Greetings, Steemians and Steemettes!

Ever since I was a child, I had a distinct interest for the martial arts. Yet it took 18 years of my life before I actually started to practice one myself. Ten years ago, I learned about Capoeira and immediately felt the wish to learn how to practice this particular martial art. Being young, It was easy to impress me with all the acrobatics and flowing movements. I think we all are guilty of that or have been at certain parts of our lives.

What is Capoeira?

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that emphasizes on music, dance and acrobatics. There is a reason behind it. Practiced by slaves as a martial art meant to help them free themselves from their oppressors, they concealed their training as dancing and singing to divert attention from their actual intentions. A lot of inspiration came from African culture, which was also of interest for me. Most people of my generation probably learned about Capoeira because they got aquainted with this guy.

Eddy Gordo, or, as most people like to call him, "The black guy who fights dancing", was a character in the commonly known Tekken series. Most people who knew Eddy still did not know what his martial arts was actually called and even less actually cared, but mentioning the name certainly helps when it comes to describing what Capoeira looks like.

How did I learn about Capoeira?

While I did know that there exists a "black guy who fights dancing", I never actually played the games he was being introduced in. The first time I actually got in touch with Capoeira was even earlier. When I was in middle school, I think I was 16 at the time, our sports teacher got in touch with friend of hers who offered her to do a free class session of Capoeira for her. Clearly, their aim was to maybe snatch one or two permanent customers for themselves. Sadly for them they had no success. Mostly because the training session was pretty hard to take seriously and those instructors were in/famous for giving mediocre classes as I later learned.

It was actually a movie that ended up being my motivator. "Tom-Yum-Goong", a movie starring Tony Jaa, had an amazing fight scene between the protagonist and an capoeirista, portrayed by Lateef Crowder. In retrospect, the movie did not have the best choreography and camera work, but man, was I impressed at the time! So mobile, so agile, attacking from impossible angles, it was a huge deal for me back then.

Afterwards, I watched some more videos. There was no ceiling to how impressed I was and eventually, I decided to look up if and where I could practice Capoeira in my town. Luckily for me, there was an Martial Arts Academy who actually offered Capoeira training sessions. Needless to say that it did not take long for me to visit that place.

Every big journey starts with one step

The place was rather small, which I actually enjoyed. When it comes to doing anything sports related, I usually like to have some feeling of seclusion and intimacy. Before my first training started, I got to know the man who would train me for the following year. He was and is arguably one of the most likable and entertaining persons I have ever met, so joining was worth it for that alone.

What's your name?

There is one interesting thing about Capoeira that I should address here. Capoeiristas go through a ritual called Batizado after they have gone past the earliest stages of learning Capoeira. Batizado being the portugese word for baptism, they take that part quite literally. Being baptized in this world means that you receive a new name, your Capoeira name. The idea behind this is the same as with the music and dancing: Concealment. If every Capoeirista refers to one another only by their Capoeira Nicknames, it becomes much harder to trace when someone did something he shouldn't.

My teacher was called "Kangaroo". Apparently, he used to play basketball and even though he was rather short and small framed, he did this name all honors. The other guy I trained with on my first day was "Soldado". He wasn't actually a soldier, but to his first teacher, he apparently looked like one and more often than not, that is all that matters. Over the course of my time, I got to know a lot of different capoeiristas, both novices like me and actual masters. And their names were as ridiculous as they were hilarious as they were fitting. For example, there was one guy, very large with red hair. I don't remember the word, but his name meant Spaghetti. Get it? Because he was long, white with something red on top? Ah, I miss these times.....

Back to these first steps

As Kangaroo told me, the first lesson is usually dedicated to the "Jinga", the most basic movement in Capoeira. It took a while to get used to it, but once you get there, it basically becomes second nature. Over the course of my time there, a lot of other new people joined in and it was always interesting to see them struggle for the first time. They all would get the hang of it eventually, though.

We also practiced very basic evasive maneuver and a Capoeira kick that actually broke my brain on that day. Simply called the "Armada", I actually felt like my legs might get twisted from how complicated and unnatural the movement felt. Look it up. It looks much simpler than it was to me back then, but as always, practice makes perfect.

Got the Batizado on my sight

Turns out that I actually joined in at an opportune time. The Capoeira group I now belonged to held Batizados here in Germany about once every year and the next one was just weeks away. Kangaroo was convinced that he could get me in shape for that, so we spend the weeks up until then practicing. The requirement were somewhat simple to explain. There were four short sequences of movements that a novice should be able to do up until that point. Given how music is such a huge part of the culture, singing along would also be a nifty thing to keep in mind.

We kept practicing rigorously and by the time the Batizado came around, I felt ready.

The Batizado

For the most part, the Batizado was a three day Capoeira workshop, with the actual baptism happening on the final day. A three day workshop in itself was awesome enough in my book, but it was also exciting to get in touch with all the different Capoeiristas from across the globe with different levels of experience. And, of course, the names.....

At the final day, a big roda with all participants, music and dancing would be held. A roda is a circle of people who watch and chant as two Capoeiristas play in the middle. It looks like this.

But much bigger and with way more participants. Everyone who wanted to officially join the rank or wanted to reach a higher rank had to play with a master of the art. You as a novice against someone who has been training and practicing for all of his life.

No pressure.

Kangaroo explained to me earlier that he, whoever "he" would be given how many masters were present, would go toe to toe with me. Holding back, of course. Towards the end of our playtime, he would then hand down my Capoeira cord. Given how I was about to join the very first rank, the cord I would receive was pure green. Depending on your rank, the colors would change. Kangaroo also said that some masters tend to lay the novice flat on their ass towards the end. Not everyone did this, so it depended on whom I would face.

Overall, I felt well prepared and ready.

I wasn't ready

After three days of workshop, the final roda happened and it was great. It also took quite a long time, given how a lot of people were present. As me and the other novices started to took turns, I noticed who would probably be the master to take me on.

A certain small portugese man who goes by the name of "Falcao", the falcon. Looking at him, nobody would expect it of him, but when he started to play in the roda, he would embrace his underhanded and sly nature to the fullest. Gone was the question of "I wonder if he will make me fall in front of everyone...".

Nope. The question was "How often would I be kissing the floor?"

The answer was a lot.

I was laying flat down on my ass a lot. But I kept standing up and kept going. After a while, the punishment was over and Falcao, sly man that he is, handed over my green cord with a benevolent grin. Oh, he was enjoying himself, I can tell. But so was I. Holding my cord in my hand, I felt accomplished. Now officially a Capoeirista, I went to another master of ours, a man called "Billa". He was basically responsible for the people for my area and thus was also the one whom I would ask about a certain thing that has been on my mind for the last couple weeks up until that point.

Alright, Billa....what's my name?

Billa is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Always in a good mood, always a smile on his face, one these people who love to say "Yes!" to life. This man looked me into my eyes, with a sly grin on his face. And he responded:

"Chocolate"

I don't think I need to translate this part. One would think that I would be mad and one would be wrong. After having met this crazy bunch of people with even more crazy names like Kangaroo, Cream Cheese and little piggy, the name seemed just right and I took it the way it was intended to be.

As a warm welcome to this charming and fascinating community.

And then what?

Sadly, I only was able to keep going doing Capoeira for about a year. Afterwards, money, time and other personal matters made it impossible to keep on training there. I still do practice from time to time myself and I am hellbent on joining a Capoeira group again, ideally this group once the opportunity shows itself.

Until then, thank you all for your loyalty and support!

Read more of Papa Rodin!