Kudoz to all Mestres, Contramestres and Professores!
I know I said I wouldn’t use this blog as a diary and I could argue that this post won’t be just a diary (really it won’t ;)) but for those who disagree with that statement, please bear with it and read on, especially if you are interested in martial arts, fancy acrobatics or simply Capoeira.
So, I guess I’ll begin by praising all the great Capoeira names that joined us for a bit under 20 wonderful hours of kicking, screeching (or singing, depending on the individual person), falling down, laughing and staring in awe.
So, we had the honor of being in presence of
Mestre Salvador, 52, who, in roda, gives the impression that he is EVERYwhere. I have never ever in my life got as many slaps and kicks together, as in those short few minutes in the past days, donated by him, and he also managed to “reward” my (too slow) evade with a nice kick to the kidneys (luckily he used just enough strength to send a clear message :P). Long story short, by the third day, I was literally running away from him in a roda.
Contramestre Shiga. A Brazilian Japanese, or Japanese Brazilian or whatever you want to call him, he is the one that amazed me more with his looks than anything else. His upper arm was about as thick as my wrist, he however didn’t only have a 6pack but more like a 12pack. Seriously, the guy was all muscle, and NONE of it was simply blown up. It was pure muscle and because it only had to move around bones and no fat, he moved as gracefully as a cat in the dark. I don’t know what his apelido might be, but I’d definitely call him Contramestre Gato.
Contramestre João Paolo. Or Contramestre Speedy in my opinion. I don’t know if he’s always like that or he just absorbed all the energy in the air, he is however extremely fast. Moves fast, talks fast … Didn’t get to play with him in the roda, oh well. There will be another chance, I’m sure of that.
Contramestre Pena. Now he is a story for himself. It might suffice to say that his first greeting to us all was a backflip. Over the weekend he continued to do various flips and really put the category “acrobatics” into Capoeira. An interesting fact about him is that he holds the berimbau with his right hand. Still sounds great though :D
And finally our own Professor Alegria. This was the first time I really understood why he got the apelido Alegria (Joy). But why write about him. Just come to a training and experience his teachings for yourself :) http://www.capoeiratb.com has all the information you need to do that.
So Friday. 6 PM. The show started. Everyone was still fresh and full of anticipation. We started with Mestre Salvador’s training. At first glance, it was way harder than Professor Alegria’s, however after a few hours of doing many new things and playing in the roda, we felt strangely fresh. Until next morning that is. Next day started at 9 AM. Went there zombiefied and basically spent all the time till after lunch in the zombie-like state, even though the Maculele almost got me to wake up entirely. The evening was great though. After more of Capoeira and another roda which included some samba this time, we went for dinner. Actually dinner came to us, and we ate, danced and had fun till midnight. The next day was the last day and we still had to get at least SOME sleep.
Sunday was a bit more relaxed for some (of us), who instead of getting butchered with yet another Capoeira lesson with the never-tired Contramestres João Paolo and Pena rather tried to learn the art of playing the berimbau, which is a surprisingly hard feat, considering the instrument only has one string. Truth be said, my left pinky finger is still numb :P
Anyway, it was fun and I can’t wait for the batizado. Hopefully at least Mestre Salvador will join us again. I’d love to play with him for my first cordão.