Capoeira?

[tropical_fishy]

I just realized the gym/dance studio I go to offers capoeira classes, and that I can go for free (yay). But... I know nothing about capoeira . I know there's a few people on here that do it... and before I go to class, I want to know:

1. what should I wear?
2. what should I expect out of a 1.5 hour class?
3. Is there anything a "good" teacher would do that I should look for?

Anything you have to say about those questions or capoeira itself would be great .

[xXHavokXx]

1.Somethign very loose around the legs.
2. Alot of stretching and an inability to walk right.
3. Practical applications for it if youre thinkging about it for self defense (i wouldnt reccomend that)

However Capoiera is an amazing workout and very amazing to watch, I wish I had gotten a chance to try it more than once.

[MantisMag]

1. tf is a girl so loose pants doesn't necessarily apply. tight stretchy pants are even better than loose pants. if you have jazz pants they're very similar to capoeira pants. any kind of pants that you would wear to a dance class should be fine for capoeira. no shorts. no tops with spaghetti straps. wear a sports bra. i shouldn't have to say those last two but you'd be surprised what some girls will wear their first time or even second and third time to class. also be aware that with all the bending your underwear will most likely be showing unless you wear a shirt that comes down low enough to cover it. your options are wear a top that hides it, wear something you won't be embarassed about, or wear nothing at all under your pants. there is of course the option of a leotard but i've never seen anyone do that before. since your class will be at a dance studio maybe they will.

2. you should be doing a warmup with basic movements and go into at least a few combinations and more difficult movements. classes like this are difficult to run because you typically don't have enough people to split up by level so i'd cut them a lot of slack on what they cover. however if they know this is your first class and they don't take you aside and show you at least a few things forget it. at the very minimum you should be able to ginga, negativa, at least one more escape maneuver, bencao (front kick), and two or three more kicks. finally, in my opinion there should always be a roda (circle). a class that doesn't stress the roda or at least pairing up for drills is not worth going to. you can't learn capoeira by yourself. capoeira lives in the roda. that is where the interaction and the energy is. that is where you'll find the malicia and the madinga. music is also important but that can also be tough on smaller classes. that said, if your instructor doesn't know anything about music then he doesn't know capoeira. if it's a big class with high ranking students then they should have live music.

3. explaining what a movement is for and being able to break it down step by step. knowledge of more than just movements. control over the roda. the roda can be very dangerous if people are not in the right frame of mind. if the instructor doesn't seem to have control over what's going on and people are beating the hell out of each other and there's no restraint being displayed get out of there. no sense in learning to play sloppy and get hurt.

p.s. why didn't you tell me that was you on ddn? sb told me cause he saw my screenname.

[SpecialBlend2786]

PM Clare, she's a capoeira god or something. actually i'm just saying that.

yeah MantisMag, i saw you on ddn when she linked me and i was like "WHOA AN AO'ER!!!"

[tropical_fishy]

p.s. why didn't you tell me that was you on ddn? sb told me cause he saw my screenname.

I dunno, I didn't see you around here much.

Now I'm really excited. I was going to take a friday jazz class, but this week i'll take capoeira instead. I'll let ya'll know how it turns out

[WicKeD_WaYz]

You can expect to not be that much better at defending yourself, but if you just want a good work out then its great, or so I hear.

[MantisMag]

well for most people that's true. but for people who already know a bit of self defense it actually does help a lot because it gets you looking at things differently than you normally do.

tf - yeah i don't post much around here anymore. i remembered you though because you do bjj. a lot of the people out of brazil crosstrain in capoeira and bjj. they're the two predominant styles in brazil. to them it's like old school chinese vs japanese. there's all kinds of fights between schools and stuff in the rougher neighborhoods.

[tropical_fishy]

well for most people that's true. but for people who already know a bit of self defense it actually does help a lot because it gets you looking at things differently than you normally do.

tf - yeah i don't post much around here anymore. i remembered you though because you do bjj. a lot of the people out of brazil crosstrain in capoeira and bjj. they're the two predominant styles in brazil. to them it's like old school chinese vs japanese. there's all kinds of fights between schools and stuff in the rougher neighborhoods.

It would actually be my third discipline. Does that make it easier or harder to pick up? My karate teacher is always grumbling about either muay thai fighters or those that train capoiera. He swears up and down bjj is better, though, heh.

[MantisMag]

a little of both. mostly harder. the kicks are similar but different enough to throw you off. the dynamics are completely different from karate. most martial artists also have problems getting the flow and rhythm. they can't seem to get the idea of constantly being in motion. since you dance you might have an easier time of it. then again that might throw you off too. do you do any hip hop? that's about the closest you can get to the capoeira aesthetic. sometimes dancers end up looking too pretty while doing movements. no power behind their kicks. i find that it's easier to explain movements and they pick them up faster though. if i say spot forward, set your hips, and then release the leg that's what they do. if i explain that to someone else it can take weeks before they get it. others just aren't capable of doing it and it can take them months, years even, of doing capoeira before they get the most basic moves completely right. for some people pelvic control just isn't part of their movement vocabulary.

[sbpyro]

Prepare to work muscles that you have never worked before.
It is a tough art to learn.
I took several lessons before I realized that I didn't have time to be hurting while in school.
But it is definately a very elegant martial art form.