Training Review 2/10/14

OMG so efficient is what you are thinking right? You are not wrong.

Today's class:

1. Meia Lua de compasso (meh lwa gee kompasso, or compasso for short)

2. Queda de rins (kay-dah gee hinge)

Tip: jab your kidney with your elbow. it's the way to go. Will take a while before you find the spot that doesn't hurt though >:)

3. Rabo de arraia (ha-bo de higher)

It has a name! Not compasso de kosongmau
Try to progress your compasso into this! From 2 hands to one to none!

4. Meia lua Reversao (meh lwa re-ver-sao, or just reversao)

This is another thing you can progress to from the compasso, so it's important to get your basics right! It probably was awkward and weird to do this for the first/second time just now, but no one's rushing. Go at your own pace.

5. Ponte (ponch)

Since it's halloween this month, let's do something to scare your friends right... This is also another one of the basic movements that we neglect, so let's train this together and walk the entire length of MPSH soon yeah?

BONUS

This is just one of the things you can do with the moves we've learnt so far, ignore the advertisement haha

So that's it for this time. Have fun learning the names/moves, should we have a mid term for this as well? >:)

-ivan

Training Review 30/9/2014

Hey everyone, I guess we shall move back to this space in the interim while our website is down; will try to get it back up asap. In the meantime, watch this space!

So in the interest of convenience, and the benefit of our newcomers, I shall try to post a review of our training sessions if there are new moves introduced. This is purely from my memory, so there may be some things missing, pardon me haha.

So these are what we did yesterday:

1. Songs. We learnt a few new songs ytd! It's ok if you feel lost and awkward vocalising the lyrics, everyone's been there. Just try to sing louder the next time, and soon you will be screaming ur lungs out in the roda. Below are the songs we learnt yesterday:

a. A hora e essa

b. Ai ai ai ai. (the video sounds depressing, don't be too bothered by it)

c. ai ai aide (another depressing sounding one)

d. Eu pisei na folha seca (you pee-say na fo-lya say-kah) ok can't find the song that Toshi taught ytd, but this is the other song that he ALWAYS sings. learn it.
   

OK I think that concludes the songs. Moving on to the... moves.

1. Martelo rodado (ma-teh-low ho-dah-do) we start small ok, don't fly yet.

2. Armada (ah-ma-dah)

3. Bancao (ben-sao)

4. Martelo (same as 1.)

5. Queixada (kay-sha-dah)

Ok I think that should  be enough for 1 session. Will post more the next time. Hopefully.

BONUS

This is what some of the more experienced (older, like very old) guys and girls were doing ytd. Don't be intimidated, it's never too early to start.

Macaco (mah-ka-koh)

Ok so that's all for this time, hope you like this. Depending on the response, there may or may not be more of this haha.


-ivan

FOR THE LADIES!!!!

Helllo! Bambu here, this one is for the ladies! Forget all the boring old men. Ladies do it so much nicer!

Oh ok, the guys can watch and drool too!

Bambu (:

WELCOME TEA WAS A BLAST!

Hey guys/babes,

Thank you all for coming down to welcome tea. The show up was great and you all partcipated really well. Most of us started much worse than you guys...cos we had alot of problems getting our right hand/right leg in place. Well, this are a few links about Capoeira, our previous posts that are relevant and videos to entertain you while you are attending lectures hur hur.

Capoeira History with a coool lil video (:

For a list of moves and videos that we have learnt the last semester. This includes basics, some cool moves and flourishes





Funny movie where capoeira is the baddie again:


All right, now for the people who were here since last semester, you learnt quite a few nice moves.



Ok i Couldnt find a video for this move soooo the first thing i thought of was this movie. Its at 0:22. Its similar to what we learnt. In this video, the move is from a ponte into a negativa and a role.


Ok if any of you find better videos, please post! Good night!

Oh ya, for those people who missed today's welcome tea but didnt turn up, no worries, you can drop by any time (:

Love Love
Bambu

Capo Chicks!

