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Thread: Capoeira

  1. #136
    i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.

    -Charles Manson

    I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.

    - Shonie Carter

  2. #137
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U8Qv...elated&search=

    nice takedowns and sweeps between mins 4 and 5.

    I like the front kick to the face at 5:29 - I can see that as one of those 'Pwnd!' clips.
    i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.

    -Charles Manson

    I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.

    - Shonie Carter

  3. #138

  4. #139
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    good stuff

    I'm moving this to ORA and redirecting your attention to the true capoeira vid.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #140
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    Out of the few capoeira cats I have sparred with, although none of them were exceptional fighters, they all moved quite well... It was like they all could have fought if they had studied something to supplement, but the lack of real contact made it hard... but they all definitely had very good, fluid, natural movement.
    "i would show them 8 hours of animal porn and beheadings in a single sitting then make them write a paper about italy." -GDA
    "he said there were tons of mantids fornicating everywhere. While he was there, he was sending me photos of mantis porn regularly." - Gene Ching

  6. #141
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I'm moving this to ORA and redirecting your attention to the true capoeira vid.
    your the frackin man gene.
    A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mt. Tai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the way he uses it....
    ~Sima Qian

    Master pain, or pain will master you.
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    "Just do your practice. Who cares if someone else's practice is not traditional, or even fake? What does that have to do with you?"
    ~Gene "The Crotch Master" Ching

    You know you want to click me!!

  7. #142
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    There are a lot of loose Capoeira threads

    I was just searching for a random one to post this:
    Musical martial arts classes from Brazil catch on
    Wed, Oct 06, 2010
    China Daily/Asia News Network

    Martial arts are nothing new in China, but Brazil's capoeira (ca-po-ei-ra) is a recent introduction. The sport blends music, singing and dance to create an innovative form of self-defence.

    Andre Cao, a former fitness instructor in charge of a capoeira program in Beijing, learned capoeira in Canada. Last year, he brought some practitioners to the capital, where they staged a show in Sanlitun.

    "It was amazing. After the show, many people inquired about the sport and asked whether we had classes in China. That gave me the idea of starting the program," Cao says.

    Capoeira has a rich history of about 500 years. Cao says African slaves invented it in Brazil during the colonial period. In order to rise up against their masters, they secretly developed a form of combat, adding singing and dancing to disguise it from their masters while they practiced. Eventually it became the national sport of Brazil.

    There are two styles: capoeira Angola and capoeira regional.

    The former, a traditional style of capoeira, is performed with slow and smooth motions, close to the ground.

    Capoeira regional has more acrobatic moves and is faster and more aggressive. It is often seen during performances because the jumping and spinning are eye-catching.

    Cao says many people appreciate capoeira for its beauty, but are intimidated because it looks difficult. People don't have to excel at the sport to benefit, Cao says.

    "With practice, anyone can get there eventually," he says. Cao taught his 55-year-old mother for two weeks, after which she could do a side flip.

    As a martial art, capoeira uses a ranking system that is expressed by the belts that are worn. The rankings are based on the colors of the Brazilian flag. The beginning level is student, followed by graduate, formed, then professor, and the top level is master.

    "Ranking is not only based on the performance of that day. Each student's work in the classes and the efforts they make to overcome personal challenges are all taken into account," he says.

    Capoeira is beginning to catch on in China. When he first started the program, Cao had six students, most of whom were his friends. Now there are 35 students. They have only one Brazilian teacher at the moment, but are looking to add another by the end of the year.

    What really sets capoeira apart from other martial arts is the use of music.

    There are five main percussion instruments: berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque, agogo, and reco-reco. Different styles of capoeira use different instruments.

    Classes normally end with a circle, in which the instructor plays instruments and students sing and clap.

    "Chinese people are shyer in class compared to people from other countries, especially for the first few classes. I try my best to get them involved," says the Brazilian coach named Tamandua.

    He adds that it's helpful for students to have a basic understanding of the Portuguese language, like counting numbers from one to 10, which is often used in the singing.

