Kickin' It

You learn a lot from getting kicked.

It creates a check list of different thoughts after the impact:

•          Did that just happen?
•           Am I okay?
•           Was it my fault?
•           Why did it happen?
•           Could I have esquiva’d lower?
•           Was my timing off?
•           When was the last time I trained?
•           Am I training hard enough?

You don’t get more points for the amount of yes answers.

It’s a part of the game, and it’s why this is a martial art. The potential of that impact is why we train, why we learn to dodge, and why we protect ourselves when we dodge. Worse of all, it hurts.

If the injury is significant, I hope recovery is the only concern. I’ve been lucky enough not to sustain a big injury while I played, but I must never pretend like it never will. Even with the best training and fitness available, it’s always a possibility.

Always know it can happen, then you can be comfortable with the risk.

Keep Going

It took a long time for me to be comfortable with my capoeira.

Of course, I was excited about it. I wanted to share it with everyone I knew. For as long as I could remember, if you knew who James E. Green III was, you also knew he did capoeira as well (maybe not what it is or even what it looks.) It consumed me as I learned it, and it’s why I still study and practice it today.

The excitement of training resonating with my friends who trained also, and we had tons of fun in class, at events, and even when we occasionally trained on our own. We called them Capo Chills. We went out to public park-esque portion of our dormitory, working all everything. We worked music, movements from class, and made sure to work on our games as well.

With a lot of that gone, I can’t rely on others for that excitement. I have to create myself. I have to hone my skills to make sure when I play, I can play confidently. I have to make sure to play comfortably. Kicks thrown with insecurity create a dangerous environment for everyone. You learn the kicks, and it doesn’t take long to know how it’s done correctly, but throw those kicks with proper form on instinct takes time and repetition.

Comfort came from consistency. It came from practice.

Now I must be persistent to regain my comfort.

Kick Friends

Some of my favorites moments I’ve had in capoeira has been playing a friend.

Sometimes competition is intimidating they know all of your moves, you know all of theirs. There’s not a shyness about what they can handle or how rough you can be. All of that is in the mind bank, and it expected that it is used.  Most of the time, it means that those types of games are going to be intense. Even if you want to opt out, it’s expected for you to play those games. Mestre might even force you to play those games.

Those are games are the ones that people need to find comfort in.

Intense games with strangers, no matter how friendly, are dangerous. It’s instructed to be an aware and mindful as you can when you play new people. It’s a matter of safety, especially with the history the art has had, not to mention how people are in general. It’s best to start off guarded, anticipating the worse. After that happens a few times, you still have to keep the guard up. Capoeira is tricky. The kick comes when you at least expect.

That’s why capoeiristas reflexes are so good.

Plus, getting kicked by your friends make for interesting stories.

Keeping Things Together

The Rutgers Capoeira Club warming up. 

Politics annoys everyone.

It happens whenever people organize, in different clubs or groups or affiliations. It’s a necessary evil that contains a lot of discussion that can easily turn into disputes, which align with arguments if not handled properly. It’s a pain, but its how people get things down.

Convincing colleagues to follow your lead it a tough gig. Everybody has their own ideas, plans of execution, and can be stubborn. As one of the latter, I know it alms my frustrations, and as a leaders, is the best thing to do for those wanting to contribute.

It’s also one of the better problems to have-- having many people to organize and agree on things means that your organization is growing. Growth is how all business survive, and the lack of it shows which ones die. So if you aren’t dealing with those politics, you’re growing to the point when you do.

I remember being a part of the Rutgers Capoeira Club leadership, arguing over what we should do, how we do it, and how to convey the information to our mestre. You can’t figure bonds that develop doing those meetings, and loathe them while you’re in it. Arguments can leave each member discouraged when they got back to the dorm at night.

I can’t help but miss the opportunities to have meetings like that.

Capoeira is Different

Kicks are a part of the art.

With it out, it becomes a dance, or a gymnastic floor. Something that already exists, which are two fantastic things. Something the world has and shares amongst those looking for a hobby that’s safe. Exciting…but safe.

The kicks give it edge.

The kick gives purpose to the movements, the why the relationship with the ground must change, becoming more intimate, requiring more time, more appendages, and needs people to be closer to it. It needs a complexity a well, something that two feet cannot do by themselves.

A flip is impressive, as well as a back bend, but attack a dangerous intent of a well-aimed kick, soaring through the air, poised to strike at the most important part of the human body. Something the human needs more than anything, and cannot be simulated, or supplemented when damaged. The human brain is the central of the body, and that’s why capoeiristas aim for it when we kick.

The danger is what creates the value, giving the practitioners an incentive to dodge effectively. The value is knowing how to defend yourself, especially an individual’s most important asset. Doing the movements in the peril is a feat of strength, showing something, like a feint, is something that appears to be there for the taken, but really is a trap. A trap set for those unaware, creating a vulnerability when there wasn’t one.

Kicks are part of the art, but malicia makes it capoeira.  

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.