Capoeira
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Sign my Capoeira Wiki page
Check out some pictures
"Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art." That's the typical answer to
"What is Capoeira?" Like most things worth knowing, it's difficult to give
a concise answer.
For me capoeira is the most wholesome
physical activity
in which I've ever been involved.
It's very acrobatic, it's always accompanied
with live music, and it's a lot of fun. I've met a ton of great people through
Capoeira - most notably my girlfriend, Danielle In the picture to the left is my
friend Adam and myself doing some moves in my front yard during Thanksgiving in
Little Rock, Arkansas.
At first look, capoeira looks like a dance - and many people think that it's
choreographed because the rhythm synchronizes the play / dance / fight. For the most
part, there is no contact - it's much more about out-flanking your oponent than
pumeling them.
I think that there is a decent analogy between learning capoeira and learning
a foreign language. The moves correspond to vocabulary, the grace in which
they are executed is analogous to pronunciation. Once you learn some words
you start to construct basic phrases. A little later (where I am currently), you start to
put together some basic sentences. Really good players are like great orators.
In the sense that there is a fight, a good player is an expert at rhetoric. His/her
goal is not to shout insults, but to be cunning and tansmute their opponents
hubris to their peril. This is not an over-baked analogy, when you see a good
player make their opponent's game crumble due to frustration you know
that you are seeing a fight of strategy, grace, and skill.
Currently I play with Madison's
Omulu Capoeira. Below is a picture from an "encounter" we had the winter of 2000.
We give a lot of demonstrations and just play outside when the weather is nice.
This picture below shows my teacher, Dana, playing a friend of mine, Carlos (on hands)
just outside the farmer's market that surrounds Wisconsin's Capitol. If you look to
the right of the guy with the red shirt you will see a full shoping cart that Adam
and I borrowed from Capitol Center Foods - boy I love the farmer's market!!!
If you have a good connection,
Chimp's Capoeira
has a lot of great pictures and videos!