Friday, October 17, 2008

Your Nome de Guerre

In the underground period of Capoeira, capoeiristas referred to each other by--and probably were only known through--nicknames to avoid police persecution. These are referred to as apelidos (appellations) or nomes de guerre (names of war).

Technically, the capoeira teacher who baptises you (with the floor, not with water) will name you, but sometimes your style is so distinct, you earn it all on your own. So congratulations! Some of you are already earning your nomes de guerre! So, for starters:

Angeline: Ginga Baixa (Ginga Low)
Swee Lan: Palma no Chão (Hand on the Floor)
Yi Hao: Pilar (Pillar, Post)
Mona: Queixada Matador (Killer Queixada)
Amanda: Chutada Alta (High Kicker)

Heheheheh....

For your information:

Ting Kuang: Bambu (The Long One)
Pek Hong: Wolverine (Wolverine) [Kidding! But he was almost called that! His real name is Caburé, a kind of pygmy owl. I can't remember why]
Ian: Cabeça (Head) [Actually, Mestra Mara wanted to call him 'Intelligente'. The other masters wanted to call him something much less glamourous, so they settled for 'Head' instead].
Jia Min: Piaba (Death's Smile)

-EW

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

EW : Cegonha ( White Crane )

I tink "white crane" sounds like chinese kung fu...where is mantis style, tiger paws, monkey style and snake fists??

mvken said...

woo Death's Smile, now that's a sexy name.

Anonymous said...

ooo! jia min does hav a very pretty smile!

Daniel said...

Wooo, I'm a pillar? Post? Hmmm, I'm not very tall, I wonder why the name? : )

Anonymous said...

Because you walked STRAIGHT INTO ONE! BWAHAHAHAHA! ;P