Street Roda
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Disclaimer: Sorry folks, for the sake of condensation (this story is already long enough), I will not be defining all the capoeira terms during this story. You capoeiristas will know what I'm talking about, but the rest of you can find the terms defined here.
Festa de Itapuã
This is convenient - the city where I'm living is hosting a big festival today at the beach. I don't have to worry about transportation to and from - I am Frankonfoot afterall! The top left photo shows how the scene looked when I arrived. The street along the beach was closed to autos, and it was filled with thousands of revelers in their place. (See all about the Festa on my other page.) The bottom left photo is a couple teachers from the capoeira class I attended a couple weeks ago. (I ran into them later on in the day and we hung out.)
Well... what do you think is the first thing I should encounter upon my arrival at this merriment? Yep, Street Roda!! So without even speaking to anyone, I jumped right in to the Pé de Berimbau, tore off my shirt, and yelled out, "Hey, I'm 'Manhoso' from Los Angeles. Who thinks they can take me on"??!?! (But in Portuguese, of course.) Just kidding - I kept my shirt on!!
Anyway, I was so excited to finally get to see some more capoeira! I didn't realize how much I've missed it till I saw it in action again. There were around 25 capoeiristas, a mix of ages, and most were quite proficient. It never ceases to amaze me how these "old" Mestres can still be so strong and so limber and so fast. It's inspirational to watch! The unfortunate part of the roda was watching a handful of these "macho" malandros get so easily set off - turning a friendly jôgo into a fight with maliciously intentional and quite violent strikes - bandas, martelos, galopantes, plain ol' punching - and then even escalating into fierce jiu-jitsu. WTF!... Where's the fun in that?! Where's the love?! (So I jumped in to break it up, and...)
Well after about 20 minutes of watching the roda, the cops told them to move. There was no problem regarding the roda itself, the problem was that it was right at the main entrance of the street fair, which they were blocking. So the capoeiristas gathered up their instruments, and with a grumble under their breath, they started leaving. While they were packing up, I noticed there was a capoeiristas right next to me trying to stuff pandeiros into a bag with one hand while holding a berimbau with the other.
He was fairly burly, aprox 6'2" and looked to be around late 40's (but you know these Bahianos, he was probably 70). He had giant sunglasses covering his eyes, and a very serious demeanor about him. Without even looking at me or saying a word, he thrust the berimbau into my hands (so that he could better execute his task of stuffing the pandeiros into his bag). Still unable to succeed, he grew more frustrated and, still without saying a word, began to pass off the baqueta and caxixí to me, too. He looked at the dobrão still in his hand, paused, and for some reason he chose to hang on to that. ?? Funny! Perhaps it's his favorite rock and he didn't want to risk the loss??
This whole thing strikes me as hilarious and even somewhat surreal!! But wait a minute, maybe it's a sign from the Orixás. Maybe I was meant to meet this mysterious capoeirista? Maybe this is not such a random encounter after all? Maybe he's a legendary Mestre, and he's going to take pity on me and take me under his wing to teach me his techniques and tricks and secrets? Maybe he will teach me the way of the Mandingueiro?!?! Maybe he's got 50 berimbaus at home ready to sell at a bargain? Maybe he's friends with my Mestre back home? Maybe he has an atabaque shop and is looking for an apprentice? Maybe...??
OK, my mind is certainly wandering a bit by this point, and I realize that this could actually just be a random event. Probably nothing is going to come out of it but a big laugh afterward. But I admit, I'm getting excited by the possibilities of this odd, seemingly happenstance meeting!!
So I ask the guy his name (we spoke in Portuguese). "Mestre ----" (he shall remain nameless at this time). Cool, he's a Mestre! I then ask him if he has an academy in the area because I want to train. He grabs me by the arm and says, "Come with me". This was literally the extent of the conversation. ?? At this point I have no idea where we're going or what we're gonna do when we get there. We're walking with the other capoeiristas down the street along the beach, but all the music in the street from the fair was so loud it was nearly impossible to speak to each other. He was yelling back and forth with some of the other capoeiristas, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. So I didn't bother even asking where we were going. It's an adventure, right!? I just followed him and the others and hoped they were not gonna fleece me in some back alley. We got down the street a ways to the other end of the fair. Then they stopped and set up a new roda. Ohhhh, now I get it. They were just moving locations to avoid getting hassled again.