    "Capoeira is a fun workout, no matter how fit or unfit you are. It improves strength, flexibility and stamina," he says.

    Yang Jiale was one of the first students to begin training late last year. Besides making new friends, Yang says he learned about Brazilian culture and picked up a little Portuguese.

    "I learned self-defence skills and at the same time I am having so much fun," Yang says.

    Cao has been promoting capoeira by offering free courses at 47 fitness centres in the country.

    "Not only does capoeira improve your total well-being, it creates positive energy. I have a great belief that it will do well in China," Cao says.

    Some day I should merge them all together.
    Gene Ching
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  8. #143
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    at the World Cup

    Good for Capoeira!
    Brazilian music, martial arts focus of World Cup concert
    The Big Apple is getting the party started early ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
    BY Erik Ortiz
    NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
    Thursday, June 5, 2014, 4:06 PM

    As the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil this month, leave it to the Big Apple to get the party started on the right foot.

    Along the Hudson waterfront on June 12 - the same day the soccer tournament and sports spectacle opens - Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan will host a high-octane concert of Brazilian music and martial art.

    Musical troupe Nation Beat and capoeira experts from Raízes do Brasil Capoeira Brooklyn will help highlight the best of Brazil.

    "There's a saying in Brazil: capoeira, samba and soccer all walk hand in hand," says Ana Costa, who runs Capoeira Brooklyn in Park Slope with Brazilian-born husband Andre (Mestre Foca) Costa.

    About a dozen Capoeira Brooklyn members will perform maculelê, a type of warrior dance done to the rhythm of the drums, and then transition into a circular formation known as roda in Portuguese.

    Costa said the capoeiristas and musicians will open up the circle to the audience so that they can see the dueling dancers kick, dodge and tumble in a playful type of martial art.

    Capoeira, which traces its roots to African slaves in the 16th century, only became legalized in Brazil in the 1930s.

    But it's finding a home in the U.S., along with the Brazilian musical style called maracatu, which blends northeast Brazilian folklorica and high-energy beats.

    Nation Beat, which features Brazilian-born frontwoman Fabiana Masili, played Lincoln Center's outdoor festival last August. Founder Scott Kettner said non-Brazilian audiences are often hooked by the Gowanus-based band's driving sound.

    "Most people get it right away," Kettner says. "When the grove is good and the music is good, at the end of the day, that's all that matters."

    The Brazil World Cup Concert starts at 12:30 p.m. June 12 at Brookfield Place's Waterfront Plaza, 220 Vesey St.

    Gene Ching
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  9. #144
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    Yoga Brazil

    There's a vid on the site, but the first pic says it all...

    Yoga Meets Martial Arts for a Capoeira Workout That'll Get You Seriously Sweaty
    Just call it the "hot new yoga"
    Jaclyn Emerick | Apr 12, 2016



    Take the stretch-and-strengthen powers of yoga, then turn up its burn with the fluid, dance-like movements of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira, and you get Yoga Brazil, a body-sculpting, fat-melting workout created by the celebrity fitness pro Brett Hoebel. As you flow through the poses in a perma-crouch, your muscles are constantly contracted, leaving you tighter, lighter—and quivering—once the routine is over.

    It's a vinyasa sequence composed of six pairs of moves that fuse the best of both techniques. For the first pair, you'll start in a downward dog, then step into a low lunge (a Capoeira staple) and undulate from one side of the mat to the other. "This helps create your flow," Hoebel says. As each new combo is added, it's seamlessly tacked on to the previous pair—and then the circuit resets at downward dog all over again—until you've linked all six pairs together for one continuous, powerful flow. Then you'll repeat the process from the top, this time on the other side. "It's a true calorie-burning and booty-sculpting experience," he says.

    Take your time on each set of exercises and try notto skip ahead or do them all at once. They're placed in this progression to help you build heat, finesse your form, and lose yourself a little in the rhythm. That, and to shape a sleeker, stronger, fiercer physique. (Want more? Try this 20-Minute Workout to Help You Get Fit, Get Toned, and Get On with Your Day.)

