Practice It

Instructora Gatinha leading the Danca Gueirreira rehearsal.

Form doesn’t seem that important as you work on it.

You don’t notice until you already have it. It takes a split second where you notice something very, very small- an opportunity with a small gap of time; a transition that wasn’t possible before; a potential injury that was avoided just in the nick of time.

This is its purpose.

All movements, arts, crafts start with a foundation that launches those future participants. It’s how all of these things get better. Things are perfected, then improved. The improvement requires endless repetition. After that, comes the innovations.

This is the concept of knowing the rules before you break them.

Art grows faster when it has structure. How rigid the structure is varies, but if the artform can’t stand on its own, people cannot lean on it. People must build upon it. That’s why the foundation is so important.

Just keep in mind that practice builds that foundation.

Skills, Dawg

Rutgers Capoeira students listen to Mestre Quebrinha during a workshop

Skills are frequently are lumped together.

It’s like…you have them or you don’t, as if they are a large singular entity that leads to success or failure. You have them, you succeed you don’t have them, you fail. All or nothing.

They aren’t broken up by the skill you do have, and the ones you don’t.

The simplicity of that mindset is easier to describe, but real success comes from the compilation of many different skills. I realized this running the business of my classes. Its eye opening when I started, coming to terms with the skills that I didn’t have. So many things need to get done, and I realize I don’t have the skills to complete them.

So I started working on them.

Best example is managing the social media and website of my classes. The first thing I noticed is the lack of pictures. I needed a camera, and I needed to learn how to take pictures. Two negative points on the health of my online presence, so I made the decision to get started, and the biggest way to get better at taking pictures, is to take pictures.

So take pictures I shall.

Film It

It’s weird filming yourself.

It’s not natural, purposely documenting all of your flaws for yourself and possibly the droves of people on the internet. It’s a scary thing to face, and besides, what will people say? The comments alone are enough to prevent that thought from developing, let alone becoming a possibility.

But is that doubt worth it?

The amount of information you get from a video clip is limitless. You can figure out about so much that you’re doing wrong, not to mention the motivation you’ll get from wanting to do better. All this is about progress. If you document it, you can actually see it.

Have you seen yourself get better?

It’s marvelous, not to mention watching yourself go from awkward to smooth, watching you go from heavy set to light on your feet, watching yourself execute moves you didn’t think you can ever learn. I didn’t get to see much of that myself. I was always too nervous to even try something like this.

I’m not scared now.

Share It

Rutgers Capoeira stretching.

Capoeira has a funny way of connecting people.

I learned with lawyers, doctors, hip hop artists, engineers, scientists, and a blast with the all. It collects a random pool of people together and gives them kinship. It gives them a common goal, which is make the person next to the them better.

I want to give this to the world.

But It Hurts

It’s hard to train in pain.

Athletes do it all the time. Toughness on the field, off the field, in the gym there’s merit to grit, but a lot of times it worsens injuries. Yoga instructors preach listening to your body.

Capoeirista’s should do the same.

I get it if a muscle cramps, or it feels overworked, and to want to skip out on a training sessions, but that’s not a good excuse to skip training. Capoeira is full of things to work on from the dances, music, songs, the language (Portuguese), and the rich, complex history of the art. It’s not the easiest to find, but it’s doable (thank you internet.)

I remember one time at Rutgers, a friend of mine got hurt.

His knee popped during one of the exercises, and he was on crutches for weeks. My roommate and I felt terrible, and we wanted to do something special. We talked to the rest of the students in the class and raised some funds. We went online, and checked out a few sources.

The next week we surprised him with a berimbau.

He got to work on it during the practices. It didn’t force him to stay at home, and he could do more than just watch. He continued to be part of the class. He actually got really good.

It was one of the better berimbau players we had in our group at the time.

Injury doesn’t stop training, but redirect it. Let it shift the focus on another aspect of the multi-disciplined martial art. There’s always something to work on.

Get to it.

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.