So I then ask Mestre again if he has a school in the area. He says, "Yes". (Obviously a man of few words. Do I even want to train with this guy??) Well, at this point I figure it's still worth looking into. Then he opens his backpack and asks me to buy his capoeira DVDs. What?? All this, and he's just trying to peddle his wares to the gringo?! Well, at this point, I don't want to offend the guy because there still might be an interesting outcome regarding training. So I oblige, and give in to his pressure and buy all 3 DVDs. What the heck, they're only $5 each. Maybe there's some great stuff on there. (BTW - in spite of the label indicating that they are in a format compatible with American DVD players, they are not. They will not even play on my computer. Porra!!) Anyway, he looked at the roda, which was reforming, and motioned for me to join in. But I respectfully declined. (BTW - I hope you realized that I was kidding earlier when I said I jumped in the roda asking for a challenger!) Anyway, I again ask about training, and he tells me to call his phone number on the DVD. Then he grabbed his berimbau back from me, jumped into the bateria, and the roda immediately resumed. Nutty!!
While I was watching the roda, a couple friends appeared. These were they guys I mentioned before from the photo above (bottom right - neither speaks any English). The giant dude on the left is Professor Danilo (Son of Mestre Lázaro and brother of C.Mestre Jorge Palmares). The other is C.Mestre Mosquito of the same academia. Mosquito joined the roda and played a few games. But Danilo did not. I asked why and he said it was no fun playing with some of these guys - they are too serious, they don't have a conversation in the jôgo, and all they want is to pick a fight. He points to himself and his intimidating stature of 6'4'' / 270lbs (??) and with a chuckle says, "I can throw down if I need to (as he does a quick and forceful cotovelada in the air), but there's no fun in that. I prefer to have a conversation." I was impressed by this. So we watched some more of the roda then left to cruise around the Festa. The three of us hung out the rest of the day and had a great time. These guys are way cool and down to earth!!
Later we returned to the roda to watch some more. There were different capoeiristas in the roda this time around, and both Mosquito and Danilo joined in. Good games all around, but still a couple of malandros around. That Mestre was still there, too. He looked over and saw me and gave me a nod. Cool! Then he walked away from the atabaque, which he was playing at the time, and came towards me. Hmmm?? He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in close to speak to me. I thought he was going to share some capoeira wisdom with me. Nope! He says, "Hey, can you buy some beers for me and my friends?" WTF?!!
At this point my suspicions about this mysterious Mestre were confirmed. So I lied and said I was all out of money. He scowled and returned to the bateria without saying a word, at which point I walked away. My first thought was, "That bastard!" But then it was quickly replaced with, "Oh shit, I may have just pissed off a Mestre and his malandro buddies!" Doh!! I asked Danilo about him. He knows the Mestre and told me that he is actually a good guy. So I don't need to worry about it. Whew!!
That was my experience at the street roda at Festa de Itapuã. I look forward to actually participating some time in the near future!!
Festa de Itapuã
This is convenient - the city where I'm living is hosting a big festival today at the beach. I don't have to worry about transportation to and from - I am Frankonfoot afterall! The top left photo shows how the scene looked when I arrived. The street along the beach was closed to autos, and it was filled with thousands of revelers in their place. (See all about the Festa on my other page.) The bottom left photo is a couple teachers from the capoeira class I attended a couple weeks ago. (I ran into them later on in the day and we hung out.)
Well... what do you think is the first thing I should encounter upon my arrival at this merriment? Yep, Street Roda!! So without even speaking to anyone, I jumped right in to the Pé de Berimbau, tore off my shirt, and yelled out, "Hey, I'm 'Manhoso' from Los Angeles. Who thinks they can take me on"??!?! (But in Portuguese, of course.) Just kidding - I kept my shirt on!!
Anyway, I was so excited to finally get to see some more capoeira! I didn't realize how much I've missed it till I saw it in action again. There were around 25 capoeiristas, a mix of ages, and most were quite proficient. It never ceases to amaze me how these "old" Mestres can still be so strong and so limber and so fast. It's inspirational to watch! The unfortunate part of the roda was watching a handful of these "macho" malandros get so easily set off - turning a friendly jôgo into a fight with maliciously intentional and quite violent strikes - bandas, martelos, galopantes, plain ol' punching - and then even escalating into fierce jiu-jitsu. WTF!... Where's the fun in that?! Where's the love?! (So I jumped in to break it up, and...)