    How it works: Start with pair 1. Then do pair 2. Next, do pair 1, then pair 2. Then do pair 3. After that, you'll combine them, doing pair 1, then 2, then 3. You'll repeat this process of introducing a new pair of moves and then combining all the pairs from the beginning until you've combined pairs 1 through 6.

    Total Time: up to 30 minutes

    You will need: Mat
    1. Down Dog Into Low Lunge


    A. Start on floor in plank on palms. Push hips up and back so that body forms an inverted V. Step left foot forward between hands, bending leg 90 degrees and lowering right knee toward floor.


    B. Lower torso toward left knee, and keeping left palm planted, bring right forearm in front of chin with elbow bent. Replant right palm and step left leg back to down dog. Complete reps, then switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 8

    2. Figure-Eight Block Into Side Sweep


    A. Stand with feet wide and toes turned out, elbows bent with hands near chin and palms facing each other. Bend left leg 90 degrees and lean torso over left thigh, swaying arms so that fingertips point toward left.


    B. Fluidly bend right knee, leaning torso over right thigh and arcing arms to right.


    C. Without pausing, switch sides again.


    D. Then straighten left leg and turn right toes out to face the back of mat as you bend right leg 90 degrees, planting right palm outside of foot, leaning torso over right thigh, and reaching left hand overhead toward the right. Complete reps then switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 4
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  10. #145
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    Continued from previous post

    Continued because you want all of this Brazil Yoga goodness. Extra points to anyone who posts pix of themselves doing this.

    3. Low Lunge Into Reverse Kicks


    A. Start in low lunge with left leg forward.


    B. Then plant right palm and shift hips up and back, sweeping left leg high (but keeping hips square). Shift forward into a plank, then push hips up and back, lifting left leg. Alternate plank and reverse kick on your left side 3 more times (flexing through left heel), then lower leg into down dog. Switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 1

    4. Reverse Kick Into Half Handstand


    A. Start in plank on palms. Push hips up and reverse kick with left leg.


    B. Bring left knee toward chest while bending right knee, look forward, and kick feet up, bending knees into a half handstand. Land in reverse kick with left leg up. Shift forward into plank. Complete reps then switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 4

    5. Low Lunge Into Push Kick


    A. Start in low lunge with left foot forward.


    B. Push into left foot to stand on left leg, kicking right foot forward (flexing heel), leaning torso back slightly with left elbow bent and left forearm in front of face, and pressing right palm down. Return to low lunge. Complete reps then switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 4

    6. Twisting Escape Into Half-Moon Block


    A. Start in down dog, then step left foot forward into low lunge. Plant right palm to the inside of left foot; rotate left shoulder 90 degrees toward ceiling to turn body to left with left knee bent, left foot flat, and right leg straight so that hip is lifted and outer edge of right foot is on floor with toes pointed straight ahead (bend left elbow so that palm is open and facing forward).


    B. Rotate left shoulder another 90 degrees to rotate chest toward ceiling, planting left palm below left shoulder, bending right leg and flattening foot, and kicking left leg toward ceiling with foot flexed. Turn over right shoulder to come into plank position. Complete reps then switch sides and repeat.

    Sets: 1 Reps: 4
    Gene Ching
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  11. #146
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    Capoeira meets Chinese Martial Arts

    Haven't found the actual film yet.

    Documentary showcases cultural heritage of capoeria and kung fu
    By Liu Xuan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-09-18 15:51


    Masters of capoeira and tai chi are "dancing" together. [Photo provided to China Daily]

    What would happen when Chinese kung fu meets Brazilian martial art capoeira?

    As a part of the Open Digital Library on Traditional Games, the documentary Capoeira meets Chinese Martial Arts was screened on Monday in Beijing and showed the sparks between the two traditional cultures.

    The 10-minute film, co-produced by the embassy of Brazil and Flow Creative Content, in partnership with UNESCO and Tencent, presents the meeting of Brazilian capoeira masters with Chinese martial arts masters in Beijing and Hangzhou.

