In 2013, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil will be hosting World Youth Day (WYD), and we were fortunate enough to be invited by some Filipino volunteers to talk a bit about Capoeira, which, in a way, is central to Brazilian culture.
“You are a monster.”
In the context of sports, this is probably the best compliment that I could ever give. If I tell you that you’re a monster, it means that you’re in more or less that physical state I aspire to be in. Earlier this year, I told myself I want to be as fit as I was back in college. Today, I pull that goal up a level higher. I want to be fit as a monster. Continue reading
Capoeira has always been known to be a “dance” type of sport. There is so much grace involved in it that people often forget that it’s a martial art. As the capoeira song “Zum Zum Zum” goes: Zum, zum, zum, Capoeira mata um! Translated to english, this means: Zum, zum, zum, Capoeira is deadly! It is. Continue reading
What Happened
I was kicked in the face last night. And I don’t mean figuratively – I mean literally kicked in the face; smack in the middle of my nose. How did it feel? Imagine a big guy’s shin (almost) whappacking on a small girl’s nose – understand now? Continue reading
This whole day, I was just waiting for my arms to finally fall off. Continue reading
Warning: contains a lot of random things about me.
Each day – or maybe at least each month – you gotta do something that you previously thought was impossible. At least attempt to do something. If you fail, no matter. Fail better the next time. As long as you don’t break your neck (or your nose) in the process, you’ll be fine. Promise.
To those who are wondering what the hell Festo do Mundo 2011 is, here’s a not-so-brief explanation. Yearly, Sinha Bahia Manila holds a big Brazilian culture event with capoeira in the center. This year, this festival was composed of a workshop, batizado, and a bangin’ brazilian presentation at the Eastwood open park.
DAY 1-2. November 9-10.
Monitor Lorem flew in from Australia specifically for this. At 29 years old and with 17 years of experience, he taught us the basics of the game Benguela. Benguela, explained badly, is the slower, smoother game of capoeira. If you think that it’s the easier game, then Lorem will be the man to prove you wrong. We weren’t that prepared to have our muscles all used up before the event but man, did we enjoy that!
DAY 3. November 11.
Friday was reserved for rehearsals and last-minute costume preparations. By that night, some people from SBC Cebu have already flown in to join us. In SBC, capoeiristas from all over the Philippines — and all over the world are considered familia. So everytime there’s something big, we send owls to different parts of the world for invitations. This year, it was graced by Monitor Lorem from Australia and some good folks from Cebu.
DAY 4. November 12.
Noon. So here it is, The Day. Although most of us haven’t rested from all the preparations (and bonding), the energia was just amazing during the batizado. Literally meaning baptism in portuguese, batizados are ceremonies in which capoeira beginners are welcomed to the family and given their first cordaos (cords). At the same time, not-so-new members receive their new cordaos depending on their level of awesomeness! In capoeira, everybody is friggin’ awesome, not necessarily because of their skills but also because of their contribution to the familia.
Afternoon to Evening. No resting allowed it seems. Right after the batizado, we headed straight to Eastwood Open Park to start our preparations for the show. Here’s what we showed off:
Late Evening. Not so fast Jafar, we ain’t done yet. in fact, the party has just started. **Content deleted. What happens in the party should stay in the party.**
That was just a taste of capoeira. Wasn’t able to join or witness that? Don’t worry, there’s gonna be an even BIGGER one this coming April 2012. 
A few years back, our Sinha Bahia Capoeira was featured in Expat Magazine — I got a bit excited when I found this in our archives. I know a lot of people are curious about it, so if you want to know how it is in the eyes of a first timer, I encourage you to read the full article.
Sinha Bahia Capoeira had a demo class at SMX last Saturday for the Sports and Fitness Expo 2011. We were sponsored by a certain “VIBRAM Five Fingers” — I mean, what the hell is that? It doesn’t sound so sporty to me. So anyway, I found out they were actually shoes.
And if you ask me, they shoulda been called “FiveToes” instead. Ugly if you just look at ‘em, but the concept is pretty cool. It’s supposed to lessen the cushion between you and the ground so you actually get to use the muscles on your feet. That way, you get to do sports — run, trek, climb, yoga, do martial arts or even water sports — as if you’re barefooted. Pretty much the same concept as Nike Free. And it’s as expensive too. This particular design, Sprint, is worth a little less than P5,000.
Side note: I found out about this from the January 2011 issue of Runner’s World, whose cover features a guy from the office — Javy Olives.
Anyway, here are some photos from the event.
If you want to go all natural with your sports, this is a pretty good alternative to your good ‘ol running shoes. I imagine using this on my trekking/water sports trips. Quite excited to use them again, actually. Outdoors this time. Even if they may look a bit stupid.
I’m sure that when you hear the word “pole dancing”, a lot of questions come to your mind: Do they play Bon Jovi music in class? Do they dim the lights for a sexy effect? Isn’t that supposed to be an all girls class? Tonight we found out that almost everything we thought about pole dancing was wrong.
After work this evening, some office mates and I went to Jollijam Arts Center in Makati to try it for the first time.
From left to right: 2 regular students, and then my office mates Kimbee, Jean, Marj and Val
