The Delay

Sorry guys, but it might be awhile until I post on here more. I have to work out something life things first, and then, finally, I'll be able to continue dropping my capo info!

Vocab of the Week (Part 2)

This week's vocab word is excitement. Think about the last time you really, really got excited about something. You can't sleep because of the anticipation. Moments before, you're literally shaking, and the feeling of bursting is overwhelming. You don't know what your body is doing, because it moving automatically. All your  movements and thoughts are effortless and exhaustion is not even a possibility. You know this feeling, everybody has. You know what excites you, so let yourself become vitalized. This is what happens to me when I play a really good capoeira game. Every time I jump in the roda, this is what I'm aiming for. Every time I  get you to play with me in the roda, I'm trying to do this for you too. :-D

Video of the Week

Here's a snippet from the Cdo nyack batizado last year.

Enjoy!

P.S. Shout out to our fam and friend, Coqueiro Zec

Portuguese of the Week

Here for the Portuguese of the Week, I'll give you guys a list of verbs to practice.

chamar - to call
falar - to speak
beber - to drink
correr - to run
comer - to eat
jogar - to play
ensinar - to teach
aprender - to learn
cantar - to sing
dormir - to sleep

:-D Happy conjugating!

Song of the Week

Everybody should know this song, and this is why it's the SONG OF THE WEEK!!!

Ijexa e a danca do negro
Ijexa e a danca do negro (coro)

e o negro e, e nago
e o negro e, e nago (coro)

e vai,
vai vai vai cair (coro)
beleza beleza,
vai vai vai cair (coro)
isso e capoeira,

Quando o meu mestre passar
PASSAR
Batam palma ascenando para o ar
PARA O AR /PARA O AR
Mais nao se esqueça do que ele falou
FALOU
Toque pandeiro, berimbau, toque agogo
Falou
TOQUE PANDEIRO, BEIMBAU, TOQUE AGOGO

meu povo que beleza
e a danca capoeira com certeza
meu povo que beleza
e a danca capoeira com certeza

P.S. Muito Obrigado Mestre Amen Santos

Vocab of the Week (Part 1)

This week's vocab word is accidents. They happen. They happen more then we would like them to. The fact is it, well, they happen, and the best that can be done to prevent them is to minimize them. No matter how careful,  cautious, or paranoid you are, they can and will happen. The most important part of that isn't how to completely take accidents out of your reality, that's impossible. After an accident occurs is what matters most. How do you handle it? Do you freak out? Do you panic? Hopefully not, because if one accident earns you a permanent spot in panic town, then life is going to be hard, very hard. Every risk that is taken is paid with a consequence. Maybe there's a payout, maybe there isn't. That's how risks work, and that is the only way to get anything done in life. Risks have to be taken constantly to complete all goals. The key is not to be afraid of accidents, because they are going to happen no matter what. You don't have control of when and what happens when something goes awry, but you have complete control of what happens next.

Video of the Week

Here's a nice video from CDO St. Petersburg.

I like how close Ta Russo (the guy in the yellow shirt) plays. The intro of the video is the most interesting part, because it is showcasing the beginners :-D

Portuguese of the Week

Okay, so last week I gave you guys a mouthful, and now I'll just keep it a little easy. Here's a list of Vocabulario

sim - yes
não - no
ou - or
ou...ou - either...or
nem - not either
nem...nem - either nor
algo, alguma coisa - something
nada, nenhuma coisa - nothing
sempre - always
nunca - never

There ya go. I'll try not to overwhelm you with lists (I'll keep them at least ten words.) Next week I'll give a list of different words, and you can practice conjugating them! So exciting.

Ate logo :-D

Song of the Week ( Part 2)

  Hey guys, here's the song Ria was teaching on thursday.

