Rutgers capoeira ending a workshop with a group shot.

It’s weird filming yourself.

It’s not natural, purposely documenting all of your flaws for yourself and possibly the droves of people on the internet. It’s a scary thing to face, and besides, what will people say? The comments alone are enough to prevent that thought from developing, let alone becoming a possibility.

But is that doubt worth it?

The amount of information you get from a video clip is limitless. You can figure out about so much that you’re doing wrong, not to mention the motivation you’ll get from wanting to do better. All this is about progress. If you document it, you can actually see it.

Have you seen yourself get better?

It’s marvelous, not to mention watching yourself go from awkward to smooth, watching you go from heavy set to light on your feet, watching yourself execute moves you didn’t think you can ever learn. I didn’t get to see much of that myself. I was always too nervous to even try something like this.

I’m not scared now.