Capoeira Angola for Spiritual Practice

[HoldAll]

When it comes to martial arts to enhance your spiritual practice and energy manipulation, the usual recommendations are Taiji and Aikido or similar Eastern soft styles. Based on my own on-and-off personal experience, I'd suggest Capoeira Angola instead. This isn't the usual fast-paced Capoeira Contemporânea with its spectacular acrobatics (did that for twelve years) but a much slower form of this Brazilian dance/fight as well as closer to the orginal roots of the art. The basic step, the ginga (lit. 'to sway'), alone puts you in a sort of trance, and when you play (after having overcome the usual beginner's clumsiness), you get into a flow state that's hard to describe... and if you don't play in the roda (circle) but an instrument instead whilst singing along with the others, you slip into a happy dream state that no drug can give you - I once hogged the agogô (cowbells) for over an hour and wouldn't let it go because I was so far gone on my own body hormones. Here's what it looks like (I'd sometimes describe it as 'Stoned Drunken Monkey Kungfu'):

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And there's the music, too, thanks to which Capoeira trumps all other martial arts, in my mind. The songs not only help you to switch off your stressed-out everday mind - there are also the rhythms of the drums and other instruments (toques), some of which are used in Candomblé ceremonies. Some Candomblé terminology such as axé ('life force', 'positive energy') is also used, and sometimes the orixás are even explicitly mentioned in songs, for example Iemanja, the sea goddess:

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Mind you, Capoeira Angola is physically highly demanding, requiring enormous upper body strength because you often move very close to the ground, for example when doing esquivas (evasive movements) because the kicks are not that high as in 'regular' Capoeira. Expect cramps for years to come, but the benefits are nothing but rewarding, both physically and mentally.

 

[8Lou1]

hehheh thats the slow version of electric boogy

in this song when the girl comes on, the men start looking angry and things change, is that the same in capoeira?

 

[HoldAll]

Yeah, but you can only touch the ground with your hands, legs and feet, not spin on your back, for example. And solos where you can show off without interference from a partner are rarely done, mostly at public exhibitions (and in Capoeira Angola not at all)

I've heard there is still much machismo in Capoeira in Brazil but it's entirely different in the rest of the world. My coach would often remark that the women in our group (who were in the majority anyway) played much more agressively than the men. It's not written down in some charter or something like that but it would be extremely bad form to make a disparaging remark about women in general or even behave in a sexist way. Also, there's ranks. If I'm just a beginner and would put down a graduada (which is like a black belt) who could easily whoop my ass in a game just because she's a girl, all others would look at me funny and probably try to get me thrown out of the group. It's just not done, it would be bad form.

By the same token, if a more experienced Capoerista tried to intimidate a beginner in a game by being drastically mean, the mestre or another high-ranking player (which could well be a woman) would step in and wipe the floor with the bully, seen it many times.

 

[8Lou1]

you know youre the first who wrote down with what i mean with respect. it was hard to find someone who could explain that to others for me. thank you so much for explaining. i dont know for you, but i havent met much people who still know that form of respect. it took me a while to find a bigger bully then myself and the guts to ask to intervene where i go wrong.

 

[Taudefindi]

Capoeira really is an interesting martial art.

It can be used for fight(if you're really good at it or the other person isn't a decent fighter nor is armed) but it shines more as a means to develop a strong and flexible body and to learn to get into the flow.

Nice to see others here speaking of it.Aside the classic "Eddy Gordo" comments you just don't see much talk of Capoeira in general in the English language.