Hello every one,

Today at the chingay rehearsals we were trying out random moves when someone mentioned to me that men do moves easier cos we have bigger muscles..welll.....I beg to differ, yes men tend to do more explosive moves, but men sometimes just lack that grace that a lithe feminine body can exude. So it brings me to the mail that our senior ******** sent. I decided to just cut and paste it to retain its original flavor:

"Hey people at Capo NUS, 

Sometimes in moments of weakness, I surf youtube for capo videos, and strangely enough, the first few I find before I get a hold of myself are pretty damn good! Maybe you might want to put these on the blog:



Wow, I don't know how to describe that one. It's not flashy, nor fast-paced, but it's very intense. There's so much sophistication and maturity in these players. Erm, you'll probably get what I mean when you watch it, and if you don't, well, just take my word for now. :)



This next one has some really cool acrobatics done by ladies. The acrobatics are cool, regardless of sex, of course, and that's not really why I'm suggesting this video. Check out the cruel cutavelada at 1:35! OW!!!!

Cheers,
*****"

Yup... just watching those women flow in the roda makes my knees weak. And to add on to the thought about women in capoeira, here's a link to a post by our dear friend joaninha

Here

All right, Happy reading and keep practicing!

Love Love

Bambu

When your feet itch and you're stuck in Office

Yeap, when my feet were itching to jump about, I was surfing youtube in my office and I found this slideshow of our Australian ZambiaCongo mates playing at Brazil...just look at the crowd......sexciting..I can't wait to get back home to ginga a bit haha - post batizado fever


Bambu

Exam De-Stressers!

To those of you who missed dinner, well, that's 'choo baad! But here are some funny videos that were bandied about. Give your own in the comments section!



AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!




This last one has to be the best. Just try not to laugh!

How to Use Capoeira in a Street Fight

Stressed out by exam preparations? Learn how to use capoeira in a street fight!


Check out the queixada to compasso combo at the 4:00 mark. Always pretend to be tired, unless you really are! The headboard-slide-kick is classic.

This is another video by Team MAX of NUS Martial Arts. See any familiar faces?! :P

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!

Capoeira Angola Videos

As people who first learn Capoeira Regional (well... IMHO, we are actually learning Capoeira Contemporanea), we have a tendency to caricaturise Capoeira Angola: we understand it as what Regional is not. Regional is high, objective, acrobatic (well, again, acrobatics is something in Capoeira Contemporanea), fast. So, Angola must be low, ludic, scrunched up and slow.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I don't know much, but I do know it isn't just. When we delve into a body of knowledge, structure (i.e. Regional vs Angola vs Contemporanea vs Benguela vs Iuna vs...) is there to facilitate learning. But ultimately, as the postmodernists rightly claim, structure is there to be dissolved. Take everything with a pinch of salt, especially capoeira, which resists (hey hey!) being put into a box.

How you know not to trust a barber:


Actually, the rhythm that should be played in not Angola, but Santa Maria. It sounds like this:


French Capoeira Documentary with Mestre Pastinha in 1963. This was probably while Regional (and Angola, for that matter) was still being polished. Notice how the game is not very pretty. Then again, this is a documentary, so beware of editing (and the players 'acting up' for the camera.


Mestre Cobra Mansa vs Mestre Acordeon (~1990). They used magnetic VHS tapes back in those days to record things. Excuse the distortions and no music. Yes, this is violent (you can almost feel it seething, about to erupt, no?). Yes, this is Angola (or rather we should say, 'Capoeira is Capoeira'--no boxes, please.).



Samba de Roda (nothing to do with Angola--at least directly)

Woo!!! (fans self)Yes, I've noticed--that butt has a person attached to it.

Heh heh, sorry, just letting off some steam.

-EW

Guys: Yes, macho men dance. Ladies: Don't learn how to dance from straight men.

