We'll begin with a brief introduction of Capoeira. Simply put, it's the fighting style that Eddie Gordo from the video game Tekken uses. If you play Tekken and know what I mean, you can forget the rest of the introduction and skip ahead to line 26, where the story picks up(I don't actually count the lines, go and find it yourself).
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art. Most of the movements and attacks are from the legs, and there are no punches at all. No hand attacks, no fists. Hands are used to block the opponent's attack, and that's about it.
For a rough idea, think breakdancing. Think breakdancing being used for fighting. Something like that. Your legs will be flailing wildly in the air looking for a target to kick, while your hands will be on the floor, acting like makeshift legs.
A video would be most helpful at this point. Here, watch this.
And this.
So now, you know what's Capoeira. I just went for my first Capoeira lesson yesterday. At first I wasn't so keen on joining, because alot of people on the internet said that it's one of the weakest martial arts, and it's mainly for show. But my cousin Yee Juinn convinced me to try.
On the topic of Yee Juinn, we filmed a video the last time he slept over at my house. It has nothing to do with Capoeira, of course. But its funny and retarded.
Back to the Capoeira story. We found a Malaysian Capoeira organization online called Bantus, so we went to their studio for their trial lesson.
When we first entered the place, we saw a large, half-naked, muscular Brazilian man sitting on the couch braiding up lengths of string into colourful ropes which I suppose are the belts that determine your level, like the many different belts there are in Karate and Taekwondo.
And one more thing I noticed was how friendly everyone was with each other. They went up to each other and greeted each other loudly in Portugese(because the art is Brazilian), then proceeded with the Bantus handshake, which they all knew.
I had thought that I would have a great head start in the class, being a bit of a breakdancer and having a black belt in Karate. But that was not the case.
An instructor(didn't catch his name) took me and Juinn to a corner of the room. For our basic training. He taught us the ginga, coco rine(or something like that), meia lua, and something parallel. The movements look simple enough, but it sure is one pain in the arse to hold the positions.
Then we got some rest.
After the rest he made us do cartwheels across the room and back, and crawl on all fours across and back again. After another series of exercises and trainings, class was finally over.
The Mestre grinned at us and said: "Great job, guys. But there's one more thing you need to know before you become a Capoerista."
He held out his hand.
When we first entered the place, we saw a large, half-naked, muscular Brazilian man sitting on the couch braiding up lengths of string into colourful ropes which I suppose are the belts that determine your level, like the many different belts there are in Karate and Taekwondo.
And one more thing I noticed was how friendly everyone was with each other. They went up to each other and greeted each other loudly in Portugese(because the art is Brazilian), then proceeded with the Bantus handshake, which they all knew.
*Slap, fist, shake*
Anyways, we'll talk about the class. One of the Mestres(master/sensei) went over to the corner of the room and started banging on the kompang there. He produced a beat which we performed the stretching exercises to. He also sang along with the Brazilian song that was playing on the loud speakers. The music is specially for Capoeira. It's called Capoeira music. You can listen to some on the Bantus website.I had thought that I would have a great head start in the class, being a bit of a breakdancer and having a black belt in Karate. But that was not the case.
An instructor(didn't catch his name) took me and Juinn to a corner of the room. For our basic training. He taught us the ginga, coco rine(or something like that), meia lua, and something parallel. The movements look simple enough, but it sure is one pain in the arse to hold the positions.
Then he made us do twenty push-ups(not too bad yet),
hold a bridge for twenty seconds(our backs were aching so much),
20 ridiculously hard exercises which I dunno how to explain(my stomach muscles began to cramp up),
another 15 rounds of another ridiculously hard exercise which I can't explain(it hurt so much),
60 sit-ups(we felt like dying by this time),
and another 20 seconds of bridge(Jun Shern Bridge is falling down, falling down).
hold a bridge for twenty seconds(our backs were aching so much),
20 ridiculously hard exercises which I dunno how to explain(my stomach muscles began to cramp up),
another 15 rounds of another ridiculously hard exercise which I can't explain(it hurt so much),
60 sit-ups(we felt like dying by this time),
and another 20 seconds of bridge(Jun Shern Bridge is falling down, falling down).
Then we got some rest.
After the rest he made us do cartwheels across the room and back, and crawl on all fours across and back again. After another series of exercises and trainings, class was finally over.
The Mestre grinned at us and said: "Great job, guys. But there's one more thing you need to know before you become a Capoerista."
He held out his hand.
*Slap, fist, shake*
Jun Shern out.
*Static*
Jun Shern out.
*Static*
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