Cientista
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Homepage: http://australiacapoeira.com.au
Posts by Cientista
Batizado review
Nov 4th
By Cavalheiro
Capoeira Brasil, Team Potigu
ara had their 2nd batizado at the beginning of October – ” Vem Jogar Mais Eu” For some of us, the event was our first batizado and a recognition of our progress since we began learning capoeira with Professora Potiguara. For the more senior members, this was an acknowledgement of their leadership and service to the team and signified their readiness to undertake greater responsibilities within the group. The week started with a series of workshops, the first led by Instructor Mercurio from Group Capeora Brasil New Zealandand, then subsequent ones led by Mestre Boneco. We learnt some sequences created by M. Boneco specially designed to build the foundations for offensive and evasive manoeuvres. We learnt how to apply feigned offensive movements to control a game and manipulate the opponent. These workshops were quite intense and tested our fitness to the limit (I would be the first to admit that I did not complete the 100 sit-ups and 100 push-ups at the end of the workshop day 2!); they were however very rewarding in developing confidence and fluidity in our games. The most inspiring aspects of these workshops I found were the philosophies on capoeira, especially how the lessons learnt in training can be applied to real life. I was particularly inspired by Instructor Mercurio’s story of how capoeira gave him a future away from a life of crime in the disadvantaged areas of Brazil. To me, his story is perhaps a reminder of what capoeira stands for, that it provides hope of freedom from oppression, be it an oppressor from the outside (colonial occupation) or of our own demons.
The week concluded with the batizado itself under the supervision of Mestre Boneco and attended by many prominent guest capoeristas in the Australian capoeira community. To see these guests play and have Mestre Boneco instill his infectious energy into the roda was exhilarating and amazing to watch. We played well in the roda with the mestres and other guests, showcasing the strength of our group. We are indebted to our Professora Potiguara for organising this week-long event and inviting all the guest capoeristas. For a first-timer attendee like myself, the batizado is a most valuable learning experience. It was humbling to discover the depth, richness and complexity of the capoeira culture. At the same time, the event also inspired me to improve myself both in and outside of the roda. We are very fortunate to also have two recreational workshops (Brazilian drumming and samba) and a forro after-party organised for us to enjoy the festive side of Brazilian culture. I must say that all the girls shown exceptional talent in samba and are performance-ready with one day of workshop; I wish the same can be said for the guys (myself included)!
It remains to thank our Professora Potiguara not only for organising the batizado, but also for her leadership and teachings. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the guests that attended our event and UTS sports union for their support.
September update
Oct 17th
The month of September for Team Potiguara was a hectic month of preparations and training. This is what we train for and wow, it was worth it. The 2nd Batizado held in the very beginning of October was an amazing success, and there really isn’t much more to say about it. Pictures, videos and reviews will soon be available on the website www.australiacapoeira.com.au
A huge thankyou to Potiguara for all your hard work, Suado, who put in above and beyond expectations in the organisation of the event, all the members of the club who were simply fantastic, and of course the groups Master, Mestre Boneco. Obrigado Mestre!
The grading day was a great event, everyone had fun and we all learnt a lot. Congratulations to all the capoeiristas that graduated and everyone else that else graded and participated. The mood from the end of the event was that the club is now again more motivated to make next years event even bigger, to train harder and continue to grow the group.
The capoeira club would like to thank the UTS Union for their continued support. The event would not have happened with this success without you.
Photos and videos will be coming soon.
cientista
June Update
Jul 16th
Team Potiguara has expanded metaphorically and geographically recently with more activities, participation, members and events, and Mariana, their trainer, heading off to Brasil for some Capoeira roots. This wasn’t a smooth process at all however, as various volcanoes grounded many Australians for over a week, Mariana being one of them!
This has truly been a very productive and exciting month for us. The club has announced the dates for their 2nd batizado. The week long event is from 3rd to 8th of October and planning has begun. Fundraising has begun and the ball is rolling This event will again invite our master Mestre Boneco to Australia, as well as other international and local guests to share their knowledge with the group.
Some of the clubs members have been missed recently with holidays and injuries (black eyes and blood noses), but the club is looking forward to having them all back very soon. The Capoeira club will be producing its second annual newsletter at the end of next month, so be on the lookout for that. This issue will pay respects to the late Mestre Roxinho, who passed recently, a loss for the Capoeira world, a great and inspirational player and master.
The clubs monthly roda’s will continue. These events include a Gincana, as a welcome to the new raw chords. If you miss this one, further events will be announced on the events page of the website. We would like to congratulate the new raw chords to the club. We hope this is just the beginning of their Capoeira journey. The June Roda of the month was a great success, fantastic games and heaps of energy. The Capoeira club is offering free trial classes to UTS students on Saturdays and Tuesdays throughout June and July at 6:30pm followed by a beginners course. For more information, please use the contact us form on the website.
Obrigado,
Cientista
May Update
May 30th
We have announced the dates for our 2nd batizado. The week long event is from 3rd to 8th of October and we have already started planning. Fundraising has begun and the ideas are flowing. This event will again invite our master Mestre Boneco to Australia, as well as other international and local guests to share their knowledge with the group.
