Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Capoeira


I'm not sure if capoeira is in danger of giving me good posture or back pain. Perhaps there is a fine line? In any case it is probably not wise to wrap myself up in cotton wool so I plan to continue trying to improve, and maybe, just maybe, I will be able to do a headstand. In the meantime the stretching can't do me much harm.

"What is capoeira?
It is a fight, it is folklore, it is a divine practice. Its practice has so many benefits that we cannot distinguish them and define exactly what is capoeira. There are so many beautiful things: the music, the friendship, the health, the fight, the folklore. Capoeira is immense and we cannot explain it all. Some people think of capoeira only as fight, or as confrontation without perceiving that it has so much more to offer beside the quarrels for the name of the group or the title of mestre. I think of it more in the general sense of human participation: in the music, in the folklore, in the joy. I was to a school recently and there were people from different groups all playing together in the roda. That’s capoeira for me “alegria” and to be happy to do what you are doing.”
– Mestre Suassuna

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