    In the video, masters from both sides discuss how traditional cultures can thrive in modern society and still help people relate to others and understand themselves by exploring the differences and the similarities between their arts.

    Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music. It was developed in Brazil at the beginning of the 16th century. It is known for its quick and complex maneuvers, predominantly using power, speed, and leverage across a wide variety of kicks, spins, and other techniques.

    Although originating in Africa, capoeira also is integrated into the cultural characteristics of indigenous Brazilians. Therefore, it is considered to be one of the most important local cultural symbols and national skills in Brazil. It was granted a special protected status as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2014.

    The product is part of the Creation of an Open Digital Library on Traditional Games, a global project launched in 2015 by UNESCO with the support of Tencent, aiming to preserve and promote traditional and unique sports and games to safeguard living heritage, as well as pass it down to future generations.

    In 2016, the project team went on a research visit to collect data and audio-visual materials, including valuable interviews with professional players and the communities, such as practitioners, trainers, and guardians of the knowledge of traditional Brazilian games.

    As one of the most representative and unique traditional games of Brazil, capoeira also was documented into the digital library, so that people from all over the world can learn about it and how to practice it.
    UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific an : Short film “Capoeira meets Chinese Martial Arts” released in the framework of UNESCO’s global project “Creation of an Open Digital Library on Traditional Games”
    09/17/2018 | 02:53pm EDT

    The short film 'Capoeira meets Chinese Martial Arts' officially released during the reception to celebrate the Brazilian National Day on September 17th. This 10-minute documentary, coproduced by the Embassy of Brazil and Flow Creative Content, in partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Tencent, shows the meeting of Brazilian Capoeira masters with Chinese Martial Arts masters in Beijing and Hangzhou. By exploring the differences and similarities between their arts, these masters discuss on how traditional cultures can thrive in modern society and still help relate to others and understand ourselves.

    The release took place in the context of 'Creation of an Open Digital Library on Traditional Games (ODLTG)', a global project launched in 2015 by UNESCO with the financial and technical support of Tencent. Building upon UNESCO's activities in promoting inclusive knowledge societies, creating an International Network on Traditional Sports and Games, and safeguarding and promoting intangible cultural heritage, amongst else, the project utilizes Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to preserve and promote traditional and unique sports and games, in order to safeguard this living heritage and pass it down to future generations.

    During the past four years, the project was carried out in six countries from four continents. Among the pilot countries is Brazil - rich in traditions and cultural heritage, including traditional games and sports. In 2016, the project team went on a research visit to collect data and audio-visual materials, including valuable interviews with professional players and the communities, who are practitioners, trainers, and guardians of the knowledge of traditional Brazilian games. As one of the most representative and unique traditional games of Brazil, Capoeira was also documented for the digital library, so that people from all over the world can learn about the game and learn how to practice it.

    Traditional sports and games convey values of solidarity, fair-play, inclusion, and cultural awareness. Moreover, traditional sports and games reflect cultural diversity, and foster mutual understanding and tolerance among communities and nations, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The value of the Open Digital Library on Traditional Games goes beyond the preservation aspect. It lies in the promotion of indigenous, traditional local knowledge for learning, development, and the Rapprochement of Cultures. This video is a perfect showcase of such endeavor. The initiative will certainly contribute to deepening the cultural and people-to-people exchange between China and Brazil.
    THREADS
    Traditional Mixers
    Capoeira
    Gene Ching
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  12. #147
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    Happy Birthday, Mestre Bimba!

    Just in case you missed it...

    Who was Mestre Bimba? Capoeira founder's 119th birthday celebrated with Google Doodle
    The Brazilian capoeira expert was the youngest of 25 children and set up the first ever school to learn the Afro-Brazilian art
    By Hayley Coyle
    01:12, 23 NOV 2018


    Todays Google Doodle celebrates the popular dance form's creator (Image: GOOGLE)

    A blend of martial arts, acrobatics, dance, and music, Capoeira has been practiced in Brazil for hundreds of years.

    Today’s Doodle celebrates Manuel dos Reis Machado, or Mestre Bimba, the master who legitimised capoeira and founded the world’s first school to teach this "dance / fight" martial arts style.

