The distant thump of the drum quickens my hearbeat, and the pace of my steps.

The soulful singing, beckons me into the thick of the roda. Instantly I am one. Eu sou Bantus capoeira.

The clapping takes me to a trance like state. I scan, and I see the various extensions of myself, in the friends that I now call family. My family. Bantus.

I see a familiar face. Beth from Bantus Australia. I see Soldado from Capoeira Camara. I see the berimbaus, pandeiro, atabuque and the jogo.

I jump in. And I tumble. I move. No. I don’t move. The rhythm moves me. I am but a puppet playing to the tune of the berimbau. And I’ve never been happier letting go of myself.

But not completely. It is now somebody else’s turn to play. And my turn to give back my energy. And I do. I take the berimbau. Almost weightless. A part of me. I play the most important instrument I have, my voice. I sing. And every part of me, every one of you, sing with me.

This is the best description of something that words cannot do justice to.

I see the enthralled crowd. Cameras flashing. I see the smiling faces. Suddenly danger. I see the countless permutations of the language of capoeira. What is said. What isn’t. And what could have been.

Another voice leads the song. And I am once again, an instrument to the roda.

I see moments shared. Lessons learnt. Egos bruised. A couple of skins torn. Blood cements the ties of the roda to the ground we play on. Friends made, lost and at once made again the moment they absorb themselves back into the roda.

This is Bantus Capoeira. This is the roda. This is the jogo. And right now, nothing else in the world matters any more.

The music stops. We break. We hug. We walk away. Knowing we will always take this moment with us, and bring it into our lives and back into the roda the very next time the berimbau calls to us again.

Bantus Capoeira welcomes back all Bantulinos from their long break. It’s gonna be another great capoeira-filled year.

Someone in advertising, famously said ‘only half of what I spend on advertising works, the thing is, I don’t know which half’.

What he meant to say was, he doesn’t which 50% works, and which doesn’t, so the best way to continue working on it is to continuously give your 100%.

This is something quite apt to bring up as a parable with training capoeira as well. Last night at training, Rafa sat us down for a chat. He was trying to tell us about the methods we train, specially in partner drills. Maybe we should reprofile the way we use that word – drills. Capoeira is anything but fixed and formatted. While Rafa wants us to practice through repetition, this doesn’t mean we play like robots.

“If you don’t practice like you’re in the roda, are you going to wait till the roda to practice?”

A very relevant observation. Most of us have the mindset that the training drill is safe. It’s monotonous. And I’d be the first to admit, this sets us into complacency when training. We need to be serious in the drill. To get it right. Think of it as a Roda, but only with the moves that you were supposed to do.

“I don’t know which 50% works, but I’ll give my 110% to be sure”

This is also important. And ultimately, the main lesson from this post. Most of the moves we learn are new in training. A lot of times, they’re moves we never get a chance to pull off in the roda. We spend too much time thinking, and not enough time moving.

Capoeira is about making your moves as much a part of your bodily functions as breathing or blinking your eye. The only way to do that, is through repetition. Get the basic movements right first. Then articulate how to do it better.

A simple metaphor - If you don’t know how to walk, you won’t know how to dance.

“Everybody wants a piece of Bantus capoeira”

We’re the leading capoeira group in Malaysia. It’s a reputation we should wear with pride and responsibility. We have to represent the Bantus jogo the best way we can. In the music we sing. In the manners we conduct ourselves. More importantly, in the roda with another person. Capoeira’s growing. There will be more groups. There will be more jogo. There will be competition. While we’re not asking you to be competitive, you do have to be conscious when you go into a roda with someone else.

Be prepared. In the academy. During training.

Hey guys, Lee Ann, one of our first regular capoeiristas from when we first started in Celebrity Fitness way back in 2005 or so has just opened her brand spankin new physiotherapy center in Plaza TTDI. Soooo, if you guys have any niggling aches or pains, they are offering a free spinal screening with a 45 minute deep tissue massage, and FREE Physiotherapy treatment.  Go ahead and check it out!

WARNING: Spoiler alerts. If you haven’t watched Avatar, don’t blame me. But regardless it’s still worth catching.

Got a chance to watch Avatar. Again. This time in 3D. And as I was thinking of the article for this week for Bantus, it dawned upon me the parables between the tale of an American GI trying to learn his ways, and a capoeirista learning the ways of Bantus.

What are the similarities?

Well, it’s a stranger jumping straight into the skin – literally – of an alient culture, totally dumbstruck and clueless, yet still determined to learn their ways. Doesn’t that sound like a Malaysian walking into the academy for the first time learning to do the ginga?

For easy distillation, I shall put down my lessons and random observations in point form.

