Comments on: Essential Capoeira: New Capoeira Book Comes Out

By: Joaninha

Joaninha — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:31:30 +0000

I remember reading The Mysterious Woman on Bahia-Capoeira Blog And I agree with your thoughts on the original topic; seems like nothing stands up to the marketing machine sometimes!

By: Shayna

Shayna — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:23:38 +0000

Regarding the original topic:

I think that instructional books/videos can be helpful as supplements, but are NO substitute for real instruction.

I also take issue with the subtitle “The Guide to Mastering the Art” because we all know that following an illustrated book does not a mestre make, but I’d put money on it that it was some marketing agent who came up with the subtitle and not Mestre Poncianinho.

By: Shayna

Shayna — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:40:14 +0000

Sangue Bom – Mestre Bola Sete wrote a great book of true, exaggerated, and yes, perhaps a few made-up stories from the lives of capoeiristas – called “Historias e Estorias de Capoeiragem” (Histories and Stories of Capoeira)

I’m hesitant to translate the whole thing because of copyrights/permissions issues, but here are a couple stories:

The Mysterious Woman:
http://www.capoeira-connection.com/main/content/view/113/86/

Festival of Bonfim:
http://www.capoeira-connection.com/main/content/view/116/87/

I love stuff like this. Just sitting at the foot of a mestre while he tells parables

Mestre Decanio, in “The Heritage of Mestre Bimba”, has a great section called “Parables of the Mestre” where he takes situations from Mestre Bimba’s life and draws lessons out of them.
http://www.capoeira-connection.com/main/downloads/Heritage_Bimba.pdf

By: Joaninha

Joaninha — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:42:56 +0000

Yeah I agree Pirulito, and did the same thing while reading. Not even the master-apprentice thing alone, but just having to experience it live, and whole and in action.

Sangue Bom–that’s kind of what I think too, that instructional things tend to have a “Read/watch this and master capoeira!” feel to them.

Now that would be interesting…a collection of biographical stories about famous and/or amazing capoeiristas. Maybe I’ll get started on that after I graduate.

By: Sangue Bom

Sangue Bom — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:26:34 +0000

I wish they stopped writing books like that. Essential, step-by-step, how-to, all-you-need-to-know-of-kind of books.
Nestor hasn’t stayed too far off it himself. They are/have done releasing a dvd with his teaching methods and other propaganda.

With too much technical and historical information to absorb from the myriad of books, I’d like they just told true or madeout stories of the lives of a capoeirista.

By: Pirulito (D-cal)

Pirulito (D-cal) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:09:57 +0000

Well, Nestor Capoeira has given guides in his books in relation to his own teaching method..

I doubt Mestre Poncianinho was the one who wrote the “blurb”. I guess the publishing company was just trying to attract readers. Like you said, not great to judge without actually seeing the book.

Personally, I’ve never really been attracted to the step by step books on how to do any martial art moreover Capoeira. I usually brushed through that part when reading Nestor Capoeira’s books, browsing through briefly just to see the similarities and differences his style had with my school’s.

And, the whole master-apprentice thing seems like something very important in learning Capoeira.

By: xixarro

xixarro — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:30:03 +0000

Oh that way. I just red it as a cheap commercial line, didn’t think much of it.

By: Joaninha

Joaninha — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:00:18 +0000

It’s just because for me at least, I’m used to the idea that capoeira shouldn’t be used purely as a “fitness program”, because there are all these other elements to it and a lot of times when you see the results of combining “capoeira” and “fitness program”, they’re not good. And so “dance-fight-fitness program” for me invoked the term “dance-fight-game”, implying that capoeira was as inherently a “fitness program” as much as it is dance and fight (leaving out “game”), which it isn’t, really, not in the sense of a typical fitness program you’d sign up for at the gym or buy on a video. Saying it helps with your fitness is fine, but that phrase (to me) seemed almost like how a “capoeirobics” or “cardio capoeira” class would market itself, which is why it put me off. That’s all!

By: xixarro

xixarro — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:14:10 +0000

I don’t get it, what exactly is wrong with ‘dance-fight-fitness program’?
Capoeira is a good body workout indeed, so adding fitness to the description doesn’t wrong capoeira imho.