I went to a charity event today and had my first lesson of capoeira. And I have to say it was pretty good fun!! The event was organised by Fighting For Lives, who raise money for various things, mostly street children in developing countries. Anyway there was an hour each of stickfighting, CQC and then the capoeira. There was people from different styles and from different groups, so the capoeira was a bit like a demo where we tried the stuff out. I really enjoyed it, not that I have any sense of coordination or rhythm, but I liked doing the moves, even though they are a bit crazy. I am now actually thinking if I could squeeze in a session or two in a week. FMAs are priority though and I want to get back to BJJ and boxing. I think dancin' and kickin' would really help my balance, timing, coordination and flexibility.
Hmmm....Senzala. That's Contemporânea, right? There's actually an angola group about 30 seconds walk from my house! Hah. The things you find with google.
Me too. My ex did it and was pretty good. I went to some big seminars in Denmark with her and the group...but I was way more snotty about martial arts then than I am now to give it a try.
That's what I am thinking. I'd rather do a couple of sessions of that a week than do cardio and bodyweight stuff. And the difference is...?
Capoeira is excellent fun and brilliant for general fitness. I'm dying to get back to training, but have a horrible feeling the class I found before my back went out on me has closed.
I'm thinking it will do wonders for my back, all that flexibility and core training. Looking around the groups webpage it seems they have beginner's courses and probably won't start until January. Darn.
Just did. I live in quiet a small town (relatively speaking) and numbers in the classes aren't very high...so they usually don't mind. They need to pay the bills.
I started classes last week and so I had my third lesson of capoeira tonight. I suppose it's too early to judge yet, but I am enjoying it a lot, it's tons of fun and quite different from learning how to stab people in the eye. A nice contrast I think. The group is nice and friendly and I like the instructor's teaching technique. He's quite technical and breaks things down step-by-step, which suits me as I am not the most coordinated person in the world, especially with the gymnastic moves. So when he is showing a technique, we'll do a bit of the move, drill it, then add the next part and so on. Tonight we worked on queixada and meia lua de compasso...I hope I got those names right...and we worked on the meia lua de frente, which we did last week. There was only 2 of us there tonight, maybe because it's Independence Day tomorrow, so it was like a private lesson... Suits me! Capoeira is definitely a good work out, obvious great for flexibility and agility, and it seems to work my core a lot and will probably help my mobility too. I have big problems with these areas but even after 2 lessons and a bit of training in the house I feel a bit more mobile and more confident in moving around low to the ground all bunched up. It's definitely not for everyone, but certainly worth looking at for the fun and fitness aspects! If anyone is interested here are the techniques: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYEoE-qqvaU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYEoE-qqvaU[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=431ARnMlKV0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=431ARnMlKV0[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJ-YjnNKlE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJ-YjnNKlE[/ame]
It's not too bad. It's similar to some of the footwork in escrima, so the basic movement was quite easy to pick up. It's not as low or wide as it should be but that'll come when I get more flexible and in better shape. It is like doing some weird lunge for 90 mins. I don't think I am crossing my legs or actually doing it wrong, and I haven't been corrected by the teacher...No news is good news! I do find it hard to go from the ginga into the kicks at times. I found the meia lua de compasso way easier than the queixada. We did the queixada two ways, one kinda straight from the ginga (maybe like the one in the video above) and one with an 'entrance' step. I really struggled with the one with the entrance step. I woke up feeling quite loose today. The first time in years...I usually hobble around the house and have to warm up a little, but today was good! Happy with that!
I am glad I started it. I was quite negative about it in the past when I was doing MMA/JKD, but my aims are incredibly different these days. But I really want to learn the macaco. Then my training is complete and I can retire! (I am fascinated by apes and monkeys and a bit jealous of their agility - curse them!!). I'll also start the acrobatics class in January. The lessons stop next week for X-mas. There's a bit of a seminar next weekend and I might go.
When I did Cap I found the macaco almost impossible. Not sure what I was doing wrong and wished I could have an out of body experience to see. It looks so simple from the outside.
I've tried it and didn't get very far. But that was at the charity event and I haven't tried it since...I don't intend to either, not until I can improve my coordination, flexibility etc etc. I don't want to ruin my future modeling career!
I am about to start Capoeira where I live - I have been looking for somewhere to train for about 20 years on and off so I'm glad to be able to start. My fitness and health have been in decline in recent months so I need to focus on myself for a change. Why not with Capoeira?