1. “You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentleman.” – This is the ultimate introduction to the whole new world that is Pandora. Which brings me back to the first time I touched down in Belo Horizonte for the Bantus World Meet. Yes. You’re not in Kuala Lumpur any more people. Learn. Adapt. Smile. But carry a big dose of Maladragem with you.
2. “She says that all energy is only borrowed; at some point you have to return it.” – It’s the same in the Roda. When you are playing, you are a force on the move. You are the Jogo. The Jogo is you. The Roda, the bataria, the people clapping give you the energy. Use it, harness it, enjoy it. And when it’s your turn, give the same Axé back.
3. “You are like a baby! Clumsy! Loud!” Neytiri “Then teach me!” Jake Scully. – That’s the right attitude to have when you first start capoeira. Nobody expects to be kick-ass overnight. God knows most of us are still expecting and learning to be. The more important aspect is that you are willing to learn, and make mistakes.
4. “Do as we do, and learn it well. Then we will see if your insanity can be cured” – Sometimes the best way to figure out why we do what we do in capoeira, is just to learn it. To understand it. And with time, you let the movements, music, culture seep into your being, and you can truly understand why Capoeira has always been an outlet and statement of personal expression and freedom.
5. “Colonel, there’s a native doing the funky chicken” – You will always get non-capoeirista friends calling capoeira some other funny term or another. A dance. A weird breakdance thingy. A waste of time cause you’ll never be as good as a Brazilian. Well don’t listen to them. They don’t know. They just don’t know!
6. “You have a strong heart; no fear. But stupid, like a child.” – This is an important lesson to learn. No fear. Is important. No fear of your physical limitations. No fear of falling down. No fear of making a fool of yourself. And yes. You’ll look stupid doing the ginga for the first time. Don’t worry, we all have to learn to walk.

Any more lessons to learn from Avatar? I’m sure there are plenty. And that is a lesson in itself. Just because you’re not in class learning capoeira, doesn’t mean the world doesn’t offer you a chance to be a better capoeirista.

‘Eu Sou Bantus Capoeira’

‘I am Bantus Capoeira’

If you are. Then look through the eyes of a capoeirista. A Bantus Capooerisa. Learn from your everyday experiences on how to be a better person. Apply the lessons you learn from Bantus in your everyday life.

Here’s wishing you guys another long non-capoeira holiday week. Or is it? It is up to you, to decide if you are the Avatar of Bantus Capoeira.

The academy will be closed from 23rd Dec 2009 till 3rd Jan 2010 for Christmas and New Years. If you do want to train, give any one of the seniors a ring and they will arrange for it to be opened up. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and see everyone back again on the 4th of January 2010!  Axe!

The new look Academy put a smile on my face.

Come to think of it, stepping into the Academy always does. But seeing it with a new coat of paint, well you know, it’s a little like seeing your wife for many years put on a new sexy dress.

‘Now come make sweet love to me’ I almost hear the Academy whisper oh-so-softly.

And just as you take off your shoes and step into class, you see a note on the whiteboard, written in that all-too-familiar juvenile scrawl that can only be Quek or Rafael’s handiwork ‘NO CLASS TILL 4^th JANUARY’

Heartbroken, you run off into the sunset, hell-bent on having an affair with all the other loves of your lives. Holidays, parties, slacking around.

And then by the time you come back, you look like an out of shape couch potato. You stare at the naked Academy mirror. Bathed in the warm glow of throbbing yellow (that’s the walls). And you say to yourself, ‘It’s not my fault! I was just taking a break!’

Don’t worry. The Academy won’t judge you. You’ll do that for yourself. Specially after you see the rest of the crew walk in and you wondered out loud, ‘How come THEY still look fine/hot/sexy/fit?’

Well, it’s down to maintenance. Different people have different maintenance needs. Here are a few rumours I’ve heard from different people. I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but you guys can ask them yourselves.

Cueca – He does as many situps as Christiano Ronaldo. That’s 3500 a day. ‘If I can’t look like him, I can at least have his abs!’ Cueca uses his free time, epecially during a break to just do any form of simple exercise in between his celebrations.

Rafa – The academy is closed for classes! But that doesn’t mean my heart and body is closed! And so, Rafa is spotted in the park, at the gym and probably in the academy as well. As he puts it, ‘eu sou Bantus capoeira’ means that you never forget for a moment that you are a Bantus capoeirista. And all the training and preparation that comes with it.

Coelho – is very Chinese so he doesn’t celebrate Christmas and is actually working this Merry Season. He secretly stretches with splits in the lifts, calve lifts when waiting for people, and does ab crunches wherever he walks. Also has one meal of non-sugared cereal a day (he’s a rabbit after all)

The bottom line is. Party Hard. But Prepare Harder. The new look Academy has never looked sexier. Make sure you don’t disappoint when you return to her.