    Mestre Bimba was born in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, on this day in 1899 as the youngest of 25 children and son of a batuque champion, another Brazilian fighting game.

    His parents named him Manuel dos Reis Machado, but everyone called him Bimba.

    He worked various odd jobs – longshoreman, carpenter, and coal miner – before dedicating his life to his real passion of capoeira.

    Developed by former slaves, capoeira was outlawed by the Brazilian government for many years and anyone caught practising it would be arrested, tortured and muitlated by police.

    Therefore it was only practised in secret.


    The 'dance / fight' art form goes back hundreds of years (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

    “In those days, when capoeira was spoken of, it was in whispers,” Bimba recalled. “Those who learned capoeira only thought about becoming criminals.”

    Former slaves used Capoeira in unconventional ways - war lords and criminals used capoeiristas as hitmen and bodyguards.

    As studying martial arts was forbidden by law, music was added to disguise the powerful fighting techniques as dance moves.

    Developing his own style, known as capoeira regional, Mestre Bimba instituted a strict set of rules and a dress code.

    In 1928 he was invited to demonstrate his style of capoeira for Getulio Vargas, then president of Brazil.


    Capoeira has been imported all over the world (Image: BBC)

    “In those days, when capoeira was spoken of, it was in whispers,” Bimba recalled. “Those who learned capoeira only thought about becoming criminals.”

    Former slaves used capoeira in unconventional ways - war lords and criminals used capoeiristas as hitmen and bodyguards.

    As studying martial arts was forbidden by law, music was added to disguise the powerful fighting techniques as dance moves.

    Developing his own style, known as capoeira regional, Mestre Bimba instituted a strict set of rules and a dress code.

    In 1928 he was invited to demonstrate his style of capoeira for Getulio Vargas, then president of Brazil.


    Bimba would have been 119 today (Image: GOOGLE)

    The President was so impressed that he gave Mestre Bimba the go-ahead to open the first capoeira school in his hometown of Salvador, giving this unique martial art a new sense of legitimacy.

    Today capoeira is one of Brazil’s biggest exports. In the 1970s the “masters” of the art – or mestres – began to emigrate and teach it in other countries.

    A big part of the art is being able to speak Portuguese so disciples make a big effort to learn the language.

    The fighting and martial arts aspect of capoeira can be masked within the grace and beauty of the music and dance – but it is still there and experts can disguise vicious attacks as a friendly gesture.

    In modern culture capoeira is featured in many films, video games and TV shows.

    Even Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has some capoeira scenes, as well as Meet the Fockers.

    It inevitably features in many video games. Street Fighter has its own capoeirista called Elena and Pokemon Hilltop is partly based on the fighting style.

    And in World of Warcraft the male troll racial dance animation includes movements based on capoeira.


    Books about Mestre Bimba (Image: Getty Image)

    Most recently young Syrian women from the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan have made it into the finals of the “Girl Rising” challenge that involves capoeira.

    The girls said that “capoeira brings out the bravery in everyone” and gives women the chance to enjoy more creative and free movement.

    Experts have also said that capoeira can help heal trauma, release negative emotions and build bridges.

    In terms of technique, capoeira is fast and versatile.

    The style emphasises using the lower body to kick, sweep and take down and the upper body to assist those movements and occasionally attack as well.

    The "ginga" move (back and forth) is the fundamental movement in capoeira, important both for attack and defense purposes.

    It has two main objectives. One is to keep the capoeirista in a state of constant motion, preventing him or her from being a still and easy target.

    The other, using also fakes and feints , is to mislead, fool, trick the opponent, leaving them open for an attack or a counter-attack.


    Even though capoeira looks like dancing its actually a deadly martial art form (Image: Marcelo Sayao/EPA-EFE)

    The defense is based on the principle of non-resistance, meaning avoiding and attack using evasive moves instead of blocking it.

    Avoids are called "esquivas", which depend on the direction of the attack and intention of the defender, and can be done standing or with a hand leaning on the floor.

