This Blog Has Been Hijacked!

Hello,

I hope you don't change the password because of the UNAUTHORISED post. I just read a little of something and thought you might find it interesting.

It's a treatise (yep, 26 pages IS a treatise) on the parallels between the philosophy of capoeira and Nietzchean Will to Power.

Let me say that:
1) you don't have to be a philosophy major to get this, and
2) you don't have to agree with it just because it was (possibly) written by a mestre or because it is in Portuguese. This isn't T.R.U.T.H.; it's just capoeira from someone's perspective, why he thinks he does what he does.

The entire PDF can be found here:

http://www.revue-silene.com/images/30/extrait_67.pdf

Title: Capoeira: A Philosophy of the Body by Camille Dumoulié

You can convert the text using Google Translate or, if you can understand a little Portuguese, Lingro.

Okay, enough gum-flapping. The part I'd like to share is on page 6.

Segundo plano de resistência : uma poética do espaço.
2. Um espaço de fuga contra o espaço dos blocos.
Na origem do pensamento grego, existe o círculo e a esfera, enclausurados em sua perfeição estática. Na origem da capoeira, existe a roda, esse espaço ritual e circular do qual brotam e se espalham os movimentos giratórios dos corpos que traçam no ar círculos abertos e dinâmicos. Lançados repentinamente, como que de improviso, os gestos parecem seguir as linhas de uma rigorosa geometria da qual hipérboles e arabescos invisíveis atravessam o espaço. Repetem e novamente lançam ao infinito as linhas de fuga traçadas pelos antigos escravos. Na roda, o dançarino encontra-se no centro de linhas de forças que percorrem todos os lugares heterogêneos. A continuidade das linhas de fuga atravessa o espaço quadriculado dos blocos : blocos raciais, sociais, urbanos, sem falar dos imundos « blocos » do pretenso carnaval de Salvador ou dos blockaus de resistência do exército alemão, durante a secunda guerra mundial, que se chamam casamatas
em português.

And this is my translation. Do be forgiving.

The second plan of resistance: a poetics of space.
2. A space of flight against a blocked-up space
In the origin of Greek thought, there exist the circle and the sphere, cloistered in their static perfection. In the origin of capoeira, there exists a roda, this space--ritual and circular--which germinates and reflects the spinning movements of bodies that trace in the air open and dynamic circles. Suddenly released, as if improvised, the gentures seem to follow lines of a rigorous geometry of invisible hyperboles and arabesques across the space. They repeat yet newly trace the infinite lines of flight drawn by the old slaves. In the roda, the dancer meets in the centre of the lines of force that travel all the heterogeneous spaces. A continuity of lines of flight cross the grided blocked space of Greek thought: blocks of race, society, citizenry, not to mention the filthy blocks of pretentious carnaval of Salvador or of the blockades of resistance of the German army during the Second World War that is called 'casamatas' in Portuguese.

"Wha...?" Some of you might be thinking. I'm pretty sure the poetry is inherent in the text, and not through some bastardisation through my translation. But you'll just have to take my word for it. :D

It seems like the (wo)man is making for a point that African (Brazilian) philosophy is not written in text (like Greek/Western thought), but is written in the bodies of its practitioners, and it offers a new way of understanding space, one that, contrary to the static immutability of Greek (i.e. 'White') space, is dynamic and alive.

"Huh?" you say? "Bro, I just want to play capoeira." Well then, please read the next post, friend!

Axé,
Crouching capoeirista, hidden rasteira

Dancing in Chains

The master artist dances in chains. - Goethe

That would have been a sententious quote to christen this post. Some of you would have been in awe, while others would be wondering, yi kong si mi l@n...? My professor--a man of great learning--unfortunately misquoted it. It doesn't exist. Which doesn't say much for Ph.D's, does it?

But anyway, one day when you are old and tired, when your tendons are calcified and your heart weak, you too will be quoting this to spritely capoeiristas. I can only speak from experience, but I feel the most mature capoeiristas have, for lack of a better word, 'tact'.

It's like a conversation: when we're young, we use simple declarative statements. 'This is a ball,' 'I feel sad,' and so on. As we mature, we learn subtler nuances in our language, and learn how to have entire conversations without saying anything at all! Questions, answers, statements can mean either one thing or the other, or perhaps both simultaneously, or even nothing at all. It all works because a lot of what we say is left unsaid, in body gesture, tonality, choice of words and their connotations, sentence structure and so forth.

Say someone starts with a 'How are...' and instead of the expected 'you', ends with a 'things with your ex?' What seemed like a friendly salutation suddenly looms with the adumbration of Don Juan over here muscling in on territory you haven't quite gotten over.