Big News: We have now also been incorporated as the Oz Capoeira Association with the NSW government. This will introduce the club to new sponsorship and funding opportunities, as well as greater exposure to the activities of our group, Brasilian culture and our passion of Capoeira
The clubs monthly roda’s will continue. These events include a Gincana, as a welcome to the new raw chords. If you miss this one, further events will be announced on the events page of the website. We would like to congratulate the new raw chords to the club. We hope this is just the beginning of their Capoeira journey. May’s Roda of the month was a great success, fantastic games and heaps of energy. We must’ve been doing something right because we broke a total of 3 arame’s!
The Capoeira club is offering free trial classes to UTS students on Saturday the 4th June at 12pm and Tuesday 7th June at 6:30pm followed by a beginners course. For more information, please use the contact us form on the website.
Mestre Peixe’s International Capoeira Festival and batizado
May 25th
On Saturday the 7th of May 2011, Team Potiguara from Group Capoeira Brasil, went along to Mestre Peixe’s XVI International Capoeira Festival/Batizado, held in Darling Harbour. The event started off by forming 5 small rodas around the centre stage where quick games were played. Subsequently one single main roda was formed where we got the opportunity to see Mestre Zumbi and Mestre Cal Matos (2 of the main guests from the event) play. New cordas were given to the members of Mestre Peixe’s school starting from the highest and finishing with the lowest. As each level was awarded, the students played the Mestres and with other students at that level. After all the cordas were awarded, there was a maculelê performance, solos were performed and then came a Samba dance off and a Brazilian percussion (Batucada) performance by the members of Mestre Peixe’s group.
Being relatively new to Capoeira, we learned a lot about the different aspects of the game by observing the higher belts play in the roda. The ritualistic movements that were performed by Mestre Boneco and Mestre Zumbi in the Angola games were very interesting. It was exciting to see our master Mestre Boneco getting in to the Roda with his fast paced games as some of us had never seen him play in real life prior to this moment. He has a very powerful stature. It was also fantastic to see our Professora Potiguara playing against the Mestres and Professores. It was an ideal opportunity for us to play with and learn from other capoeristas at this event.
“It was great to see the strength and depth of the Brazilian Culture presented on the day. Capoeira is more than kicking and esquivas, it is the music, the people, the maculelê, the samba, the ritmo… just like the Mestres we should embrace all aspects and will get more out of it for doing so! (Just don’t forget to esquiva!)” – Energia
We had a lot of fun at the Batizado and this has been a great showcase for Brasilian culture here in Sydney.
Written by Acai and Energia
March update
Mar 30th
This month is the UTS Capoeira Club president Mariana’s birthday. Parabens para voçê, Mariana.
Training has continued with the injection of some new students and a jam packed beginner course. We welcome the new students and have already participated in some events from visiting experts Including a workshop from one of Capoeira Brasil Instructors from Rio De Janeiro who spent 3 months traveling and teaching workshops in Australia.
The next monthly roda will be on Saturday the 2nd of April at 1:30pm. This event will include a Gincana, as a welcome to the new raw chords. Or if you miss this one, further events will be announced on the events page.
The UTS club will be releasing our first newsletter for the year soon, watch this space for the new and improved newsletter
The Capoeira club is offering free trial classes to UTS students followed by a beginners course next month.
The dates for the free trial classes are:
- Thursday 14th at 6:30pm – Newtown
- Saturday 16th at 12pm – UTS Fitness Centre
- Tuesday 19th at 7:30pm – UTS Fitness Centre
For more information, please use the contact us form.
Until the next update…muito axe,
- Cientista
February update
Feb 25th
A new year brings a new focus for the UTS Capoeira club. The club held its third AGM and have refocussed and revamped. At the AGM, the club planned out its next year, with more events, newsletters, members benefits and social activities for UTS students. The club is set to grow and concentrate on providing the best they can for all members.
Training has started well, with the return of a couple of students from long breaks, including Ruth, who has returned after having her second baby. The club has already participated in some events from visiting experts and are planning their own workshop/event for later in the year.
The Capoeira club has also promised and will commit to monthly roda’s which started on 26th February and then be held every month following. Mariana, (President and trainer) will also be doing some more travel this year, in order to represent out club.
The Capoeira club represented well in the UTS Open day, where they are well under way to hitting their goal of more members. The Capoeira club is looking forward to their opportunity to show of their skills and art further at the opening of the new UTS sports facility. 2011 is already promising to be a very successful year for the UTS Capoeira club.
The Capoeira club is offering free trial classes to UTS students which will be held on the 12th March at the UTS Fitness centre and begginers course starting the week after that (19th March).
Axe – Cientista
2010 Review
Feb 21st
For the UTS Capoeira Club 2010 has been mainly about the batizado & troca de cordão, i.e. the grading & changing of cords, which was held in October. This is a very important event in capoeira, as it gives all club members & capoeiristas a chance to get graded, change cords, and learn from their master and each other. This was the very first such event that the UTS Capoeira Club had organised, so it was a very special occasion for all of us.
