It's been a great year for Capoeira NUS and it really warms my heart to see how the club has grown from strength to strength. Whether it's the seniors taking charge and sharing whatever they know with the juniors or the newer members stepping up and volunteering to help out at events and stepping up to lead songs - I hope I can speak for everyone when I say that Capoeira NUS is a place where you can feel a sense of belonging; a place where you can recharge in the middle of the crazy week and just put everything aside and feel refreshed after jogo-ing.
But in order for the club to keep growing, we need to inject some new blood into the committee so that the club can benefit from the new ideas. That's part and parcel of the renewal process.
Arnold has already spoken to the club about it so do take the weekend to let the thought 'incubate' in your head. Have a look at the list of committee positions up for elections and think about whether you are suitable for the job and would like to run for it.
Here are the positions and the current position-holders:
1. Chairperson - Arnold
2. Vice-chairperson (internal) - Tiang Tiang
3. Vice-chairperson (external) - Faizal
4. Treasurer - Toshi
5. Secretary - Angeline and Shen (double team ftw!)
If you have any questions regarding the specific job scopes of each position just drop us an email or ask us next training personally and we'll be more than happy to share our experiences with you.
A question that got my mind jumbled in a knot was asked: "How should you play/react when the other capoeirista in the roda with you is getting 'rough'?"
Disclaimer - i'm merely an aluno that is approaching this question with an answer that i myself would most likely apply given that situation. Therefore, any disagreement to my SOP is duly justified. (feel like i'm giving away my 'gameplan' but... waddaheck haha)
It's a really tricky question because so many factors may be considered before you take your next action against your opponent (which branches further into further mindmapping... so on so forth!): 1) "What's my level of playing relative to my parter?"
2) "Is this play in line with the tempo & ground-rules of the roda?"
3) "Do i want to play along?"
1a) Is my opponent my mestre/ instructor/ senior-of-several-grades-higher? You're most probably in good hands because a mestre could have already identified your level of play & may just be mischievious to want to 'shake you up' a bit or test if you're going to apply what's been taught. And they seldom send juniors flying haha. (Can't say the same for Mestre-to-seniors game haha) 1b) Is my opponent my junior/ same level? You have been placed on level ground; you have as much (if not more) experience as your partner and it falls on you to attempt to engage (if not steer) the game to be a beautiful one. You will be learning, as well as teaching, with the next few actions you make against your partner. 1c) Is my opponent a stranger? 'A box of chocolates' or 'a can of worms', It is best to stay cautious and read the game... As my seniors have told me when i was still brand new to Capoeira, a more experienced Capoeirista would probably compra you out soon after if they feel your still green to opening 'a can of worms' haha.
2) Define "rough"play? Would it be considered "rough" if the leader of the roda gives instruction that its 'jogo de dentro' and the berimbau is slamming 'regional' toques at lightning speed? Or is your partner going in the direction of 'regional' direction when the berimbau is sounding at a regularly paced 'banguela' toque? It is part of going with the flow of conduct with the roda that makes the game beautiful as well.
3) Do i want to play along? The ultimate 'answer a question with a question' solution: what do u want? Are u on the brink of having your heart jump out of ur chest and ur gonna decided to leave the 'roughing' for another compra later? Or are u as Axe-intoxicated that you want to have a go at it too (doing it beautifully, of course)? Remember that the decision falls on you. e.g. if tired: volta mundo to catch your breath, play defensive (also allows u to watch,learn,counter-attack)...etc. The most important thing i personally feel is "Don't lose your head" (both mentally and physically haha).
To close my answer, remember that what happens in the roda stays in the roda, and that anything within the roda goes, because the second u step into the roda, you're already in the game... and that game is life :) (so deep i myself don't get it... LOL)
Title for this post is a portion taken from the song "Donna Maria":
"Joga bonito que eu quero ver, jogo bonito que eu aprende" or "Play beautifully because i want to see, play beautifully because i want to learn"
Of the 4 videos you have seen above, which of the 4 appeals to you? Which strikes you as "beautiful"?
Capoeira is an art and it is up to an individual to find what it means to them personally. Do consider though, that an art is not fully appreciated until the artiste has held this gem in his hands and has viewed its multi-faceted sides before favoring the preferred direction to honing the art, just as a jeweller handling raw precious stones, not having done so would be like subjecting yourself to Plato's Allegory of the cave or Aesop's Frog in the well, and a waste of a potentially valuable jewel that would be.
Capoeira can be summed up to be: Acrobatic, martial art, dance, performance, music, philospohy, history & culture. It's probably one of these aspects of capoeira that've attracted us to this artform in the first place. Ironically, it's probably one of these same aspects that shunned would-be newcomers to Capoeira. E.g. someone coming in w the expectation of learning a 'dance' gets put off by Capoeira's 'fight' nature, or someone coming in w the expectation of learning a 'fight' gets put off by Capoeira's 'dance' nature. Yet, WE know that with a little further probing, a dancer would see the 'Dance' and the fighter would see the 'Fight' in Capoeira.
And now for the encouragement bit: And something from a gymnastic coach, about doing new moves, attempting the difficult ones, but which I think is also applicable to life in general:
"For 90 per cent of the kids, a lot of fear is involved. The solution is hard, but simple - just do it again and again. "It’s going to be scary the first time, by the second time, it will be half as scary. And by the time you’ve done it a hundred times, you won't remember what you were afraid of in the first place."
This project has been in the making for a loooong looong time and we have Arnold to thank for conceiving it. I'm pretty excited to be given the opportunity to spearhead this project and I invite all of you to come aboard and help out with this event. What's in it for you: You get to do good and be part of NUS Capoeira history!
In two weeks from now,NUS Capoeira will host a group of 30 children from Fei Yue CCS and conduct a capoeira enrichment programme for them. If interacting with kids is your thing, do volunteer to come down and help out in the event.
The details are as follows:-
Date and Time: 15th March, 4-6pm
Venue: YIH Amphitheatre
We're gonna have a roda as well for the kids so we hope the whole club can come down so we can give them an impactful performance to remember. After all, we can't have a roda with 1 person! (That'd be a voador...) Who knows, the kids might get inspired and grow up to be Eddy Gordos and Lateef Crowders someday...
Thanks goes out to Rosinha, Ken (Mumia) and Soong Ming for helping me coordinate everything ranging from transport to refreshment sponsorships.
Yes, you read it right - there'll be refreshments.
If the words "CIP", "Kids", "Roda" and "Refreshments" are not enough to entice you I guess you're a boring capoeirista who just trains, doesn't eat much, and hates being around happy bouncy young people. (just kidding... seriously, if you can't make it due to school commitments we perfectly understand!)
That's all for now. I'll give you more updates nearer to the actual date. If any of you have any questions e.g. ("How old are the kids?"; "What refreshments will be served?" "Will I get any CCA points?"; "I can't teach capoeira. Can I still help?") just direct them to me and I'll decide whether to answer them or give you a bencao :P
Angola forms, but regional speed and flourishes at times.. Not sure what to call it.. Fast, slow, fast, slow, amazing controls and still looks so fun, so much like a 'game'!
And another 'fast angola' from the two mestres we are somewhat familiar with:
