Jogo de Dentro and got chowed.

Yoh playing close has many advantages, as most Capoeiristas would know. But nothing could prepare me for what happened one lovely roda after training. All I remember was and au se mao into the roda [might I add it was pretty high :) ] and the quickest meia lua de compasso flashed across my face. Next was another one and and well after that i remember waking up outside with an ice pack over my head.

What can I say it happens to the best of us, but I would like to analyze the situation a bit more. Apparently I esquived(sp and grammer) pretty well, but on the 2nd kick it clipped the top of my head with the opponents calf. A simple tilt of the head would have saved me an agonizing head ache and nausea afterward. However further more if I did play close I probably would not have a jaw to speak of right now (ie if I got hit with the heal from a bad esquiva)

Emphasis on close play is not just for shows sake. It teaches you to control your game in confined spaces and honestly reduces your risk of nasty injuries. As far as i am concerned, bad technique results in bad habits and lead you to bad situations. This is why we train, not to become robots of the same style, rather we are searching for our own unique style, one that adapts accordingly to various circumstances that we face in the roda and life.

So the simplest way to avoid injuries, train to teach your body new habits, train to get out of bad ones, and if you are starting of, train to avoid them.

Nuff said y'all

Folha Seca!

My hommie Samurai has just posted up a little tribute to the peeps who assisted to start up Capoeira Folha Seca, proudly our school in Zimbabwe that is going strong. I could not but help remember the times we spent training together and the little that we knew we all taught to each other. Capoeira in that sense is truly unique because we all family. As cliche as that sounds, all capoeristas know they have a home where ever there is a Capoeirista. This fact is testament to that fact, we are bound by a strong cord that can't be broken. (hopefully that is)

In acknowledgment to Samurais post (link is to the right of this page) I miss our group and one day we shall all link up somewhere on this earth, (pray it be Brazil) where we shall relive those moments.

Meu irmao!

This right here is dedicated to the coolest of friends, and some of the biggest bambaclats (sp).

These Bombaclats sp never fail to make my day. With them there is an understanding that we must push our selves to get better. A year later after I met them, you need to see how we are playing. NB one of them looks really cool in the background after sprucing up the picture a bit.

What Can I say, Zoadoara is crazy. I shall miss her as her time at Uni comes to a close. The shirt says it all. See you in Brazil y'all.














I spruced up this picture of Lexeiro or as Mesh B would say, "Alexi" (the i is silent", my partner in crime in Cape Town. What would Cappa be with out her.







First up, The Zim Contingent. As you can clearly see they all graded to expectation in our rocking t-shirts especially that punk in the "cord of gold" as I like to call it. Hommies for life.

I shall never forget.

YOH this sums it up Pretty nicely. A crap load of organising and a week of fun, laughter and learning. Need I say more. The people in this picture, practically my family. I am honoured to know each and everyone of them. Joy oh Joy.

Stay tuned for the other pic that tell the story of the whole Batizado week.

Continuation!

I apologise to all those that were looking out for new stuff on this blog. As you shall see I have been heavily engaged in what has been the most successful Capoeira event I have assisted in orgainising. It has also been a period of growth for me and I was not feeling life as it were.

I am revived and rearing to go. Enjoy the posts to come.

Muito axe

SOLDADO

Welcome back Robin. She knows who she is.

The Greatest Day in a Long Time

I will never forget this day. Weeks of planning and this is what it came down to. 2 rocking days of fun and one Memorable roda. Here are the pics to show it.


Need I say more










@ Camps Bay, We didn't even call a roda, we just started playing and a roda formed round us. Cool I know.

A Good Bitching Session!

Ah yes, yesterdays Capoeira class turned out to be the most productive in terms of moving forward with Capoeira development. My instructor clearly had had enough of misconduct at training. What had been a vibrant, muito axe class had been turned into a slackers training ground, (OK maybe I am exagerating a bit) but the reason that kept us coming to class was no longer there. Basically we were at a stagnant part in a development in Capoeira, something most Capoeristas hate, the feeling that you are not getting better.

Thankfully a positive bitch session set this all right, and the measures in place will ensure the rapid growth of all disciples of the art before our much anticipated Grading. From here on its full steam ahead; hard sessions with that smile on our faces when we go home.

You be the Judge.

I rest my case!

The Teacher/Caxinguele Relationship.

Wow, I was just reading this persons blog about the Teacher/Student relationship in Capoeira (see this link)

(http://tribes.tribe.net/vadiacao/thread/65559afb-9ca1-40e4-9522-95f02e545c9b)

How true it is that one can not learn Capoeira on their own. One can lack the motivation to train individually (as has been the case with myself) and one can get frustrated with the learning process especially if it invloves repetition, or simulation game situations with no partner/target in front of you.

Since Capoeira is a free artform in that a lot of combinations of movements can be put together, it becomes evident how difficult it is to teach Capoeira. Only when one commits themselves fully to be a disciple of the artform will the teacher/advanced student invest time in them. This is true for any discipline, whether academic/physical/spiritual or otherwise. As said in the blog (see above link) a line drawn on it's own will lose track of where it is going and veer of its target destination, however many lines that run parallel will guide this line in the right path.

Isn't that cool! Thus it is important to help each other when we can, to keep each other encouraged, to be the guide when the other has lost the path.

Muito axe.

Capoeira is life...

A capoerista can not deny that Capoera has changed there life in some way, no matter how small it is. You see my motivation in Capoeira even in the very early stages is the music. Without it Capoeira has lost its greatest teacher, it has lost its guide, its light in the shadows. When one realises the truth (yah I am going Matrix on y'allll) that everything conforms to a rhythm, confroms to a basic pattern, whether it be the wind, the leaf that falls to the ground (Folha Seca y'alll) or the Capoeirista that conforms to the rhythm that is being played at that particular moment, you start to see that you are part of a whole, the roda of life!!!

So why don;t you go ahead and dance to the rhythm, fight if the rhythm commands it, or walk around the world(volta do mundo)

The Lone Berimbau Player.

I bet all of y'all Capoeiristas can relate to this, on the beach as the sun goes down, with nothing but the wind and the sound of the waves to complement the sounds that come from your berimbau. Ahh yes good times I tell you, good time.

Muito axe