    A series of rolls and acrobatics like cartwheels allows the capoeirista to quickly overcome a takedown or a loss of balance, and to position themselves around the aggressor in order to lay up for an attack.

    It is this combination of attacks, defense and mobility that gives capoeira its perceived "fluidity" and choreography-like style.

    In 2014 capoeira was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which hailed it as one of the most expressive popular manifestations of the Brazilian culture.

    Happy Birthday, Mestre Bimba!

    Google Doodles
    Gene Ching
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  13. #148
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    Been meaning to post this since last month

    The Physical and Spiritual Art of Capoeira
    Our reporter and photographer went to Permangolinha, a three-day retreat where capoeira meets sustainable farming.


    Mestre Lua Santana playing at Permangolinha, the three-day retreat run by Mestre Cobra Mansa.CreditCreditRose Marie Cromwell for The New York Times

    Photographs and Video by Rose Marie Cromwell Reported by Seth Kugel
    Dec. 13, 2018

    VALENÇA, Brazil — The white-bearded, dreadlocked master and his bushy-haired student face off in an open-sided compound set amid cacao trees and coffee bushes.

    The two are in constant motion, swinging back and forth in what is called the ginga — the fundamental movement of the Brazilian combat game capoeira. At times, the way they feint and kick, and roll under and over and around each other, looks like choreographed dance.

    But then one side does something the other is not expecting, and it becomes clear that this is a game of strategy, not a planned dance. Mestre Cobra Mansa’s ginga transforms into the movement of a staggering drunk, then a marionette whose puppeteer has suddenly let the string go slack. Then he’s in a handstand. From there, a leg strikes out like a lightning bolt, stopping just short of hitting his opponent’s face.

    The circle of men and women surrounding the combatants are engaged in a hypnotic call-and-response song about an encounter with a dangerous snake. It’s intoned to the beat of Afro-Brazilian drums and the twang of single-stringed gourd instruments called berimbaus.

    “Valha-me deus, Senhor São Bento,” the circle intones in Portuguese, beseeching Saint Benedict for protection.

    The participants — Brazilians mostly, but also Uruguayans, Russians, Ethiopians and Puerto Ricans — have come to the 80-acre property of Mestre Cobra Mansa (or, Master Tame Snake) on the outskirts of Valença, a small coastal city in Bahia, for a three-day retreat called Permangolinha. Its name (and its purpose) are a mash-up of the sustainable farming system known as permaculture and Capoeira Angola, the capoeira style that Mestre Cobra Mansa, 58, teaches.

    The event also attracts masters friendly with Mestre Cobra Mansa, including Mestre Lua Santana, from the interior of the state; and Mestra Gegê, a rare female master who also teaches in Valença.


    Roberio Silva, 34, from Bahia, Brazil, at a daily capoeira practice.


    Mestre Lua Santana moving an orchid to a new home by the river at Kilombo Tenondé.

    Mestre Cobra Mansa, known to the government and few others as Cinezio Feliciano Peçanha, bought this property, now called Kilombo Tenondé, about 15 years ago and has transformed it from pasture to a permaculture practice, in which diverse crops are raised together in a setting that mirrors the interdependence of a forest.

    To him, it’s a way of bringing mostly urban capoeira practitioners — he grew up in the poor outskirts of Rio de Janeiro — back to the land, from which much of capoeira tradition emerged.

    The two practices are complementary. “In permaculture,” he said, “you interact with and care for the land. The culture of capoeira is to interact with and care for human beings. Permaculture doesn’t have the spiritual side — capoeira supplies that.”


    Mestre Cobra Mansa.

    A balance between beauty and efficiency

    Capoeira developed out of the combat games that came to Brazil with African slaves. Couching their practice as dance, the slaves trained in capoeira as a form of resistance and self-defense. Even after Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, capoeira was viewed suspiciously by authorities and its practitioners often harassed or imprisoned.

    The creation of Capoeira Regional in the 1930s, a more formalized practice that imitated aspects of Eastern martial arts, complete with ranks and competitions, is usually credited for bringing it out of the shadows. Capoeira Angola follows a more originalist bent, focusing on cultural and spiritual aspects — but not without an element of show.