 It's definitely a classic guys. Enjoy! Eu Não Sou Daqui
marinheiro Só
eu Não Tenho Amor
marinheiro Só
eu Sou Da Bahia
marinheiro Só De São Salvador
marinheiro Só
lá Vem, Lá Vem
marinheiro Só
como Ele Vem Faceiro
marinheiro Só


todo De Branco
marinheiro Só
com O Seu Bonezinho
marinheiro Só

ô, Marinheiro Marinheiro
marinheiro Só
ô, Quem Te Ensinou A Nadar
marinheiro Só
ou Foi O Tombo Do Navio
marinheiro Só
ou Foi O Balanço Do Mar
marinheiro Só

Vocab of the Week (Part 2)

This week's vocab is commitment. Commitment is important for anything life. It pertains to the most important parts of a person's life. Don't let the word blend into thoughts of "You must dedicate every waking moment to capoeira if you want to improve." That's not what the main idea. Of course doing that will help your capoeira improve, but it will only improve so much. Commit to something only if you want to commit to something. That is the key. Committing to half-desired objectives leads to disappointment and frustration. Nobody wants to be disappointed or frustrated (absolutely nobody.) However, here are some goals that everybody should commit to: Improvement, Happiness, and Success. Honestly ( and heavily opinionated,) I believe doing capoeira can lead to those three goals. Note how the focus isn't on committing to capoeira, because here capoeira can be the development of  that magical trio. Capoeira has helped me looked at those objectives and guide me to them. Capoeira can do that for everybody who tries it, and I will attempt to show that in every pratice, class, game, and roda.

Song for the Week ( Part 1)

Tudo bom! Welcome to the song of the week! Today it's all about the ladies, literally.

Remember, everybody can sing this song. Here are the lyrics.

Mulher na roda
Não é pra enfeitar
Mulher na roda
É pra ensinar

Ê, ela treina com destreza
E respeita o educador
Mostrando delicadeza
E também o seu valor

Mulher na roda
Não é pra enfeitar
Mulher na roda
É pra ensinar

Já passou aquele tempo
Que era só bater pandeiro
Bater palma e cantar coro
Pra poder ganhar terreno

Mulher na roda
Não é pra enfeitar
Mulher na roda
É pra ensinar

Não precisa da espaço
Pois ela já conquistou
Hoje cantar bem na roda
Não é só pra cantador

Mulher na roda
Não é pra enfeitar
Mulher na roda
É pra ensinar

PS Ria LOVES this song.

Vocab of the Week ( Part 1)

Today's vocab word is training. It's to built up to the game. The goal. It's the go time for all capoeiristas. I've used this analogy a bunch of times. It's the friday night lights of the capoeira world. Think about it. You get to class, warm up,  and stretch. You prepare your body for the class. Then you begin working on different kicks, and esquivas and different movments for moving around the roda. Afterwards you start working on different sequences where you can learn how to apply those kicks and movements. You prepare for the game and the roda.  If you're lucky, there's a roda at the end of the class. If you're lucky. Not all classes end with a roda, and there's no rule that their has to be. It's like at soccer practice (from my 12 years of experience.) You don't always scrimmage. I can only speak for myself, but for me scrimmaging is the 2nd best part. The best part is the game. It's what I've been practicing for. It's what I've been training for. Everybody moment before that day has been leading up to that game. So remember what your training for. Remember why you're learning a list of movements (mostly because those movements have a purpose.) Remember to use them where it matter most.

Video of the Week ( Part 2)

Hello again (it's been too long!)

Here's a another joyous Video of the Week! segment. Here's for all my percussionist, especially those in the newly formed samba troupe. Call it...inspiration from Mestre Barrão, founder of Axè Capoeira .

Inspired? Good, now start drumming!

Video of the Week (part 1)

Hello Hello! So, who's this mysterious Mestre Esquilo that professor has been talking about in practice yestereday? Check out the man in the red bandana.

Yeah, he's pretty sweet. Enjoy! 

PS This isn't the first time he's been featured on our dailies, check the facebook group to find it!

Portuguese of the Week

Hey guys, here's two weeks worth of Portuguese.

