Last Roda in Bloomington

I thought last Friday was my last roda, so I asked FF to come see me play. It turned out that Iuri gave me my last roda tonight--a roda to say goodbye to Marionete. (I am going back to Taipei, andI'll be leaving Bloomington tomorrow. Today is my last day of capoeira in Bloomington.)

Before the roda, Iuri introduced what a roda means to new people, and then he talked about the masters and what it's like to play capoeira in Brazil. Upon hearing about the ambitions and prospects of the future of the group, I began feeling really sad about not being able to be part of it. Today's roda was for me, so I played through the whole thing. Each person played with me, until the berimbau indicates the end. The games, needless to say, were getting exhausting for me. I wished I had had more energy when I was playing with Katie, Chris and Iuri at the end. But I was worn out.

Being able to play non-stop with different people while keeping your breath and pace is something to learn in playing capoeira games. Strength does not come out of the blue. They are built upon constant practicing and training. I am aware that's what I needed.

I am grateful to my teaacher Iuri and friends at the Bloomington Capoeira de Angola group (the official name is now the Nothern Star). I will keep doing capoeira in Taipei for sure.

Obrigado. Boa viagem.

Travel with the Clave

Sounds of Latin Music enchanted the hall
In Auer shone the golden fall
Bugni my friend, Mariano Morales the master
Omar R-O the percussionist, kept beats laster
Nightful of rumba and tango and latino
Entwining, enchaining, enflaming,
Yielding Siboney, my mysterious amor.

Low, Slow, Flow

I have a friend, who studied sound symbolism for her Master thesis. Even though sound symbolism is not usually taken seriously in the general linguistic literature, you have to be convinced that there may be some truth to it. LOW, sLOW, fLOW, are the common words one hears during capoeira trainings. It's interesting how the most important words of capoeira actually bear a common rhyme. Could it be a coincidence? If it is, it's a really nice one.

The key to capoeira angola is to stay really low, to get your body close to the ground. It is as if we were absorbing the Axe from the dirt. You get close to it, move around it, but you don't fall onto it. I find the floor my closest friend and biggest enemy--another frenemy, maybe. You have to get close to it to escape attacks, but your unnecessarily being too close to it may give the other person advantage over you. The key to steady movements, I think, is to keep low. Keep your bunda ('ass') low so that you are ready to fall close to the ground. Also keep your bunda low when you do the kicks. It makes your kick strong and balanced.

It is always harder to be slow. The same movements can be many times harder when you have to do them very slowly. One good way to train yourself that I learned from Iuri is to do the same movements really slowly. It takes much more strength to keep it low and slow. Holding still not only takes patience, but also lots of energy and skills. Not moving is harder than hopping around. There is some philosophy in this.

When two people stay low and play slow, the game flows.

Halloween Strength--Treat of Tricks

This was the first Halloween after I came to the US that I did not put on a special costume or go to any parties. My way to celebrate Halloween this year was to go the regular capoeira class and do the regular training.

It was Halloween Monday night, so Iuri made the training a bit different. We started with 20 minutes of stretching and running around, and then lots of floor exercise. Then we did two songs and practiced a bit more basic movements and gingas. Iuri seemed to be in the mood of pushing us to our limits. We stayed 30 extra minutes to do many more acobatic movements, push-ups, sit-ups, etc. It felt so good.

To me, a devoted capoeirista, my black pants and white shirt have become regular Halloween constumes. Capoeira has made my everyday halloween, and halloween just another usual day. It brought forth the strength and the aspirations, the fun and the endurance.

Capoeira provides a treat of tricks, and more.