Mestre Boneco, one of the best and most respected capoeiristas in the world, was invited especially from LA for this batizado. Leading up to the grading, he gave one week of intensive and informative workshops, in which most of the club members participated and learned a lot. Other guests from Sydney attended the grading, which was a great success.
A lot of work and effort was necessary to get this event set up, and organisation started already at the beginning of the year. Several fundraising parties were held, as well as a chocolate fundraising campaign. All club members helped in the organising and raising money to fund the batizado.
Other events throughout the year included several traditional “gincana” competitions, where new members are welcomed into the club and are given their white (or “raw”) cord, as well as a capoeira nickname. Many new beginners joined the UTS Capoeira Club in the course of the year.
To diversify the training some special training sessions were held at Five Dock Gymnasium. The focus of these training sessions was on acrobatic movements, such as back flips and somersaults. As the gym is equipped with professional gymnastics and acrobatics equipment these moves can be practised specifically there.
On a few occasions Professora Potiguara went overseas to take part in capoeira events and gradings in Brazil and the USA. Much knowledge and many new moves and techniques are always brought back from such events and are passed on the club members.
The club also represented well at the UTS Open day, amazing the crowds with their energy, enthusiasm and spectacular performance.
Until the next update…Axe!
Cientista
Batizado
Nov 18th
Firstly, thanks.
Thanks to Mestre Boneco for coming out to Australia for our batizado. It really meant a lot to us. Not only did we get a chance to meet and get to know you better, learn from your extensive experiences, we also got your blessing in the form of a recognition of our skills and commitment and validation of the group. This is no doubt, the first of many great batizados you will supervise from our quality group.
Thanks to Professora Potiguara, for taking the step and organising the batizado for us. Thanks for believing in us, and for giving us the confidence to learn more, to play more. I know that Capoeira isn’t about the colour chord you wear, but our batizado is about the recognition of all the hard work we have done, plus it really does feel good to get a new chord. I’m pretty sure I speak for all here.
I have heard many a master say (Mestre Boneco included) that as you learn more in Capoeira, you realise how much you still have to learn. The first step of course, is realising that this is true in life as well, not just in the roda. I now understand more about what this means, from listening to Mestre Boneco in the workshops, from training with my new chord and from reflecting on the batizado.
I once saw a Capoeira game between Mestre Boneco and Mestre Curumim. The anticipation, as a relative beginner, of watching these two great Capoeiristas go at it with amazing kicks, flips, twists, strength, agility etc was met with a game that even more impressive than all of that. In the entire game, not one kick was kicked, not one flip was flipped, in fact the most complicated move I saw was a ginga switch, and it was not a short game. This has impressed me for a number of years now, but I have finally understood why.
It takes decades to get to the stage where you can go into a roda and just ginga.
There is no way a beginner could enter a roda and not do anything, but Mestre Boneco can! We start with nothing, and we slowly build up our skills, adding kicks, acrobatics, movements, takedowns, etc. The next stage is using all the movements we know in appropriate places sand circumstances until we have mastered the movements and the art of Capoeira. Finally, the minimalist emerges. This is pure art, once you have mastered your particular art, you can start exploring just what you can accomplish with less and less, but only once you know all the fundamentals and complexities. The minimalist movement in art includes some of the most talented and technically gifted artists. The real skill is seeing what you can do without all of that. Minimalist painters know this when they paint a black square canvas. Authors know this when their book is finished, not when no more can be added, but when no more can be taken out. Poets know this when they write a haiku. Musicians know this when they write a song with one note (or even no music).
Less is more
Those who know nothing try to do everything, and those who know everything try to do nothing. A beginner in a roda will try doing all their moves that they know all at once, a Master will do the opposite, they will try and complete as many things as possible with the fewest movements.
I am nowhere near this stage, I am still developing my game, I still have many movements to learn, my technique is not perfect, and I have along way to go before it is. The point of this realisation, is that I now know what I am aiming for. I have a long term Capoeira goal. I know what kind of Capoeirsta I want to be, and will be. Not only has this cemented a long term goal, it has changed my short term goal. I will now try as hard as I can to know when to apply the right movement. The technique of the perfect rasteira is the first step in know exactly when not to apply the perfect rasteira!
So watch out in the roda, I will be trying to do less and less!
Great class on Sat 23rd
Jan 25th
Class on Saturday at the UTS was a really good class I thought. There was a good energy and we worked hard on developping skills we have learnt in the past.
I particularly appreciated the comment Professora Potiguara made about space and distance in the roda. I think this is a constant consideration when we train and play capoeira. I think we sometimes get carried away with things like kicks and acro, and forget other really important things (fundamentals) such as timing and distance.
It was great to be reminded of things like that. It made a difference I think, cos during a game later on in the session, I took Suado down with a well timed and spaced Tesoura, it was cool to see that our training had paid off, plus it was just cool to take him down!
Axe
Cientista
