Classes and Learning

Tough movements look impossible.

That’s probably the hardest thing to convey about capoeira nobody starts doing all the cool stuff right away. I imagine the beginnings watching the advance instructors, professors, and mestres spin on their hands, arms, and heads, wondering why mystics they invoked to let them accomplish such a feat. It’s truly amazing watching skills like that shine.

I’m sure the performers appreciate you missing out on the years of the struggle on working all of those moments.

I realize that now as I’ve taken several of the breaks on my training, especially when I moved away from my four days a week classes with my mestre, that the classes themselves can be a hinderance. It doesn’t limit what your learn or exposure to, but it can be reliance. I felt it myself, wishing that I had some class to go to, even that I can only really learn and develop moves with a teacher and about 10 other people working on it with me. That stopped me from moving to that empty room, working on those movements myself.

Obviously, the preceding helps a lot.

The classroom is only a part of the development. The part that shows you’re the tools, giving you slight instruction on its execution. They can watch you do or attempt the movements a few times, but their job ends when you leave the room, going home for the night. Unfortunately, the time away from the mestre  the majority of when your learning and development happens. Playing those games without the instructor’s guidance, taking the time to kick over a chair several times, or just waking up and doing queda de rins push-ups is when the skills grow.

Don’t let your classes hinder your development (and appreciate that you have them.)

Keep It Together

Keeping it together is understated.

Life is known for throwing random occurrences, obstacles, and overall doubt with the pathway to greatness. The journey almost requires it, and when a destination is reached, you can look back and marvel at how you got there the luxury of hindsight. As you travel, you have to deal with the muck.

The muck is everyday responsibilities, along with the procrastination that curses those roles, along with the people who depend on you. Those people love you, and you love them, but they get in the way. Life goes on without them, but life is harder with them gone (so you keep them.) This is another dangerous bend on the path to the top, keeping the people who go with you in check, carrying them for as long as they need you to.

Sometimes, it’s just being patience as you recruit people to come with you.

It takes a village to do anything, and building it is a painful task. It’s possible, and been done millions of times, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Great things come with struggle, but even knowing that doesn’t make the struggle easier.

It does keep the path in sight.