Capoeira

Martial Arts were always conflicting for me: Some stuff on TV looked really great and I had really loved to do things like Jackie Chan, but in the end I knew it would come down to breaking somebody's nose with a straight punch. When I started studying at the University of Economics in Vienna last year, I found a broad range of sporting facilities only for students, an offer that included many Martial Arts. After attending one lesson at TaeKwonDo and JuiJitsu, I was almost fed up with the idea of fighting in a playful and graceful way - in fact, that was until I came across Capoeira, the smallest and most modest offer there was. What I found was ideally suited to me: tons of weird movements such as twisted cartwheels, slanting backflips and handstands, one hand spins of overstretched bodies and much more. To put it short, I was heavily impressed by the cool movements those people pulled off. Between the stunts common fighting moves were thrown in, performed at an incredible pace. Although Brazilians regard Capoeira as a game rather than as a fighting form, I would definitely not recommend seriously challenging a Capoeirista; kicks are often executed from a spinning movement and gain so much swing that a hit can pull you off your feet (thankfully it rarely comes that far). What I like about Capoeira is that it never gets too serious and tense; You have to flow with the rhythm, react, initiate, taunt, have fun.. Most of this relaxed atmosphere comes from the music, an indispensable part of living Capoeira. People gather in a circle, the Roda, which is presided by the Berimbau player. Accompanying him are some drummers who contribute the base rhythm. A singer intonates a song (in Portuguese), the chorus joins in for the refrain and the game commences. Various rites are connected with performing Capoeira, for example the journey around story/" class="wiki-link" title="Viac o: anglictina">anglictina/the-world/" class="wiki-link" title="Viac o: the world">the world (volta ao mundo; Players walk in a big circle inside the Roda for recovering), the Chamada (typical for Capoeira Angola; resembles my dancing lessons back in school) or the buying of the game by putting one arm between the Players (only Capoeira Regional). As for Capoeira Angola and Capoeira Regional: they are the two major styles, with Regional evolving during the 30ies of this century out of Angolan.