnjim sportom svjetske prevlasti, također poznatim i kao život. U klubu nikad ne igramo jedan-na-jedan, samo u parovima, i zato što mijenjamo partnere svakih 5 minuta, ako slučajno izgubite, vrlo je vjerojatno da ćete pobijediti šest minuta kasnije. Također igramo setove najboljih od dvojice pa često uopće nema gubitnika. Ping-pong diplomacija.
And I always remember that as a boy growing up in England, I was taught that the point of a game was to win. But in Japan, I'm encouraged to believe that, really, the point of a game is to make as many people as possible around you feel that they are winners. So you're not careening up and down as an individual might, but you're part of a regular, steady chorus. The most skillful players in our club deploy their skills to turn a 9-1 lead for their team into a 9-9 game in which everybody is intensely involved. And my friend who hits these high, looping lobs that smaller players flail at and miss -- well, he wins a lot of points, but I think he's thought of as a loser. In Japan, a game of ping-pong is really like an act of love. You're learning how to play with somebody, rather than against her.
Uvijek se sjetim, kada sam bio dječak odrastajući u Engleskoj, učili su me da je svrha igre pobijediti. Ali u Japanu, ohrabruje me se da vjerujem da je zapravo svrha igre da se što više ljudi oko vas osjećaju kao pobjednici. Pa se ne razbacujete gore-dolje kao što bi pojedinac činio, nego ste dio uravnoteženog, stabilnog zbora. Najvještiji igrači u našem klubu upogone svoje vještine kako bi vodstvo od 9:1 svog tima pretvorili u rezultat 9:9 pri kojemu će svi biti žestoko uključeni u igru. A moj prijatelj koji udara te visoke, nadlijetajuće lopte koje manji igrači promašuju -- pa, on osvaja puno poena, ali smatra ga se gubitnikom. U Japanu, igra ping-ponga je poput čina ljubavi. Učite kako igrati s nekom osobom, umjesto protiv nje.
And I'll confess, at first, this seemed to me to take all the fun out of the sport. I couldn't exult after a tremendous upset victory against our strongest players, because six minutes later, with a new partner, I was falling behind again. On the other hand, I never felt disconsolate. And when I flew away from Japan and started playing singles again with my English archrival, I noticed that after every defeat, I was really brokenhearted. But after every victory, I couldn't sleep either, because I knew there was only one way to go, and that was down.
I priznat ću, isprva mi je izgledalo kao da je sva zabava ukradena sportu. Nisam mogao slaviti nakon iznimno naporne pobjede nad najjačim igračima, jer šest minuta kasnije, s novim partnerom, ponovo sam nazadovao. S druge strane, nikada se nisam osjećao neutješno. Kada sam otišao iz Japana i opet počeo igrati jedan-na-jedan s mojim najvećim protivnikom u Engleskoj, primijetio sam da sam nakon svakog poraza istinski bio slomljenog srca. Ali nakon svake pobjede nisam mogao ni spavati jer sam znao da odatle postoji samo jedan put, a taj je prema dolje.
Now, if I were trying to do business in Japan, this would lead to endless frustration. In Japan, unlike elsewhere, if the score is still level after four hours, a baseball game ends in a tie, and because the league standings are based on winning percentage, a team with quite a few ties can finish ahead of a team with more victories.
Ako bih pokušao obavljati posao u Japanu, to bi vodilo do beskrajne frustracije. U Japanu, kao nigdje drugdje, ako je rezultat izjednačen nakon 4 sata, utakmica bejzbola završava izjednačeno, a budući da je statistika lige zasnovana na postotku pobjeda, momčad s dosta izjednačenja može završiti na višoj poziciji od momčadi sa više pobjeda.
One of the first times an American was ever brought over to Japan to lead a professional Japanese baseball team, Bobby Valentine, in 1995, he took this really mediocre squad, he lead them to a stunning second-place finish, and he was instantly fired. Why? "Well," said the team spokesman, "because of his emphasis on winning."
Kada je prvi put Amerikanac doveden u Japan kako bi vodio profesionalnu japansku momčad bejzbola, bio je to Bobby Valentine 1995. godine, preuzeo je jednu sasvim prosječnu ekipu, doveo ih je do zapanjujućeg kraja sezone na drugom mjestu, i istog trena je dobio otkaz. Zašto? "Pa", rekao je glasnogovornik momčadi, "zbog prenaglašene važnosti pobjeđivanja."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Official Japan can feel quite a lot like that point that was said to last two hours and 12 minutes, and playing not to lose can take all the imagination, the daring, the excitement, out of things.
Službeni Japan može se činiti poprilično kao onaj poen za koji kažu da je trajao 2 sata i 12 minuta, a igranje da se ne bi izgubilo može izvući svu maštu, hrabrost i uzbuđenje iz toga.