Capoeira History 101

Hassan found this video. It's not about Capoeira history, but looks like, as a man says, a 'nice animation'.


I stumbled upon this related video. It's a charcoal drawing of the slavery era of capoeira. It's a very interesting medium because it can convey/evoke so much in so little and in so many other ways than a -AACK!- 'documentary'. In my humble opinion, this is not so much a lesson in historical fact than it is how capoeiristas engage with, reconstruct (because no one alive today really lived through those times), and invoke the past, a lesson in how they feel the past inflects capoeira's present. Ah, nevermind. When we get a history major, we'll get him to type an entire blogpost on historicity (NOT to be confused with 'history').



The lyrics (performed by Mestre Toni Vargas) for the first part can be found here.

I haven't found an English translation, and it's beyond my meagre smattering, so you'll just have to settle with downloading it into your ringtone.

BUT if you need a visual interpretation, I think this video does a pretty good job. It's in-your-face (the video), but that's probably because reality is tough. Fact: People do bad things to each other. So brace yourself; this isn't going to be pretty.


Stay humane,
-EW

P.S. - some of you may have accidentally learnt 'S-dobrado'. It means 'double S'. You can search for examples of the move on Youtube, but you should never learn Capoeira from the Net. Seriously. I mean it. Stop it now.

P.P.S. - Here's my translation of the lyrics (take with a pinch of salt):

Slave ship
Floating tomb
My motherland is distant
Pain and desperation

Chorus: Slave ship

Separated on a wandering ship
Sailing, yearning
Africa is distant
Hear my song

chorus: Slave ship

Mother that lost her child
King that lost his queen
People that lost their spirit
While wasting away

Move Grooves of the Day!

Hey every body!

Today was GREAT! well you guys learned these moves:

Armada

Another shot of the Armada:

You all also learnt Meia Lua de Frente and Armada Combo. Which is part of the Mestre Bimba Sequences, sequence 1. Go check the pdf file i sent to you guys for details of the sequence.

You all were introduced today to a new move called Queda de Rins ('Fall on Kidneys'--that's why your elbow must be tucked into your side!), check our chimps moves link for the picture and the moves.

You also learnt that 'esquerda' means left, while 'direita' means right.

Lastly, you learnt a move of which I do not know the name. We'll temporarily christen it 'Little Coil'. From Negativa de Angola, pull your tripping leg back until you are in Quebra de Ginga (the 'Break of the Swing'). Then bring your front foot back and go down, supporting yourself on your back foot and your front arm. Back arm protects your face, front leg wraps around your back leg. It's like a Negativa de Angola, but with your front leg wrapped around your back one.

For the seniors, I cant find anything on the net that resembles what we learnt. But we should make our own notes and draw our own diagrams (because one doesn't need to know what a move is called to know how to do it):
Feta (?fingir?) de Au, Queda de Rins, swap over to other side Queda de Rins.

Love Love

Bambu

Scandinavian Malícia

Who knew they practised Capoeira in Norway too?

Malícia is loosely translated as guile, cunning, deception, streetsmarts. It's what you develop as a 'side-effect' of playing the game of capoeira. You learn to read--at least when you are playing capoeira--other people, whether they're committing or faking, what they intend to do, how they'll react to your [faked] actions.

Have you seen other examples of the legendary malícia in action? Post them up in the comments section! They could be links or even anecdotes!

-EW

4th Sep's Class

You learnt:

Queixada. 'Queixo' is 'chin'. Dá means 'to give'. So you could understand 'queixada' is 'giving it to the chin', which is what you're aiming for anyway.


Cadeira. 'Cadeira' means 'chair'. Carpentry techniques weren't always what they are today. In the old days, such low chairs were made of bone and sinew.


Cocorinha Entrada. 'Entrance with the Cocorinha'. 'Cocorinha' means 'defecation'. Unlike the Queixada, this is emphatically not what you are aiming for.. It's hard to find a video of this because many groups call it different names, and some don't have a name for it. The closest thing so far is 'Jinga 4' in this video. If you find something with better pedagogical utility, let us know in the comments.