Reeling back in to capoeira, when I see what I feel to be a mature game, I see players suggesting attacks and possible (but non-commital) defences to said suggested (but never carried out) attacks. Almost everything has to be second-guessed. A lift of the leg could be a defence, an attack, a step, or just something needing to be scratched. Just vague gestures and wispy ambivalances dissolving into the air.

An analogy can only get one so far, and when it starts to break down, it's time to discard it. So we'll do so here, because I don't think I can say anything else about 'tact'.

So what has this got to so with the (mis)quote? Is capoeira an art? Other martial arts don't mention any stinkin' chains!

Well, I'd say that this is just how capoeira is. And yes, it is a medium through which one expresses oneself. Or rather, one is the medium through which Capoeira expresses itself. Whatever.

Bruce Lee (who flunked out of Philosophy, if I'm not mistaken) once said,

"Ultimately, martial art means honestly expressing yourself. It is easy for me to put on a show and be cocky so I can show you some really fancy movement. But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly enough; that, my friend, is very hard to do."

So don't get me wrong, I'm not dumping on the deficits of other martial arts. I'm just saying that in capoeira, one honestly doesn't know what one is going to say until one says it.

Amendment: Bruce Lee actually flunked out of Drama, while taking some courses in Philosophy. Hmm...

Tips on Training in Capoeira

These are pointers that Mestre Luizinho raised during this Q& A session as well as tips from Formado Rocha during the Sunday workshop. If you guys can remember any other tips please post it:

1. Ginga...and ginga more....because a Capoeirista who can't Ginga can't be called a Capoeirista. No matter how nice your moves are, if you can't Ginga, you will not be able to connect the movement. When you ginga, try moving your body in a wave like motion, meaning your head will be at the highest position when you are in the starting and ending position but while you move from side to side, your head goes down low. Be creative; Just as Ballerinas express their dance with their movement, we express our art with our movements; use body sways, hand jerks, anything, to make your ginga stylo-milo and your very own. Your Ginga has to be strong such that it will not allow you to fall with a slight nudge. It has to be strong and firm yet flexible to move and change your momentum as and when you wish. This takes practice.

2. You don't have to practice 3 - 4 hours to get better. Often, practice daily for about 30 - 40 mins of intense workout. Its not the quantity but the quality. Make sure you use the right techniques during your practice. Even Mestre Luizinho practices his Ginga once in a while in front of the mirror for 30 mins at least. And ladies...this is a really good fat burner...trust me.

3. The Chair. Yes the chair. Mestre says the secret to practicing alone is the Chair. How so? Just like Wing Chun has its kungfu Dummy, WE have the Chair. Place a simple chair... those with 4 legs mind you, in front of yourself. Then when you look at it from the front, it has 2 legs, from the sides 2 legs. SO how does this help? Ginga facing the chair and practice your kicks over the chair, your Rasteirhas to the chair legs, practice your ground movement by maneuvering around the chair keeping your focus. Its alot of imagery but it works. If the dummy worked for the Kung Fu ppl, the chair will to for us

4. Be fit. No matter how good your techniques are, if you are not fit, you can't use them. Capoeira after all is still a martial art and 70% of it relies on your fitness. So if you find yourself unable to proceed past a certain stage or get a certain move, go work out, workout the muscles that are involved in that move. Do not forget about your cardiovascular fitness...because alot of us were gasping for air during the roda.

5. Do LOTS OF PUSHUPS! well in the words of Rocha: " Do pushups until you're really good at it". I guess he meant doing lots and lots of them. Ok, to clear a certain misconception- Doing pushups will not build muscle mass if done at normal speeds. It will only build muscle mass when done slow and controlled. So ladies, please do more pushups and not be afraid of gaining big arms because the truth is, the faster you do your pushups, the more you tone your arms and not build them. Do normal pushups, wide pushups, queda-de-rins pushups, both sides until you are comfortable with it.

6. (I just remembered this tip) When you first start learning a move, you are gonna find yourself feeling heavy and clumsy and hard to move your body around. That is normal. Even for dancers, when they learn their first moves, they are jerky and not fluid as well. The secret is to keep training. Because once you get used to that movement, it will no longer feel heavy anymore as you have found the balance and technique required to execute it. You see, capoeira is not all about muscle strength. Its more about being able to coordinate than anything else (:

Well in the words of Mestre Geni: If you afraid of losing, you're never gonna win.

Start practicing at home and trust me...in no time, you will surpass many of the seniors in school hehe.

Lovelove

Bambu

In the World of Kung Fu, Speed Determines the Winner

This is a clip from Kung Fu Hustle. It's the international English-dubbed version. I find so many great lessons in capoeira, like this post's title, in this movie.



And this is a fan vid.


Yes, I have wasted your time.
As in the roda, as in Life. :P

-EW

PS: Please leave in the comments your favourite capoeira quotes from the movie (or any movie!). Remember to add 'As in the roda, as in Life.' at the back!