Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai

Our camara Maxim Han has translated a part of the wikipedia’s article “List of capoeira techniques” into Chinese. This part contains Chinese explanation of defensive movements such as Cocorinha, Esquiva, Resistência, etc.

This is the first translation in Chinese. Hope it will be useful for all capoeiristas all across China.

二、防守动作

Queda de Quatro 奇达-德-夸托

这是最简单的一种防守动作。练习者蹲姿收缩躯干，双脚接触地面，胸部贴住膝盖，一只手臂保护躯干和头部，另一只手支撑地面。 一种变化是，当蹲下时，双手交叉在面部的前上方。

Esquiva 厄斯奇巴（闪避）

直译是“逃跑 (escape)” 或 “躲藏 (dodge)”. 有多种的形式存在，不过都跟将头部和躯干移向攻击方向的另一侧。厄斯奇巴 使卡波耶拉得以与其他武术区分开，因为厄斯奇巴 仅仅是沿着攻击路线躲开，之后进行针锋相对或更具杀伤力的反击。对卡波耶拉里那些凶猛的腿法，如果不是躲开而是去硬碰格挡的话，会受到更大的伤害。格挡对手的攻击会使游戏的节奏和气氛被破坏，因此，相比之下，在轮圈（Roda）里，厄斯奇巴就用的更多了。格挡动作偶尔也会用，往往是练习者在疏忽大意的时候下意识地用出，最常见的情况是格挡手部攻击。

• Esquiva de Baixa 厄斯奇巴-德-巴沙

  也被称作 厄斯奇巴-德-芬彻(Esquiva de Frente)，“低位躲闪”，看起来像是姿态极低的劲戈。后腿完全向后打开，使臀部靠近地面。上身也向前弯下使头部位置降低。如果左腿是在后面则右手支持在地面，左手则用来保护头部和面部。

• Esquiva Lateral 厄斯奇巴-拉特瑞

  “侧闪”或“侧躲”的意思。当双脚平行的时候实施。这种躲闪仅仅是将上身顺着对手的进攻方向的一侧降低重心，一只手抬起保护头部，也可将手放在面部前方保护。许多流派将不做防护动作的那只手撑在地面，使姿态更低。

• Esquiva Diagonal 厄斯奇巴-迭亚过那

  这是一种在躲闪的同时向前移动的动作。与直接向下或向一侧躲开的 厄斯奇巴-拉特瑞（Esquiva Lateral）或厄斯奇巴-德-芬彻（esquiva de frente）动作不同，卡波耶拉练习者向攻击方向的斜对角方向移动，前脚相对于后脚垂直，上身蜷伏在膝盖高度，成一种低姿态的弓步。一只手根据攻击的方向抬起保护面部，另一只手保持身体平衡。这是一种相当有用的闪避动作，因为许多反击动作可以从这个姿势实施而节省时间，例如马代落（martelo，锤），甘绰（gancho，钩子）或是文伽提瓦（vingativa，别腿摔）。

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Our camara Maxim Han has translated a part of the wikipedia’s article “List of capoeira techniques” into Chinese. This part contains Chinese explanation of basic movements such as ginga, aú, balança, cadeira, bananeira, macaco, negativa, rolê, etc.

This is the first translation in Chinese. Hope it will be useful for all capoeiristas all across China.

Ginga 劲戈

Ginga

Ginga 劲戈 (发音：jin ga。字面意思：前后移动；回转).劲戈是卡波耶拉的基础动作。该动作在安哥拉(Angola)卡波耶拉和瑞吉欧内(Regional)卡波耶拉中的形式有所不同。在安哥拉系统中，劲戈是非常自由和个性化的，但在瑞吉欧内系统里，则是比较固定的形式但仍允许个人风格的发挥。在两个体系中的动作内容都是：两脚大约与肩同宽分前后站立，类似于中国武术动作中的“弓步”，但后腿不应绷紧以保持弹力，两脚以一定节奏不断交替变换位置，从垂直地面的方向看，形成了三角步的步法。

在劲戈中可准备其他动作：躲藏，闪避，佯攻和进攻。它可使卡波耶拉武者保持不间断的运动，使他们成为令人头痛的对手。

身体的其余部分也会牵涉入劲戈：手臂:协调动作(以保护身体不被攻击)，躯干:(许多核心肌群会参与，不过取决于个人的风格)，身体的倾斜（与脚一起前后移动；身体向后可以避开攻击，向前则可以创造攻击机会）。整个的动作节奏应跟随鼓点（bateria，巴特落）。劲戈也被认为是卡波耶拉的招牌动作，很少有武术像卡波耶拉那样通过劲戈进行固定的节奏运动。一个例外可能是朝鲜半岛独有的武术“跆跟”。

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Oi Camaras!

