Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai

Kunshan capoeira trip. Should be at 9am, but train had not been waiting for me.

Even though it started later for me, I did not miss the main thing – RODA.

Special roda. Our strong team of capoeira beginners got the light green belts.

Open air, smell of green grass and genius capoeristas made this trip very cool.

Salve!!!

2 Videos from the show of the students of Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai at the Ke Center theatre:

First the Roda
http://capoeirashanghai.com/video/ke_center/May2010_Show_Ke_Center_Roda.mp4

Then the Batucada
http://capoeirashanghai.com/video/ke_center/May2010_Show_Ke_Center_Batucada.mp4

Axe

Virtual

Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai will participate to Shanghai Repertory Theater [SRT] Spring Arts Festival 2010 with Maculele, Capoeira and Batucada Show!

All the students are invited to participate and to wear the white Mandinga uniform.

Friday 21st and Sunday 23rd of May 8:00pm!

Venue: Ke Center for Contemporary Arts, 613-B Kai Xuan Road (near Yan’an West Road)

Opa Camaras,

Enjoy the video from our roda in ZhongShan Park on May 1st!!

Salve

Virtual

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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Oi Camaras,

The pictures from our trip to Kunshan are online, please check here →

Congratulations to Dalila, Gata, Matrioshka, Falcão and Rino for their new Cordão.

Salve

This was how the Brazilian Band greeted the around 500 guests in Latina Restaurant on Saturday 20.03.2010 for the Brazilian Carnival in Shanghai.

The atmosphere was like in Brazil: Traditional Brazilian carnival music, people dancing to pagode, forro and axe music, caipirinhas (the Brazilian national drink) being served in huge quantities and Brazilian samba girls dancing on stage in their beautiful sexy costumes…

It showed the international carnival crowd another tradition of Brazilian life and culture. Amidst all these traditional elements and presentations, there is certainly one cultural aspect which should not be omitted, and that is CAPOEIRA – the cultural heritage of Brazil, a sport which shows a great deal of Brazilian culture and history, a mixture of martial art, dance and music.

The performance was presented by Grupo Capoeira Mandinga, the only capoeira group in Shanghai. The space was limited, the “roda (playing circle)” small and tight, but with the berimbau (traditional one-string music instrument) leading the rhythm and songs for 20 capoeiristas, and a cheering international crowd, the atmosphere was energetic and it was the perfect time to show this beautiful Brazilian art form.

The capoeiristas played and showed all the art’s acrobatic “movimentos”, beautiful “golpes” and rhythmic “gingas”. The mixtures make the beauty of the game, and so it was exciting to see the different styles of the capoeiristas. Some impressed the crowd with radical acrobatic maneuvers, some played a smooth and stylish slow game, and some performed with many kicks and fighting movements, always controlled in order not to harm the opponent but forcing him/her to defend or launch a counterattack.

The show lasted for about 15 minutes and impressed upon everyone just how much this Brazilian cultural heritage has spread all over the world – even to Shanghai.

More photos here.

Capoeira exhibition for the opening of Greenlife NPO’s new office

On the 18th of March 2010, after years of managing their activities from their home, the non-profit-organisation for environmental protection Greenlife NPO celebrated the opening ceremony of their new office in Luwan District, Shanghai. Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai took part in the set of performances to entertain the guests, which included Chinese traditional dancing, contemporary dancing, a comedian show, and a couple of music performances.

Over ten capoeristas displayed their kicking, singing and percussion abilities for a crowd of more than 250 people. Most of the audience −mainly Chinese and Japanese− wasn’t familiar with the art, but after a couple of minutes of uncertainty on their faces, they soon grasped the fun of the game and the rhythm of the music, then the clapping and cheering spread in the hall. The climax of the show came when Guerreiro went upside down in a solid bananera, that provoked a wave of excited gasping. The acrobatic position and his upper body −lush with masculinity and suddenly unveiled by the fall of his T-shirt− were equally compelling. Sushi delighted us with a flash come back from Japan appearing just before the show to treat us with his neat technique. The audience didn’t notice, but Pombinha could not overlook his change in shape since he left the group.

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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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