Tag Archives: Kicks

Kickin’ It

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Boemio, Rutgers Capoeira

Graduado Boemio throwing an armada

You learn a lot from getting kicked.

It creates a check list of different thoughts after the impact:

  • Did that just happen?
  • Am I okay?
  • Was it my fault?
  • Why did it happen?
  • Could I have esquiva’d lower?
  • Was my timing off?
  • When was the last time I trained?
  • Am I training hard enough?

You don’t get more points for the amount of yes answers.

It’s a part of the game, and it’s why this is a martial art. The potential of that impact is why we train, why we learn to dodge, and why we protect ourselves when we dodge. Worse of all, it hurts.

If the injury is significant, I hope recovery is the only concern. I’ve been lucky enough not to sustain a big injury while I played, but I must never pretend like it never will. Even with the best training and fitness available, it’s always a possibility.

Always know it can happen, then you can be comfortable with the risk.

 

Keep Going

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Rutgers Capoeira warming up

It took a long time for me to be comfortable with my capoeira.

Of course, I was excited about it. I wanted to share it with everyone I knew. For as long as I could remember, if you knew who James E. Green III was, you also knew he did capoeira as well (maybe not what it is or even what it looks.) It consumed me as I learned it, and it’s why I still study and practice it today.

The excitement of training resonating with my friends who trained also, and we had tons of fun in class, at events, and even when we occasionally trained on our own. We called them Capo Chills. We went out to public park-esque portion of our dormitory, working all everything. We worked music, movements from class, and made sure to work on our games as well.

With a lot of that gone, I can’t rely on others for that excitement. I have to create myself. I have to hone my skills to make sure when I play, I can play confidently. I have to make sure to play comfortably. Kicks thrown with insecurity create a dangerous environment for everyone. You learn the kicks, and it doesn’t take long to know how it’s done correctly, but throw those kicks with proper form on instinct takes time and repetition.

Comfort came from consistency. It came from practice.

Now I must be persistent to regain my comfort.

 

Kick Friends

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RU Capoeira

Don’t worry, she’s fine

Some of my favorites moments I’ve had in capoeira has been playing a friend.

Sometimes competition is intimidating they know all of your moves, you know all of theirs. There’s not a shyness about what they can handle or how rough you can be. All of that is in the mind bank, and it expected that it is used.  Most of the time, it means that those types of games are going to be intense. Even if you want to opt out, it’s expected for you to play those games. Mestre might even force you to play those games.

Those are games are the ones that people need to find comfort in.

Intense games with strangers, no matter how friendly, are dangerous. It’s instructed to be an aware and mindful as you can when you play new people. It’s a matter of safety, especially with the history the art has had, not to mention how people are in general. It’s best to start off guarded, anticipating the worse. After that happens a few times, you still have to keep the guard up. Capoeira is tricky. The kick comes when you at least expect.

That’s why capoeiristas reflexes are so good.

Plus, getting kicked by your friends make for interesting stories.

 

 

Capoeira is Different

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Kicks are a part of the art.

With it out, it becomes a dance, or a gymnastic floor. Something that already exists, which are two fantastic things. Something the world has and shares amongst those looking for a hobby that’s safe. Exciting…but safe.

The kicks give it edge.

The kick gives purpose to the movements, the why the relationship with the ground must change, becoming more intimate, requiring more time, more appendages, and needs people to be closer to it. It needs a complexity a well, something that two feet cannot do by themselves.

A flip is impressive, as well as a back bend, but attack a dangerous intent of a well-aimed kick, soaring through the air, poised to strike at the most important part of the human body. Something the human needs more than anything, and cannot be simulated, or supplemented when damaged. The human brain is the central of the body, and that’s why capoeiristas aim for it when we kick.

The danger is what creates the value, giving the practitioners an incentive to dodge effectively. The value is knowing how to defend yourself, especially an individual’s most important asset. Doing the movements in the peril is a feat of strength, showing something, like a feint, is something that appears to be there for the taken, but really is a trap. A trap set for those unaware, creating a vulnerability when there wasn’t one.

Kicks are part of the art, but malicia makes it capoeira.

 

The danger is what makes capoeira what it is, and we get back practicing it when we create that danger. Crazy, huh?