This is a thread on what I'm learning about capoeira both in terms of movement as well as historical roots and how that ties in with what I studied in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 while living in a favela called Vidigal and teaming up with a local to run a business in Santa Marta.

I did a special research paper about drug violence in Latin America at UCSB. This fascinated me with what was happening in Rio de Janeiro in the favelas which were run by drug dealers as separate states within the overall Brazilian states. I didn't expect to end up living in one.

But when I got to Rio in 2011, it was very expensive because Brazil was an economic powerhouse. So I saw a posting online in a Brazilian version of craigslist for a room and didn't know it was a favela until I got there. I ended up staying there (great separate story)

I lived in one for 4 months while armed drug dealers controlled the functioning of the community. Police only came in for short periods for bribes or to capture someone (police are very corrupt in Brazil). In preparation for the Olympics, the police "pacified" the favela....

While I was living there!

I wrote about it back then:

https://ottrio.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/sunday-morning-invasion/

I was able to see first hand what it meant to have a state within a state. See how it functioned (they were often safer than what they called the "Asfalto").

The reason I'm writing about this is that the favelas were actually part of an evolution that had been happening for many years. I thought it only started with the rise of socialist political groups (one of the big first drug gangs started as a left wing group).

But now I just learned that capoeira and where it was started (quiolombos) were actually the first time that a state within a state existed in Brazil in the 1800's. Quilombos where huge territories where escaped slaves congregated and resisted the Brazilian government.

Capoeira evolved in these Qiulombos as a martial art to resist the Portuguese officials, but even before this it started in the slave colonies because African slaves would have their wrists shackled together. The martial art still reflects this as you keep your wrists together.

Here is more info on the history. I'll now be moving onto the movement and what I'm learning:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira#Origins

A wrong but useful analogy I'm using for my study of the movement behind Capoeira is its like Yoga Asana but dynamic, or Yoga Dance. Asana is often putting yourself in a pretzel and holding for a long time (not Vinyasa). Capoeira is like this but you are dancing. Its very hard.

So if the hands are shackled together but your feet aren't, what would be the best way to move?

Well it would be to use your legs!

So there are a lot of kicks but to gain momentum for them there is a basic dance step that is incorporated. The spiral line (Tom Myers) is key.

It's similarities to partner dancing are profound. In partner dancing techniques there is a basic step from which everything revolves around. This gives both partners a base or a common language that they can innovate off of. Capoeira is about fighting instead of loving.

So the innovation is aimed at how to stay close to my opponent so that I can hurt them, while also protecting myself from them doing the same thing. Thus eye contact is important. You have to always keep your eyes on your opponent's eyes even while doing strange acrobatics.

This is really intense but also really excellent for posture due to the body's system of balance and how they relate to the nervous system. If I can explain this simply I deserve a f-ing gold metal cause it was not easy to learn.

The eyes are directly related to the muscles on the back of the head. This is because the connection with the spinal muscles are really important and in a fight or flight situation, you want your eyes and your muscles to have a very quick reaction speed, faster than "you"

So doing crazy acrobatic movements (like cartwheels) while keeping your eyes on the eyes of your opponents seems to be one of the best training for the nervous system. Your balance is completely off yet you can also keep a constant watch on your deceptive opponent.

Now I'm realizing its not only the eyes but the ears and how important the inner ear is to balance. When you move in circles you get dizzy unless you consistently practice moving in circles and then you adapt. Capoeira is like this but in all planes of motion.

Capoeira is the ultimate exercise I have found for testing all ranges of motions in all directions. It is like 3D training operations to prepare the body for 4D+ realities. Neurologically it might be the hardest activity I have ever done. Bilateral movement is so complex.

In capoeira (because the wrists were shackled for the Brazilian slaves), there is a lot of swinging motions so that the legs can be used as weapons of inertia. This requires turning the shoulders into surrogate legs and tons of bodyweight in motion (U would like @jerryteixeira)

Another challenging but important aspect of capoeira that relates to above is keeping your body very low to the ground when dodging kicks. There are a lot of single-leg squat like motions but dynamic. It is one of the best core challenges I have come across and is kicking my ass

I learned the word for what Capoeira trains like crazy: "Low Gait"

It means walking while keeping your whole body close to the earth. Its challenging.

I'm also learning about the neurological component of using all four limbs dynamically to propel the body in any direction

In modern life most of us:

Walk, sit, lie down (with a lot of sitting). We can do lots more movements but we don't. The neural pathways for many of the possible human movements just don't get used. The key thing I'm learning is how to use hands as weight bearing in motion.

Another thing I've learned is that there are a few types of pain. The one that can be pushed through is the one that shows up as a sort of annoying sensation. Its really just a sensitivity that goes away with repetition or a "change in the neural activation of the prime movers".