Here the new songs we have been singing recently.

• La na Bahia, corre água sem chover
• A Navalha
• Besouro Mangangá
• Cordao De Ouro é Besouro Manganga

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• Ê dalila
• Areia, o areia
• Eu não sou daqui capoeira
• Tem Que Ter Axe
• Sinhá Vou Jogar Capoeira
• Berimbau Chamou
• Tem que ter mandinga
• Catarina (Rala côco)
• É o mar vai virar sertão
• Bate no batuque
• Maculelê Songs

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Mestre Marcelo Caverinha

In continuation with my last post, I will address some more aspects of stretching. This time I will talk about muscle isolation. I will apply this to both injury prevention and flexibility.

First, muscle isolation is a misnomer. I use this term to describe ways to stretch individual and groups of tendons, ligaments and muscles. Which one of these are you actually stretching at any one time? No one really knows. Still, I use this term for simplicity.

I will start with an example. Our camara Virtual talked to me about a sore muscle that had been bothering him for a while but he could not stretch it. Every time he tried to stretch, other muscle groups got in the way. These muscle groups would pull tight before he could pull the sore muscle tight. He asked me if I knew how he could stretch the muscle. I did not know. However, I did know how to stretch muscles close to it. I had him use a normal stretching technique that stretched muscles near his injury. By slightly adjusting the position of his body and relative positions of his torso and legs, he was able to pull the sore muscle tight and stretch it. In other words, he was able to isolate the sore muscle. This is what I mean by muscle isolation.

To be more specific, his injured muscle was on the outside of his hip, just above and in front of the ball and socket joint of his hip.

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Mestre Suassuna playing the berimbau
Magnificent display of how the berimbau is such a cool musical instrument.

1. Introduction

Originally brought to Brazil in the 1500′s by Bantu slaves from Africa and used to accompany the famous dance called capoeira (a sort of a martial art were two fighters are training while berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque and agogo bells play the rhythm).

The berimbau was also a means of communication used by slaves to prevent being understood by their masters and is considered a sacred instrument.

It is consists of… (Read more)

Shanghai tambem tem
Tem Capoeira
E o grupo qual e
E Capoeira Mandinga (Solo sings then chorus repeats)

Capoeira globalizada
Nasceu como uma flor
No meio da China
E Capoeira de valor

Ohhhhh no parque Zhong-shang
Nao esquece de mandar
Um abraco pro Guerreiro
E o povo que esta la

Shanghai tambem tem
Entra pra jogar
Toca, canta e bate palma
Pra a roda animar

Written by Contra Mestre Batatinha

Capoeira Song Compendium Version 1.0 International (PDF, 400 Kb)
A compendium of the most widely sung Capoeira songs with their English translations. Plus a guide on Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation, a capoeira glossary, an article about religion and its connection to Capoeira and other articles about Capaoeira songs.

Capoeira Lyrics: Cantigas, Ladainhas, Maculelê (PDF, 1 Mb)
Popular Capoeira’s songs lyrics, 60 pages without translation.

Capoeira’s Songs Lyrics Pack (.doc in zip-archive, 187 kb)
8 documents with popular songs lyrics.

Since people ask me about stretching frequently, I figure I should write something about it here. I’ll break stretching in to two categories: injury prevention and flexibility. I encourage everyone to stretch for injury prevention. Flexibility is for those who are a little more masochistic.

Whether you are stretching for flexibility or health, there are a few main elements to keep in mind. The most important of which is self-awareness. Self-awareness does not just mean knowing whether something hurts; it is much more holistic. While stretching, remember how tired you are, how much you have exercised, what exercises you did, etc. These, as well as other factors, should affect the way you stretch. Self-awareness also means that you should understand what you body is telling you. The most important factor is pain, which unfortunately is a necessary part of stretching. It is important to understand the difference between good pain and bad pain. For example, stretching an injured muscle will feel different from stretching a healthy muscle. Stretching a healthy muscle and “over-stretching” a healthy muscle feel different too. I can not tell you the difference in feeling, so it is up to you to develop this sense. Read the rest of this entry »