But It Hurts

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A group of people stretching, balancing with their legs spread wide, leaning on their hands.

Boemio and C. Mestre Fenix stretching at a workshop.

It’s hard to train in pain.

Athletes do it all the time. Toughness on the field, off the field, in the gym there’s merit to grit, but a lot of times it worsens injuries. Yoga instructors preach listening to your body.

Capoeirista’s should do the same.

I get it if a muscle cramps, or it feels overworked, and to want to skip out on a training sessions, but that’s not a good excuse to skip training. Capoeira is full of things to work on from the dances, music, songs, the language (Portuguese), and the rich, complex history of the art. It’s not the easiest to find, but it’s doable (thank you internet.)

I remember one time at Rutgers, a friend of mine got hurt.

His knee popped during one of the exercises, and he was on crutches for weeks. My roommate and I felt terrible, and we wanted to do something special. We talked to the rest of the students in the class and raised some funds. We went online, and checked out a few sources.

The next week we surprised him with a berimbau.

He got to work on it during the practices. It didn’t force him to stay at home, and he could do more than just watch. He continued to be part of the class. He actually got really good.

It was one of the better berimbau players we had in our group at the time.

Injury doesn’t stop training, but redirect it. Let it shift the focus on another aspect of the multi-disciplined martial art. There’s always something to work on.

Get to it.

 

Show Up

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Three men wokring on a movement, balancing on one arm and one leg.

Rutgers Capoeira students workingo n movements

Reading about habits makes it seem so easy.
 
That’s like saying imagine if all you had to do was show up. Show up to that empty dance space, and suddenly, your arms are stronger. You have more balance in your handstands. Your kicks require less effort, and you can finally link them together. The first time in years you’re able to execute a macaco.
 
It’s not a farfetched as it seems.
 
Getting there’s the battle. It’s not having enough time, or forgetting to pack something you need there. Showing up is the first step. How else you are you going to have the space?
It’s a trick question- you don’t really need space.
 
You do need switch the style up. Angola is something that can be in tight quarters, focusing on staying low and closed, moving around a partner with a closeness that is absolutely necessary. That also means in that in most cases, it can be done in most rooms. Adding a chair usually helps a work out.
 
But even just forcing your self to go can do so much for your training, especially if the struggle is starting.

Rest is Okay

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Man watches two others work a modified couch position necessary in capoeira.

Graduado Pintado covering over a sequence

Off days are a reality of any practice.

Sometimes it’s necessary to walk away for a day. Rest up. Give the practice a soft reset to realign focus, figuring how to start up again. It could prevent taking a longer breaks that aren’t planned, or at least give something else a bit of attention.

I feel guilty about not training.

But it’s okay, because I’m still working on some aspect of my capoeira. It’s an aspect of my practice I didn’t realized need so much work, but applying attention to the business is the only way to draw more students to my classes. Empty class speaks to my business, and having no students doesn’t let me work on my teaching.

This is something I never considered coming up in capoeira.

Learning how to run a business is not the same as training, working on music, working on physique, and keeping a game strong. It’s different set of skills that if not being practiced, aren’t growing. I learned this only recently in the two years I’ve been an instructor. Mind you, this is only one part of being an instructor.

Capoeira force­s balance there is always something to work on.

 

Kickin’ It

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Boemio, Rutgers Capoeira

Graduado Boemio throwing an armada

You learn a lot from getting kicked.

It creates a check list of different thoughts after the impact:

  • Did that just happen?
  • Am I okay?
  • Was it my fault?
  • Why did it happen?
  • Could I have esquiva’d lower?
  • Was my timing off?
  • When was the last time I trained?
  • Am I training hard enough?

You don’t get more points for the amount of yes answers.

It’s a part of the game, and it’s why this is a martial art. The potential of that impact is why we train, why we learn to dodge, and why we protect ourselves when we dodge. Worse of all, it hurts.

If the injury is significant, I hope recovery is the only concern. I’ve been lucky enough not to sustain a big injury while I played, but I must never pretend like it never will. Even with the best training and fitness available, it’s always a possibility.

Always know it can happen, then you can be comfortable with the risk.

 

Keep Going

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Rutgers Capoeira warming up

It took a long time for me to be comfortable with my capoeira.

Of course, I was excited about it. I wanted to share it with everyone I knew. For as long as I could remember, if you knew who James E. Green III was, you also knew he did capoeira as well (maybe not what it is or even what it looks.) It consumed me as I learned it, and it’s why I still study and practice it today.

The excitement of training resonating with my friends who trained also, and we had tons of fun in class, at events, and even when we occasionally trained on our own. We called them Capo Chills. We went out to public park-esque portion of our dormitory, working all everything. We worked music, movements from class, and made sure to work on our games as well.

With a lot of that gone, I can’t rely on others for that excitement. I have to create myself. I have to hone my skills to make sure when I play, I can play confidently. I have to make sure to play comfortably. Kicks thrown with insecurity create a dangerous environment for everyone. You learn the kicks, and it doesn’t take long to know how it’s done correctly, but throw those kicks with proper form on instinct takes time and repetition.

Comfort came from consistency. It came from practice.

Now I must be persistent to regain my comfort.