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As a member of the UL Capoeira club interim committee, I would like to invite you to a public meeting next week at 6:30pm, Thursday March 27th. If you are interested in the development of the club or you would like to run for committee membership, then please attend! This is an opportunity to help create and steer a vibrant new club around a meaningful activity involving flared, white pants.<\/p>\n
In case Google is down, Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that incorporates elements of music, dance, and acrobatics. (Yes, music and dance. Hard-man types may have to look elsewhere. Mixed martial arts, maybe\u2026. bare-knuckle boxing, a life of crime, etc.)But capoeira is open to everyone. Do not rule yourself out because you think you aren\u2019t fit enough or because of your age.<\/p>\n
Capoeira appeared in the slave communities of colonial Brazil in the sixteenth century. It is an expression of freedom and defiance. It would (presumably) have offered a creative outlet for the individual and also served to foster cohesion in their fragmented communities. But it was also a form of rebellion against a prejudiced social hierarchy based on discrimination. So the self liberation and self-empowerment of the oppressed are in its DNA. It follows that diversity is honoured in capoeira. Every capoeirista (capoeira player), from the beginner to the elderly mestre (master), contributes something unique to the game; idiosyncratic movement, a certain strategic style, distinct personality, vocal timbre, etc.<\/p>\n
But embracing diversity\u2014as enlightened as that is and everything\u2014begins to sound like\u00a0embarrassing PC dross when it\u2019s fussed over like this. Capoeira seamlessly integrates everybody\u00a0because\u2014newsflash\u2014everybody\u2019s essentially the same. Capoeira groups don\u2019t need manifestos to\u00a0promote the ideal: it\u2019s demonstrated every time a roda (game) is held. Picture the video for \u2018Black or
\nWhite\u2019 and you get the idea, i.e. Native American and African tribes people dancing, Russians,\u00a0gender equality, Macaulay Culkin. You\u2019d be doing a great disservice to yourself by precluding\u00a0yourself because you believe you\u2019re not the \u2018kind of person\u2019 who could play capoeira.<\/p>\n
I urge anybody who isn\u2019t already physically active to try it out. Although it\u2019s one of the most vigorous\u00a0and rigorous (both \u2013igorous) forms of exercise, you\u2019ll be too focused on the game to really notice\u2014\u00a0agonising backs-of-the-legs stretch notwithstanding. Whatever bulls**t New Year\u2019s resolution you\u00a0made, forget it! Do capoeira instead it\u2019s easier. I would also urge any gym rats who find that the\u00a0\u2018burn\u2019, lately is accompanied by a profound sense of existential alienation to consider starting too.\u00a0Capoeira is more socially engaging than other martial arts because more time is spent actually\u00a0interacting with other players. The interaction is comparable to sparring with an opponent but the\u00a0commonly-used metaphor likening the game to conversation is more fitting.<\/p>\n
Surubim from Grupo Biriba Brasil is currently giving classes on campus which run from 5.30-6.30pm\u00a0on Thursdays, upstairs in the Dromroe Student Village Centre. Everybody is welcome. (The cost of\u00a0classes for students is \u20ac2.) If you are going, wear flexible track pants and bring water. If you\u2019re still a\u00a0little apprehensive about starting classes and considering asking a friend to go with you, then save\u00a0your breath. You might as well be asking them to elope with you to Ballinasloe. That\u2019s how cool it\u00a0will sound to them. Just go yourself. Surubim is an excellent teacher. Your friend can join in their\u00a0own time.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve gone to great pains so far to avoid giving a personal account of what it\u2019s like to practice\u00a0capoeira, what it means to me etc., and I know we\u2019d all prefer to keep it that way. But if you have a\u00a0plastic bag ready or you\u2019re reading this near a sink or a toilet, then I might as well say this: Capoeira\u00a0has been one of the cornerstones of my physical and mental wellbeing for the last 6 years. My
\nexperience of it has been defined by the light, love, and laughter of the teachers and fellow students\u00a0with whom I have practiced. I am grateful for both them and for the art. Finally, I hope others can\u00a0discover what it has to offer too.\u00a0Muito obrigado, meus amigos.<\/p>\n