Fire Cracker Ball in Guangxi Province:

广西的抢花炮:

In the game of Fire Cracker Ball in Guangxi province,the cracker is made of the iron rings with the diameter of five centimeters.

广西的抢花炮，“花炮”是铁制圆环，直径约5厘米，

It is covered with a piece of red cloth or wound with red silk.When the game is going,one of the iron rings is put on the cannon mouth.

外用红布或红绸缠绕，然后置于送炮器上。

The gun with powder in it will send the cracker into the air.When the ring falls onto the ground all the athletes can scramble for it with their efforts.

送炮器即铁炮，内装火药，燃放后即把花炮冲上天空，待花炮落下时参加者均可奋勇争夺。

The shape of the gun is the most beautiful of Nanning,and Baise,Guangxi province.It is a hexagon pillar decorated with designs and patterns on the six sides.

广西南宁、百色两地传统的送炮器的形状最为美观，外观为六角柱形，六边饰有图案、花纹，

It has three status,the bottom is a bigger hexagon pillar and the comer is inlaid with the edge of the sweet-scented osmanthus.

共分三层，底层为稍大的六角柱，柱角镶上桂花边；

The middle part of it is rather thinner with the different sizes of personal images of various postures.The top party is horn-shaped mouth.

中层较细，携有各类形态的大小人像；上层为喇叭状开口。

According to the tradition, only three crackers are done.Those who have got the first cracker will be lucky and contented,which expresses the good desires of the people for a happy life.

按民间传统，只燃放三炮。抢得头炮者，则万事吉样如意，这体现出人们对美好幸福生活的渴望。

The traditional fire cracker ball has no limitation on the figure of the athletes and has no division of groups.It belongs to the single-athlete game.

传统的抢花炮不限人数，也不分队数，属于“单打独斗”。

The course is usually on the bank of a river or a hill,and there is no boundary.So the course is everywhere.

场地通常设在河岸或山坡上，无一定界限，漫山遍野皆为活动范围。

And this requires the athletes more highly.The athletes should have a strong stigma,strong will,stubborn persistence,speedy and flexible reaction and a virtual morality and so on.

这就对抢花炮者提出了更高的要求。要求抢花炮者必须具有强健的体魄，顽强的意志，坚忍不拔的毅力，快速敏捷灵活的反应，以及高尚的道德品质等。

When the owner of the cracker is determined,the sounds of suona ( trumpet ),loud cheer,the drums and the firecrackers are ringing together immediately.

一旦花炮分清得主，顿时唢呐声、欢呼声、锣鼓声、鞭炮声响成一片。

Since the 3rd National Minorities Traditional Sports Meeting, fire cracker ball has been one of the official sports.

从第三届全国少数民族传统体育运动会开始，抢花炮已成为正式比赛项目之一。

It is dertermined as the official competition at the Minorities’Traditional Sports Meeting,Hunan province.

在湖南省少数民族传统体育运动会上也将抢花炮列为正式比赛项目。

The reformed fire cracker ball decides the competition time is 40 minutes.It has the first half and the second half.Each half is 20 minutes.There is a ten-minute rest between them.

改革后的抢花炮，规定了每场比赛时间为40分钟，分上、下半场，每半场20分钟，中间休息10分钟；

It is not restrained with three crackers.But the result of the competition is decided by the numbers of the crackers put into the opponents’ gaily decorated basket within the fixed time.

比赛不受三炮的限制，在规定的时间内，以将花炮攻入对方花篮的次数多少来判定胜负；

It is competed in the units of teams, of each consists ten athletes.

比赛以队为单位，每队上场队员为10名；

The course is 6o meters long and 50 meters wide.On each of the two ends there is a gun platform range,there is a gaily decorated basket.

赛场长60米，宽50米，两端设炮台区，各放一花蓝。

After practices for many years,the fire cracker ball is being perfected,the skills and the tactics are developing constantly and the excitement of the antagonistic competition is rising.

抢花炮经过十多年的实践，规则逐步完善，技、战术不断发展，对抗竞争的激烈程度有增无减。

In order to make it be worth watching and fair,the cracker has been changed into a 15-centimeter-ubber-oblate ring from a 5-centimeter-iron ring,which is similar to the disc in the athletics.

为了更具观赏性和公平竞争性，将花炮由原对的5厘米铁环改为巧厘米的橡皮扁圆形，类似田径赛的铁饼。

So the ethnic traditional sport is identical to the modern competitive sports, and called “the Chinese rugby”.

因而，抢花炮这项民族传统体育运动与现代竞技体育运动逐步接轨，有人称之为中国式的“橄榄球”。