And if you do have any off-season training tips and techniques of your own, no matter how weird, wild or stupid, (the funniest one gets a coffee from Coelho), drop a comment!

Photos courtesy of Wong. Add him as a friend on FB. ‘Debrizio Wong’ and check out more of his Bantus photo collection!

IMPORTANT!!!: Please note that the Batizado Ceremony on Sunday 8th Nov will be held at Jaya One, Jalan Universiti, PJ

Click here for details

Okay, lets try that again. My apologies for Monday’s no show by Paulo as there was some mis-communication between him and myself. We will be having another free trial this coming Monday 19th of October

Regular classes  will probably be on the weekends once or twice a week at academy. Fees to be determined but no worries, it should not be too expensive.

• What: Free Trial Portuguese Classes
• Where: Bantus Capoeira Academy, DJ
• Date/Time: 9:30pm to 10:15pm, Monday 19th October 2009

Again, for more info about this year’s 6th Annual Bantus Capoeira Malaysia Festival, see the the posts below.

Register now for the 6th Annual Bantus Capoeira Festival 2009! This year we will be hosting Mestre, Profesor Claudinho, Graduado Grau, and Contre Mestre Silvio. Our family has grown across the Klang valley this year and this is a great time to get together and meet all your Bantus brothers and sisters.

**Download your registration form here. Print out, fill up and pass to either Rafa or Quek.

Schedule of Events: Adults

Batizado Packages

Festival Package (Members Only) - Members: RM 320

1. FREE CLASSES FOR NOVEMBER
2. Attend ALL workshops
3. Attend ALL rodas
4. Festival T-Shirt
5. Attend Batizado Ceremony

Standard Festival Package - Members: RM 280, Non-Members: RM 350

1. Attend ALL workshops
2. Attend ALL rodas
3. Festival T-Shirt
4. Attend Batizado Ceremony

**Download your registration form here.

Abada Promotion

Buy a brand new pair of abadas for only RM 100 with your Festival Package

To purchase your Festival Package please talk to Quek or Rafa at the academy… or wherever you happen to bump in to them!

Schedule of Events: Kids (under age 16)

Kids Festival Packages

Bantus Capoeira Kids Package with Uniform - Price: RM 180

1. Kids Workshop with Mestre
2. Festival T-Shirt
3. Official Bantus Capoeira Abadas (Pants)
4. Attend Batizado Ceremony

Bantus Capoeira Kids’ Package without Uniform - Price: RM 120

1. Kids Workshop with Mestre
2. Festival T-Shirt
3. Attend Batizado Ceremony

**Download your registration form here.

Important Notes About the Batizado Ceremony

Please note that your registration for the festival does not automatically guarantee that you will receive your first or new belts during the ceremony. Our mestre and your instructor will be responsible to award eligible students with their new belts at their discretion.

You are required to own a pair of official Bantus Capoeira Abadas (Pants) to be eligible to for grading.

Payments

Payments can be submitted to our instructors, Mr. Rafael Rosario or Mr. Quek Wei Kin in the form of cash or check made payable to Bantus Capoeira Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

By Adrian Low:

The well known Chow Kit area in Kuala Lumpur, famous for some of its best kept secret street food stalls, is also equally infamous as the place where the city’s destitute can be found. With the help of Adopt Action Group Malaysia (AAG), Bantus Capoeira Malaysia (BCM) is volunteering weekly classes for the children of Rumah Nur Salam (RNS) right in the heart of Chow Kit.

Bantus Capoeira is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. They are active in reaching out to street children and teach them capoeira in hope of keeping them out of trouble. BCM would like to carry out the same initiative here. By having capoeira classes in RNS, they are hoping to be able to reach out to more street children in RNS’s efforts to keep them out of harm’s way.

Rumah Nur Salam is a 24-hour sanctuary where street children can walk in and out freely. The idea is to keep these children out of the streets where they are at high risk to undesirable elements like drugs, prostitution, human-traffickers, just to name a few. Currently RNS is the only child crisis centre in Malaysia where they assist, protect and address children issues. To date there are more than 400 children registered with RNS. They get at least a proper meal a day, some exposure to education and basic healthcare which are usually unattainable for most of them.

Adopt Action Group is a watchdog group of concerned civilians from varied backgrounds formed to monitor the status of abandoned children found with the objective of them ended up in homes instead of orphanages. AAG works with the existing system to facilitate the adoption of abandoned children by disseminating information and pointing potential adoptive parents to the right direction. AAG works closely with RNS to champion their common cause.