Capoeira me chama

"Capoeira me chama, e eu vou atender, entra na roda sem medo, com malicia e segredo, pra mi defender..."
"Capoeira calls me, I'm going to respond, to enter the roda without fear, with trickery and mystery, to defend myself..."

I have been training capoeira for about 4 years and feel like I want to learn more and more. I am just beginning to understand the basics and complexity of this beautiful Afro-Brazilian art-form. For me, capoeira is so many things, it is a dance, a fight, a rhythm, a song, a philosophy, a spiritual union, a cultural expression, a long history that is constantly evolving. Capoeira has had a powerful impact on my life in many ways. Through it I've met life-long friends, including my love, and I've learned many things about myself and lessons on how to move myself with grace and confidence in all aspects of life.

At this point in my growth in capoeira I am beginning to move past imitating whatever is demonstrated by the person leading the class and am beginning to search and develop my own style. In this search for my own identity I have come across the question that all capoeiristas face at some point, do I want to play regional, angola, or 'contemporaneo.' The first group I trained with in New York, Guerreiros, played 'contemporaneo' which incorporates movements from both angola and regioinal. I learned the 'chamadas' of angola, as well as the armadas and other fast round kicks developed by Mestre Bimba, the creator of regional.

When I moved to DC and joined Capoeira Males, I soaked up a more regional style of the game, playing mainly to faster rhythms. However, one of my housemates is part of an angola group, Fica. When I have gone to visit this angola group I have been told that I must make a choice between capoeira angola and regional, it is not possible to be proficient in both. This does not make sense to me. Before Mestre Bimba created "regional" in 1932, there was only one capoeira. I want to learn everything I can about capoeira, from the roots that go back to before Mestre Bimba set standards to the art form and formed the first schools, to what capoeira is evolving to today as it is practiced by many groups around the world. Then I want to draw on all of the tools and methods of the universe of capoeira to develop a style that works for me.

I think that I follow the philosopy of Carybe, who trained both with Mestre Pastinha and Mestre Bimba: "Each mestre is a style. Capoeira is just one and he who commands the game is the berimbau with its own rhythms and songs."