    Mestre Lua and a workshop participant.


    Mestre Cobra Mansa at daily practice.


    Vegan meals are cooked in the communal kitchen at Kilombo Tenondé.

    “I don’t want simply to hit someone,” Mestre Cobra Mansa said. “It’s a balance between beauty and efficiency.”

    So is it a dance, a fight or a sport?

    “If a guy uses a ‘stingray’s tail’ move and kills someone, are you going to write about in the arts section?” Mestre Cobra Mansa said. “No, but it’s art!”

    Participants at Permangolinha, most of whom have practiced capoeira for years, are quick to note that its impact goes far beyond the physical game.

    “It’s everything,” said Elena Kilina, a 30-year-old Russian living in São Paulo. “It’s music, it’s instruments, it’s another language, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a philosophy. Capoeira for me is an inevitable part of life.”

    For Brazilians and other practitioners of African descent, capoeira can take on additional meaning. Like so much in the state of Bahia — music, cuisine, the syncretic religious practice known as candomblé, it is tied to Africa. Mestre Cobra Mansa named his property Kilombo Tenondé after the quilombos, communities founded by escaped slaves, that are entwined with capoeira as symbols of resistance.


    Capoeira instruments at Kilombo Tenondé.

    Ricardo René Díaz Ortiz, a 23-year-old on a Fulbright teaching fellowship in Brazil, calls capoeira “a tool for self-decolonization” the likes of which he had never come across in his native Puerto Rico. “To me capoeira becomes a way of connecting with an ancestry that was robbed from us.”

    “It’s tied to our African roots,” said Florentine Santos Machado, a 19-year-old from Valença who started practicing capoeira when her family lived in her mother’s native Germany. “It goes well beyond being a sport, because it doesn’t just involve the body. That’s where we get the idea of capoeira being something bigger. You see the importance of being connected to it.”
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    Continued from previous post


    Permangolinha participants moving a log in the river.


    Mestre Cobra Mansa.


    Herlen Ramos Santos, 39, in the Kilombo Tenondé garden.

    Permangolinha’s two-dozen or so participants — the number ebbs and flows throughout the weekend — stay in simple bunk rooms or camp on the property. The main building has no restrooms; a large outhouse has water-free compost toilets and cold showers. Volunteers help cook hearty vegan meals mostly from what grows on the property, like butter collards for salad, and cupuaçu, a sourish, oblong cacao relative, for juice.

    There are workshops on things like berimbau-making and maintaining an agro-forest. Adalicio Manuel de Jesus, whose family has farmed the area for three generations, showed a group how he grafts branches of high-yield cacao trees to strong-rooted, pest-resistant ones, raising productivity without using pesticides.

    As rain pattered on the roof during a Saturday session, Mestre Cobra Mansa called for volunteers. “How many of you know the length of your leg?” he asked. Herlen Ramos Santos, a 39-year-old capoeirista stepped out. Mestre Cobra Mansa had him ginga in front of a chair, instructing him to kick out when thought he was exactly one leg’s length away. When he did, the middle of his calf came down on the top of the chair. His leg was considerably longer than he thought.

    Mr. Ramos Santos will bring that lesson home to Ilheus, a colonial city down coast, where he teaches free capoeira lessons. “As you evolve, you have the obligation to teach others as well,” he said. “It’s fundamental in capoeira that you don’t keep everything you learn to yourself.”


    Two capoeristas playing at Kilombo Tenondé.

    ‘When he strikes your foot with his face’

    Mestre Cobra Mansa also teaches malícia, which means “malice” but here refers to feints and trickery. He instructs his students to catch their opponents off guard, use their energy to your advantage. “The most beautiful move is not where you strike his face with your foot,” he tells them. “It’s when he strikes your foot with his face.”

    The high points of the weekend are the formal circles, known as rodas, on Friday and Sunday.