Lastly, you learnt these songs:
Cajuê
Quem vem la, sou eu
Audio here.

We're on the Web!

We're on Youtube!


Its a video of one of our practice sessions where we share what we know with each other (:


Special Thanks to Rohan, Nishanth and Tejasvi  for the great work. Hahhaa, now we have a club video!

Support www.talkdodo.com!

Love love
Bambu

28th August's Class

You learnt:

Martelo: those who can, do.


Those who cannot, teach. :D

Meia Lua de Frente


Esquiva Frontal

Esquiva Lateral

Esquiva variants for the truly badass.


You also learnt:

Ê Paraná

You'll need to scroll down to find it first.

Cajuê

Lembra ê, lembra

I couldn't find a link with a translation, so bear with me:
She remembers, she remembers
She remembers of the red (vermilion) earth
She remembers, she remembers
She remembers of the red earth
[the last two lines]
She remembers of the earth that is good
She remembers of the earth that is best

Interpretation: I'm really not qualified, but my guess is that apparently in the nations of Africa where the people were enslaved, there must have been a lot of red soil.

A hora é essa

Special request from Caburé and Hassan: Navio Negreiro (Mestre Gytaúna)

Navio Negreiro (Mestre Marcos Gytaúna)

Negros que vieram de Angola No navio negreiro Veio para Bahia Viver no cativeiro Oiô… Uoioiô ioioiô oioiô ioioiô Oioiô ioioiô uoioiô ioiô Negro não é mais escravo, Negro não sofre mais não, Negro é o sentimento Da cultura da nossa nação Uoiô… Uoioiô ioioiô oioiô ioioiô Oioiô ioioiô uoioiô ioiô Eles foram maltratados no tempo da escravidão, Tratados como animais pela branco opressão. Porém sempre lutaram e a fé nunca falhou Com a força dos orixás a liberdade chegou Uoiô… Uoioiô ioioiô oioiô ioioiô Oioiô ioioiô uoioiô ioiô

Negros that came from Angola Into the slave ship Headed for Bahia Living in captivity The Negro is not slave-like The Negro's place is not to suffer more The Negro is the sentiment Of the culture of our nation They were mistreated in the time of slavery Treated like animals by the white oppression Still they continued fighting and a belief that never faltered With the force of the orixás (candomblé deities) freedom came

If you want the CD, buy it from Mestre Val Boa Morte. The CD is called 'Berimbau de Fé'. It will probably cost you S$25.

How to Pose Capoeira Angola

Hello. This is for those of you who want to know how to make it look like you know what you're doing in Capoeira Angola.

Firstly, read this bit in Wikipedia--you know you can trust the Internet!

Then you can watch some videos on Youtube.

I like this one.

Mestre Jogo de Dentro ('Inside Game') is a legend for playing in tiny spaces.

Mestre Cobra Mansa is another legend. You saw him in the Angola Corrida video example in an earlier blogpost.

Then if you're still reading this post, this is my little soundbyte on Angola, which I mastered in the school halls of Singapore, in front of thousands of gullible schoolchildren:

The ginga is loose and relaxed--almost lackadaisical (not tight and obviously guarded like in Regional).

The kicks are primarily meia lua de compasso, chapa, chapa giratoria, meia lua de frente, chapeu de couro. Secondarily, low armadas. (Lastly, [IMHO] absolutely no martelos)

I think the objective is control of space, making as much movement possibilities for yourself while limiting your opponent's so that he can't move without opening himself for attack.

Movements are scrunched up (Au fechado, knees to chest) and closed. The game can oscillate between regular distance and really closed-in distance.

For the closed-in distance, when all eight limbs are on the floor, the objective is to position your primary weapons (feet, headbutt) in the spaces of threat to your opponent. These spaces are near his head (space from one of his shoulders to the other), his ribs (space between armpit and waist), and his gut.

