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.