    “The roda is a ritual of confraternization,” Mr. Ramos Santos said. “Everyone together forms a whole, everyone becomes one. There’s no pre-established thought to what is going to happen — it’s the circle’s energy that conducts it, the musical energy.”

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    Giuliano Santos Machado, 15, during a roda, or formal circle.


    The healing mud of Kilombo Tenondé.


    Fruit growing on the Kilombo Tenondé farm.

    “Entering the roda, for some people, is very hard,” Ms. Kilina said. “Capoeira teaches you how to face yourself. How people respond, how they attack, what’s their reaction to your aggression shows you who the person is. If someone makes me angry, I will provoke. It reveals you completely.”

    At the Friday night roda, students saw Mestre Cobra Mansa provoked. He was matched against his former student, Mestra Gegê (Maria Eugência Poggi e Araújuo), 45. The circle oohed as she landed a two-legged flying kick on him. He came at her furiously, and she hopped out of the roda, essentially conceding.

    “Would you have stayed?” she asked later.

    “Capoeira is about the postures we take toward life,” said Díaz Ortiz, the Fulbright fellow. “It’s about how we’re going to interact with the world. And that goes into permaculture or being vegetarian or what kind of job you have. How did you take the lessons you learned in the roda from the mestres, and use that to define your relationship to this society.”

    Sebastian Rivero, a Uruaguian Permangolinha participant jumps into what participants referred to as “healing waters”, a small river that intersects the farm at Kilombo Tenondé.


    Sebastian Rivero, a Uruaguian Permangolinha participant jumps into what participants referred to as “healing waters”, a small river that intersects the farm at Kilombo Tenondé.

    Produced by Alana Celii, Jolie Ruben and Rachel Saltz.

    A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 15, 2018, on Page AR22 of the New York edition with the headline: Feint, Strike and Care for the Land.
    So many beautiful photos. I was holding off because I knew it would take several minutes to post them all.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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    Akari Tachi

    Ishikawa student gains victory in world capoeira championship

    Akari Tachi performs a capoeira move at Matto Junior High School in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture. | CHUNICHI SHIMBUN
    CHUNICHI SHIMBUN

    Jan 29, 2021
    Akari Tachi, a 13-year-old junior high school student from Ishikawa Prefecture, became the girls U-14 champion in the World Capoeira Federation’s U-18 online solo competition on Jan. 9.

    “I hope to continue competing in capoeira and become infinitely cool,” said Tachi, a first-grade student at Matto Junior High School in the city of Hakusan.

    Capoeira — dubbed the “beautiful martial art” because of its movements combining martial arts and dance — is said to have been developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil in the 16th century in an effort to secretly learn self-defense skills while appearing to be dancing.

    Players practice a flow of movements in a circle formation, using the whole body, to the tune of music — such as songs and drum performances — while performing acrobatic motions such as kicks. Punching is prohibited.

    Tachi, a member of Gueto Capoeira training gym in Kanazawa, began practicing capoeira when she was a first-grader in elementary school, influenced by her father, Toshihiko, 41, who also practices the martial art.

    She said she was fascinated by the quick movements of capoeira when she first visited the gym. Tachi won the students’ national championship in 2017 and 2019.

    “I’m attracted to capoeira because, compared with other martial arts, it has more freedom and many elements to enjoy,” she says.

    Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world championship that began in November was held with participants invited to send video clips of 45-second performances. Eight competitors from Japan, Russia and Portugal took part in the girls U-14 tournament, for 12 and 13-year-olds.

    In the third and final round where two players compete, Tachi performed 15 movements including au sem mao — an aerial cartwheel performed without using hands — and au batido — a one-handed handstand doing a side kick with one leg while keeping the other leg straight in the air — to become the champion.

    Surprisingly, at school, she doesn’t belong to any sports clubs but is a member of the tea ceremony club.

    “I can learn ways to control my mind” through tea ceremonies, she said.

    Tachi’s next goal is to master a double twist, a technique that involves twisting her body twice in the air.

    This section features topics and issues from the Chubu region covered by the Chunichi Shimbun. The original article was published Jan. 20.
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