Similarly, you are preventing the other guy from threatening your delicates. On the floor, you can use your knees & forearms to protect your gut. Thighs and movement for your ribs. Movement & forearms for your head.

Lastly, Angola has a lot of space for theatrics--praying, hexing, giggling, being your own appreciative audience, scratching your own backside and feigning injury (like Mestre Jogo de Dentro), so ham it up! (Actually, I'm of the opinion that you can do that in any Capoeira game, as long as you don't get beaten up.)

Stay Sexy, Fellow Poseurs!
-EW

PS: Yes, I know I don't play like these guys! You don't have to remind me!

Like silent death, we stalk the night!

Hello! This is a really cool trick you can do with your verga.

Sensei Park, better known as 'Choson Ninja', sententiously meditates: "[the Choson Ninja Youtube channel] is devoted to the people who can not afford Martial Arts or have no Schools to learn Martial Arts..."

Starving martial artists. Yup, that's us, alright. And thanks to Sensei Park, you know what to do with your berimbau when the cavalaria come charging down the street.

Now let's say you're cornered in the roda, and the guy looks like he's going to chapa (you can tell because he's approaching you ass-first on all fours ;) ). Don't esquiva! You can't go under it! Escape with style!

Sometimes in the game, there is an opportunity to negotiate for space (i.e. corner the bugger). You need to move around him, but how fast can you ginga? Enter Sensei Park to the rescue with a cool ninja sidestep! Yes, it is okay to move around without ginga-ing, and how much cooler when your head stays in the same horizontal line?!

Lastly, for those of you getting over a summer fling, Sensei Park has these words of comfort (mind you, it's 10 minutes). Or you could just solve it the Brazilian way! Hmm...works for me!

Stay Sexy,
-EW

Capoeira How-Tos

Hello. These are some Capoeira instructional videos from Youtube. These things are popping up all over the place, so do explore.

Disclaimer: I, this blog, Blogger, nor the people associated with this blog, take any legal responsibility for any injuries which may come about as the result of practising the techniques in the following videos.

Unlegally, I would say that learning these things takes a little stupidity, a lot of courage, and a lot more falling down. Do take care of your own safety. If you persist in practising these (you know who you are!), I would unlegally suggest starting the movements small and working up from there.

Macaco
I hope you understand Polish! Muahahaha! Or was it Czech? Or maybe it's Croatian? Actually, I don't know what he's saying. But he goes into a lot more detail than this guy. That said, if you're going down the pig-headed road of learning this movement, do start small, like this guy(no need to do a 180 degrees macaco right off the bat). He's speaking Slovakian. Oh, just take note of what he points out.

Au Batido
Well, you know what they say, 'Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach.' Yes, in case you are wondering, that Japanese fellow has no groin muscles. Now you know why male capoeiristas do front splits even though they hurt like crap.

S-dobrado
Sorry, I couldn't find one in English. Remember, tiny hops to bigger hops, and don't dislocate anything!

Au Cortada (I would call it a one-handed Au Reversao or Reversado, argh, a rose by any name...)

Stay Safe (you can get sexy later!),
-EW

You Need to be THIS Sexy to Enter

:D

Ignore the title of this blog post; I was feeling a trite creative. Some times on freak days, there are only guys who come for training. Perhaps sometime in the distant lifespan of the universe, there are days when only girls come for training, but obviously I have been ABSENT from them!

Anyway, personal gripes aside, I just wanted to say that if you got the impression that only sweaty shirtless men do capoeira, then--thank the high heavens!--you are mistaken!

And for these rodas, you have to be at least this sexy to enter! Or this!

Some of you might recognise Mestra Mara, qualified lawyer and Capoeira master (deadly combination).

Stay Sexy,
-EW

PS: Oh, there are still some sweaty shirtless men, if that's what floats your boat. I'm not one to judge.