Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday Practice 8/22

Some of the awesome movements that we went over today:

1) Queixada, landing the kicking foot back into Ginga position, rotate body 180 degrees into a Negativa, then shift the Negativa to the other foot, turning 180 degrees again (now you should be facing forward again), then Rolê.

2) Martelo, after landing back, use the same foot to step into an Esquiva de Frente.

3) Queixada de Dentro landing the kick, and then going into a handstand with the kicking foot straight up, and the other foot straight out.

4) Queixada, landing the kicking foot back into Ginga position, rotate body 180 degrees into a Negativa, then shift your weight forward, pivoting on the front foot rotate 180 degrees again into a Negativa (now you should be facing forward again), then Meia Lua de Compasso.

5) Armada, after landing the foot shift backwards into a Negativa, then Rolê.

Tchau!!

- Boemio

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Practice Recap

Monday, August 15, 2011

Coming back after a hiatus of Monday practices, I was very concerned when I heard that our Mondays have been cut down to a 1-hour practice.  However, after seeing how Professor Maranhão can do within an hour, I think of Mondays as the Tom Cruise of practices:  short but intense (we all know about that Oprah interview...).

It's like a power hour, where new members are learning sequences that are just above their comfort level, where they are challenged but encouraged with skills they didn't know they had before; where current members are challenged to perfect their technique with the basics they may have neglected in anticipation in learning the more advanced stuff.

Notable sequences and pointers:

ginga 3xs
meia lua de frente
esquiva (leading with kicking leg)
cabeçada

ginga 3xs
meia lua de compaso*
negativa de fuga
role
negativa


*with meia lua de compasos, remember to use your leading hip to help power your kicking leg, aim with your heel, and control, control, control that kicking leg!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Unfortunately with knees that can predict the weather, this rain-laden week made it difficult to participate for the whole time on Wednesday, but it did provide a good opportunity to take notes on the sequences taught, and observe how Professor's sequences work between 2 people.

Notable Sequences and Pointers:

Person A
meia lua de frente, land kicking leg crossed in front
chapa with front leg


Person B
esquiva de frente
lean back on hand (opposite of esquiva direction)
rasteira*
rolé

*with the rasteira, remember to keep your core and hips strong and in a straight line from your reaching arm down to your hooking foot.

Person A
armada
vingativa (with back leg)*

Person B
quebra de ginga (esquiva)
queixada de fora


*with this vingativa, stay low to escape the queixada, or you'll lose your face.
 
Of course, we end with some kind of floreio; this time it was the au revesao.  Of course, we had to build up to to doing a few in a row.

1. au
2. au, immediately step forward with 2nd landing leg
3. au, step fwd with 2nd leg, step fwd again
4. au, step, step, 1/2 au / back walkover*

*keep the momentum going from au, step, step and into the 1/2 au; square your hips to go backwards rather than falling to the side on the 1/2 au; and make believe you're a tire, maintaining a round shape with your body as you consistently au over and over.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Workshop with Mestre Chicote




Mestre Chicote is a man who cares about capoeira and it's practitioners. He provided us with a wonderful workshop, and I'm lucky to share that this is my second workshop with Mestre. It's even better that this is the second workshop with him in a two week period (he taught a workshop at the CDO Jersey Shore batizado.) His presence is definitely prolonging his stay here.

The  warm up started with a Ginga that slowly sped up, followed  by basic kicks (Armada, Queixada, meia lua de compasso, etc.) We also jumped for a little bit with our hands held straight out from our sides, with our legs together. That slowly turned into us standing there in the same position. We resumed a cocorinha position with our hands still held straight to our sides. This of course seemed odd until he showed us what we were building up to. He then assumed a position of a negativa, while his hands were still held up straight. Of course it ten times harder then it sounds. We continued to move around in a circle holding our arms up. I'm ashamed to say that I have to practice that movement a lot more.

The negativa exercise  had a purpose. We continued with a sequence that forced us to troca-negative in a different manner. I learned a way to meia lua de compasso out of a negative even if our role is initially blocked. You stand up from the negativa and throw the meia lau. The purpose was more then just a physical sequence, but to think of how to react in certain situations, since all of capoeira is situational. I learn reactions to the blocks (other then the tradition tesoura de frente) as well as what to do after the block. I also need to work on my resistencia, which is really versatile.

All in all the workshop was really beneficial. Hopefully when Mestre comes back to the states we can have another. Specials to Mestre Chicote, Formando Costello, and the whole CDO Jersey Shore family. Tchau!