Show Up

Reading about habits makes it seem so easy.

That’s like saying imagine if all you had to do was show up. Show up to that empty dance space, and suddenly, your arms are stronger. You have more balance in your handstands. Your kicks require less effort, and you can finally link them together. The first time in years you’re able to execute a macaco.

It’s not a farfetched as it seems.

Getting there’s the battle. It’s not having enough time, or forgetting to pack something you need there. Showing up is the first step. How else you are you going to have the space?

It’s a trick question- you don’t really need space.

You do need switch the style up. Angola is something that can be in tight quarters, focusing on staying low and closed, moving around a partner with a closeness that is absolutely necessary. That also means in that in most cases, it can be done in most rooms. Adding a chair usually helps a work out.

But even just forcing your self to go can do so much for your training, especially if the struggle is starting.

Rest is Okay

Off days are a reality of any practice.

Sometimes it’s necessary to walk away for a day. Rest up. Give the practice a soft reset to realign focus, figuring how to start up again. It could prevent taking a longer breaks that aren’t planned, or at least give something else a bit of attention.

I feel guilty about not training.

But it’s okay, because I’m still working on some aspect of my capoeira. It’s an aspect of my practice I didn’t realized need so much work, but applying attention to the business is the only way to draw more students to my classes. Empty class speaks to my business, and having no students doesn’t let me work on my teaching.

This is something I never considered coming up in capoeira.

Learning how to run a business is not the same as training, working on music, working on physique, and keeping a game strong. It’s different set of skills that if not being practiced, aren’t growing. I learned this only recently in the two years I’ve been an instructor. Mind you, this is only one part of being an instructor.

Capoeira force­s balance-- there is always something to work on.

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.