At the same time, playing ping-pong in Japan reminds me why choirs regularly enjoy more fun than soloists. In a choir, your only job is to play your small part perfectly, to hit your notes with feeling, and by so doing, to help to create a beautiful harmony that's much greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, every choir does need a conductor, but I think a choir releases you from a child's simple sense of either-ors. You come to see that the opposite of winning isn't losing -- it's failing to see the larger picture.
Istovremeno, igranje ping-ponga u Japanu podsjeća me zašto se zborovi u pravilu više zabavljaju od samostalnih izvođača. U zboru, vaš jedini zadatak jest da savršeno odigrate svoju malenu ulogu, da pogodite svoje note osjećajući ih, te da čineći to pripomognete stvaranju prekrasne harmonije koja je mnogo veća od zbroja svojih dijelova. Da, svakom zboru potreban je dirigent, ali mislim da vas zbor oslobađa dječjeg jednostavnog smisla za "ili-ili". Odjednom shvatite da suprotno od pobjede nije gubljenje -- nego propuštanje uviđanja šire slike.
As my life goes on, I'm really startled to see that no event can properly be assessed for years after it has unfolded. I once lost everything I owned in the world, every last thing, in a wildfire. But in time, I came to see that it was that seeming loss that allowed me to live on the earth more gently, to write without notes, and actually, to move to Japan and the inner health club known as the ping-pong table. Conversely, I once stumbled into the perfect job, and I came to see that seeming happiness can stand in the way of true joy even more than misery does.
Kako mi život teče, zapanjuje me uvidjeti da nijedan događaj ne može biti ispravno vrednovan godinama nakon što se odvio. Jednom sam izgubio sve što sam posjedovao na ovom svijetu, sve do zadnje sitnice, u požaru. Ali s vremenom sam shvatio da mi je taj prividan gubitak omogućio da živim nježnije na ovom svijetu, da pišem bez zabilješki, i zapravo, da se preselim u Japan i u tamošnji sportski klub poznat kao stol za ping-pong. Na istom tragu, jednom sam nabasao na savršen posao, a uvidio sam da prividna sreća može biti zapreka istinskoj sreći, čak više od očaja.
Playing doubles in Japan really relieves me of all my anxiety, and at the end of an evening, I notice everybody is filing out in a more or less equal state of delight. I'm reminded every night that not getting ahead isn't the same thing as falling behind any more than not being lively is the same thing as being dead. And I've come to understand why it is that Chinese universities are said to offer degrees in ping-pong, and why researchers have found that ping-pong can actually help a little with mild mental disorders and even autism. But as I watch the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, I'm going to be keenly aware that it won't be possible to tell who's won or who's lost for a very long time.
Igranje u parovima u Japanu me doista oslobađa sve moguće tjeskobe, a na kraju večeri, zamjećujem kako svi napuštaju klub u podjednakom stanju oduševljenja. Svaku večer se podsjećam da ne napredovati ne znači isto što i nazadovati, u istom smislu kao što ne biti živahan nije isto što i biti mrtav. Napokon sam shvatio zbog čega kineska sveučilišta nude diplome iz ping-ponga i zbog čega su istraživači zaključili da ping-pong može pripomoći kod blagih mentalnih poremećaja, čak i kod autizma. Ali dok budem pratio Olimpijadu 2020. godine u Tokiju, bit ću vrlo svjestan kako neće biti moguće ocijeniti tko je pobijedio ili izgubio vrlo dugo.
You remember that point I mentioned that was said to last for two hours and 12 minutes? Well, one of the players from that game ended up, six years later, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau. But he walked out alive. Why? Simply because a guard in the gas chamber recognized him from his ping-pong playing days. Had he been the winner of that epic match? It hardly mattered. As you recall, many people had filed out before even the first point was concluded. The only thing that saved him was the fact that he took part.
Sjećate se kada sam spomenuo taj poen koji je navodno trajao 2 sata i 12 minuta? Jedan od igrača iz te utakmice šest godina kasnije završio je u koncentracijskim logorima Auschwitzu i Dachauu. Ali izvukao se živ. Zašto? Jednostavno zato što ga je čuvar u plinskoj komori prepoznao iz njegovih dana igranja ping-ponga. Je li on pobijedio u toj epskoj utakmici? To uopće nije bitno. Sjetite se, puno ljudi je napustilo igru prije nego je taj prvi poen zaključen. Jedina stvar koja ga je spasila bila je činjenica da je sudjelovao.
The best way to win any game, Japan tells me every other night, is never, never to think about the score.
Najbolji način za pobijediti u bilo kojoj igri, Japan mi to govori svake druge večeri, jest nikada, nikada ne misliti na rezultat.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)