Verb Conjugation

A
falar  (to speak)

eu ( I) - falo
voce ( You) - fala
nos ( We) - falamos
voces (they) - falam

e
comer ( to eat)

eu  - como
voce - come
nos - comemos
comem - comem

i
partir ( to come from)

eu - parto
voce - parte
nos - partimos
voces - partem

The key is that most verbs end with the corresponding -ar, -er, and -ir ending conjugate in the preceding ways.There are some important irregular verbs as well. Play with them, learn them, and definitely try to use them. Take the  previous verbs I gave you two weeks ago, and try to apply this to them. Try to get comfortable.

PS I'm sorry for the delay of the week, life's always gets in the way. I'll definitely double up with videos, vocab, and songs this week.

Song of the Week

This week folks we have a double whammy from Mestre Suassuna (it's been CDO kind of week.) Here are two songs São Salvador and Quem Vem La Sou Eu. The second song would be the the easiest of the two to learn, but hey, who doesn't like a challenge?

Here's another verse for Quem Vem La Sou Eu

Eu venho de longue,
Venho da Bahia,
Jogo Capoeira,
Capoeira, sou eu


Additional verses of São Salvador

Éjogo de liberdade
Jogo de libertação
Praticado na Senzala
No tempo da escravidão

É jogo praticado na terra de São Salvador

Jogo de muita mandinga
Do escravo sofredor
Que queria se livrar
Do chicote do feitor

É jogo praticado na terra de São Salvador

Vocab of the Day

Miudinho, is a type of capoeira toque and jogo (game). Like Angola and São Bento Grande, the berimbau plays a unique rhythm that calls for a certain game to be played. Miudinho is a fast, close game that is usually done by advance cordão de ouro players. Mestre Suassuna is the creator of both the group Cordão de Ouro, and the toque. He has said that he created Miudinho, to bring back the way he played capoeira in older times, and reinforce that stratagem (of playing closer) in a capoeira game. Miudinho is usually learned in several sequences. (Also, refer to the video of the week to see an example of a Miudinho game)

Video of the Week

Howdy, I want to decicate this month to great capoeira games, you know, to get excited about the batizado coming up April 21st. Here is one of the things that the group, Cordão de Ouro is known for, the capoeira game of Miudinho, which is a very fast close game. Enjoy

Portuguese of the Week

Oi, so now I'm going to give you a list of verbs that you can start practicing...like everyday.

Comer - to eat
beber - to drink
tocar - to play ( an musical instrument)
jogar - to play
sair - to go out
saber - to know
conhecer - to know of
chamar - to call

So next week I'll start doing verb conjugating and we'll all be a little more Brazilian :-D

Song of the week

Watch "A hora é essa (lyrics) - letra" on YouTube
Here's a song everybody can learn, so learn it!

Vocab of the Week!

Today's vocab of the week is practice. Like the Rutgers Capoeira practices? No. Like the Capoeira Maranhão practices? No. I'm talking about the most important kind of practice. I'm talking about the practice that you do by yourself. That's right, no teacher, no classmates, just yourself. Why is that important you ask? Think about it. Think about how homework, studying, learning on your own is so important. You are the only person that can do the learning. Nobody can  learn for you. That's something your instructor would want to give to you, that knowledge to just have and then take advantage of. Unfortunately, that can't happen. You have to struggle, you have to be confused, and you may have to be a little frustrated.That is how you get better. Professor Maranhão will tell you about all the time he has spend in the park practicing by himself. The capoeira classes we take is only 2 hours. We can't cover everything in 2 hours (and trust me, I wish we could) so we have to let you work on some stuff on your own. At the classes, we do what we do to help guide you in your learning of capoeira. We are your pitstops on your journey of becoming of capoeirista, but you're the only person that can take the ride.

Video of the Week

This week's video is an angola game between Mestre Glauber and Mestre Cabello. I'm going to feature games this month, so you could maybe get a few ideas for when you play in the roda ;-)

Portuguese of the Week

Howdy folks, this week's verb is....

estudar  - to study

For example:

Eu estudo para minha aula de portugues .

I study for my portuguese class.

That's for all you guys taking midterms this week. Good luck everybody and see you in class tomorrow. We'll do a few more verbs and then I'll show you how to conjugate them. 

