[Hungarian version: link]
Two weeks ago, I attended a small, but really great batizado in Sheffield. I say 'small' because when I looked around there were like 50-60 capoeiristas but among them, I was the only real foreigner: the guy who was not a born or emigrated British.
I didn't mind it at all, in fact! To be honest I prefer smaller events. They are usually more calm, friendly, and somehow I've always learned more on these events than during the big workshops. The atmosphere is also different, the invited teachers act differently - they are more open and it is easier to have a good chat with them
Why did I go there?
I think Sheffield is not a big star on the capoeira sky. At least my quick research based on a non-representative sample showed me. Still, here are the reasons why I wanted to participate:
One of the local teacher, Samambaia, he was my first capoeira guest 12 years ago when I joined to Cordão de Ouro (CDO) and I got my first CDO belt:
Mestre Papa-Leguas was on the guest list
I think this post will be a bit more personal than the last one about 3 things probably you didn't know about capoeira.
It was in 2007, when I decided to leave Capoeira Brasil (GCB) and join to Cordão de Ouro. That time, I was able to invite Mestre Gil to Hungary and under his wing I could start my capoeira transformation from GCB to CDO.
One again: We're talking about 2007, this is the age of 240p video quality. Back then, there was no new video about Batizados and Praca da Rebublica or Movimento Novo in every week.
There were only 2-3 influencers which I followed:
Poncianinho was one of them. Interestingly, the other one wasn't a mestre, but a young Israeli. His apelido (nickname) is Neve. He became quite famous in the last two years about his unique style. He started in Cordão de Ouro but later he moved to Brazil and became an angoleiro:
Finally, my third infuencer was Mestre Papa-Leguas. I think, during my 18 years in capoeira, there were maybe 3 people who had such a good ginga that I had to copy it :)
Tico (CDO) ,
Tocha (Agua de Beber) and finally
Papa-Leguas
In fact! I remember I wasn't the only one: a couple years ago I and my friend, Cascadura - who was a very talented capoeirista - realized that both of us copied Papa's ginga.
On that time Papa-Leguas and Poncianonho's games were the perfect example for the style of Cordão de Ouro. Here is a video from 2006:
What's very interesting to me about it is that his capoeira has changed a lot over the past 12 years.
I'd like to reiterate that these are my own thoughts so don't take it as facts.
As I see, his games are much clearer and effective. The main goal in the game is not to execute the Cordão de Ouro acrobatics in the most perfect way anymore, but having the control during the whole game. He is constantly testing the other player, observing how the opponent responses to certain movements and then he takes the opportunity.
He also observes the other's strengths. For example, if the opponent has a very solid martelo, he tries to catch it at the beginning of the game, so then the other won't try to use his best kick anymore.
What is also really interesting for me about his game is that during the last couple of years my opinion about the goal of the game has changed as well.
Maybe two years ago, Mestre Cueca had a speech in Frankfurt about this topic:
He told us about his path in capoeira and its distinct phases.
In the beginning he was interested in the acrobatics. After that, the goal was to be the toughest guy and beat the opponent. Then it changed again.
The title of this post might not seem to match the content. In fact - it's just the opposite. The content of the workshop was built up along these topics.
It is worth it to mention that there were pretty good non-capoeira classes. We had:
a kind of a balance, movement, mobility related class given by a teacher from Fighting Monkey,
a good stretching class,
and finally, a handstand training session on Sunday
Summary: That was fun and worth to go
8/10
If you'd like to read more interesting articles or see exciting capoeira videos, check our facebook page and like us!
And if you are interested in training, attend to our capoeira beginner class in Budapest: