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.