Song of the Week

This is a song our good friend Ruben sung last tuesday that was written by CM Maquinho Coreba and sung by Carolina Soares, enjoy!

Quando a maré baixar
vá lhe visitar
vá fazer devoção
vá lhe presentear

No mar
Mora Iemanjá

Vários negros foram pro Brasil
Bantus , Nagôs e Iorubá
dentro do navio negreiro
deixaram suas lagrimas correr no mar

No mar
Mora Iemanjá

Sua lagrima que correu no mar
tocou no peito de Iemanjá
ela podia mudar a maré
fazer meu navio voltar pra Guiné

No mar
Mora Iemanjá

Vocab of the Week

This week's vocab is Bateria. Now, don't be afraid of words you can't read. It is mostly because you probably don't speak portuguese but it is okay. Bateria is a word you have probably heard before. Bateria is the band of a capoeira roda. These are the people who play berimbau, atabaque, and pandeiro (as well as agogo and reco reco) This is where all the music and songs come from, so of course you want to pay respect to them as well. Don't let this capoeiristas stay on an instrument for too long (unless they want to stay.) Also, don't stand in front of any of the musicians, mostly because it's hard to play through something (and you're blocking their view of the jogos.) Most imporantly, LISTEN to them. They are playing for you, the players, and the rest of the roda. Nobody likes to be ignored when trying to entertain you, so do them a favor, and be entertained. Enjoy your roda, and enjoy your bateria!

Video of the Week

Here's a video trailer for a Capoeira Brasil Batizado in France. It has good production value, and the games are definitely nice. Enjoy!
 

Portuguese of the Week

Howdy. I changed the title of the daily. Also, it's about 4 days late...happens. So, without further ado, the Portuguese of the week is:

começar - to start

 

Comecei a praticar capoeira nesta semana - I started to practice capoeira this week. 

I'll introduce a few more verbs, and eventually I'll add in verb conjugation. After that, MORE PORTUGUESE VOCAB! Aw man I'm excited about this news. I haven't been this excited since I learned the official date of the Capoeira Maranhao Batizado (Saturday, April 21,  2012) See y'all next week.

Song of the Week

Song of the Week!!!
This is one of the songs that Professor Maranhao was teaching us the coro on the white board about two weeks ago.

Joguei no quilombo, quilombola

[The chorus. you sing this part]  Le le le o!

Eu sou nego dos bantus de Angola

[The chorus. you sing this part] Nego nago

Fomos trazidos pro Brasil
Minha familia separou
Minha mae ja foi vendida
Pra fazenda de um senhor
O meu pai morreu no tronco
No chicote do feitor
O meu irmao nao tem a orelha
Porque o feitor arrancou
Na mente trago tristeza
E no corpo muita dor
Mais hoje em dia
Pra o quilombo eu fugi,
Com muita luta e muita garra
Eu tornei o guerrero de zumbi,
Ao passar do tempo
Pra fazenda eu retornei
Soltei todos os escravos
E a senzala eu queimei
A liberdade nao esta descrita em papel
Não foi dada por princesa, cujo nome é isabel
A liberdade veio do sangue e muita dor
Muitas lutas e batalhas foi o que nos libertóu

Joguei no quilombo, quilombola
Le le le o!
Eu sou nego dos bantus de Angola
Nego nago

Vocab of the Week!!!

Today's word is Roda. Roda is the circle that we spar in as well as the circle we also sing in. The Roda is game time in the capoeira world. You can compare it to the having a scrimmage at a soccer practice. It is the time to apply on all the sequences and moves that were worked on in the practice. It's a moment to test yourself against classmates in friendly competition. There's also an etiquette to the Roda. You can only enter in two areas of the Roda. The "doors" are at the two ends of the bateria ( the players of the instruments). Like you would knock when approaches someone's front door, you "knock" by asking the leader of the bateria ( in most cases the teacher of the class, or the highest mestre.) Roda etiquette will be expanded on in future dailies.