Well after about 20 minutes of watching the roda, the cops told them to move. There was no problem regarding the roda itself, the problem was that it was right at the main entrance of the street fair, which they were blocking. So the capoeiristas gathered up their instruments, and with a grumble under their breath, they started leaving. While they were packing up, I noticed there was a capoeiristas right next to me trying to stuff pandeiros into a bag with one hand while holding a berimbau with the other.
He was fairly burly, aprox 6'2" and looked to be around late 40's (but you know these Bahianos, he was probably 70). He had giant sunglasses covering his eyes, and a very serious demeanor about him. Without even looking at me or saying a word, he thrust the berimbau into my hands (so that he could better execute his task of stuffing the pandeiros into his bag). Still unable to succeed, he grew more frustrated and, still without saying a word, began to pass off the baqueta and caxixí to me, too. He looked at the dobrão still in his hand, paused, and for some reason he chose to hang on to that. ?? Funny! Perhaps it's his favorite rock and he didn't want to risk the loss??
This whole thing strikes me as hilarious and even somewhat surreal!! But wait a minute, maybe it's a sign from the Orixás. Maybe I was meant to meet this mysterious capoeirista? Maybe this is not such a random encounter after all? Maybe he's a legendary Mestre, and he's going to take pity on me and take me under his wing to teach me his techniques and tricks and secrets? Maybe he will teach me the way of the Mandingueiro?!?! Maybe he's got 50 berimbaus at home ready to sell at a bargain? Maybe he's friends with my Mestre back home? Maybe he has an atabaque shop and is looking for an apprentice? Maybe...??
OK, my mind is certainly wandering a bit by this point, and I realize that this could actually just be a random event. Probably nothing is going to come out of it but a big laugh afterward. But I admit, I'm getting excited by the possibilities of this odd, seemingly happenstance meeting!!
So I ask the guy his name (we spoke in Portuguese). "Mestre ----" (he shall remain nameless at this time). Cool, he's a Mestre! I then ask him if he has an academy in the area because I want to train. He grabs me by the arm and says, "Come with me". This was literally the extent of the conversation. ?? At this point I have no idea where we're going or what we're gonna do when we get there. We're walking with the other capoeiristas down the street along the beach, but all the music in the street from the fair was so loud it was nearly impossible to speak to each other. He was yelling back and forth with some of the other capoeiristas, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. So I didn't bother even asking where we were going. It's an adventure, right!? I just followed him and the others and hoped they were not gonna fleece me in some back alley. We got down the street a ways to the other end of the fair. Then they stopped and set up a new roda. Ohhhh, now I get it. They were just moving locations to avoid getting hassled again.
So I then ask Mestre again if he has a school in the area. He says, "Yes". (Obviously a man of few words. Do I even want to train with this guy??) Well, at this point I figure it's still worth looking into. Then he opens his backpack and asks me to buy his capoeira DVDs. What?? All this, and he's just trying to peddle his wares to the gringo?! Well, at this point, I don't want to offend the guy because there still might be an interesting outcome regarding training. So I oblige, and give in to his pressure and buy all 3 DVDs. What the heck, they're only $5 each. Maybe there's some great stuff on there. (BTW - in spite of the label indicating that they are in a format compatible with American DVD players, they are not. They will not even play on my computer. Porra!!) Anyway, he looked at the roda, which was reforming, and motioned for me to join in. But I respectfully declined. (BTW - I hope you realized that I was kidding earlier when I said I jumped in the roda asking for a challenger!) Anyway, I again ask about training, and he tells me to call his phone number on the DVD. Then he grabbed his berimbau back from me, jumped into the bateria, and the roda immediately resumed. Nutty!!
While I was watching the roda, a couple friends appeared. These were they guys I mentioned before from the photo above (bottom right - neither speaks any English). The giant dude on the left is Professor Danilo (Son of Mestre Lázaro and brother of C.Mestre Jorge Palmares). The other is C.Mestre Mosquito of the same academia. Mosquito joined the roda and played a few games. But Danilo did not. I asked why and he said it was no fun playing with some of these guys - they are too serious, they don't have a conversation in the jôgo, and all they want is to pick a fight. He points to himself and his intimidating stature of 6'4'' / 270lbs (??) and with a chuckle says, "I can throw down if I need to (as he does a quick and forceful cotovelada in the air), but there's no fun in that. I prefer to have a conversation." I was impressed by this. So we watched some more of the roda then left to cruise around the Festa. The three of us hung out the rest of the day and had a great time. These guys are way cool and down to earth!!
Later we returned to the roda to watch some more. There were different capoeiristas in the roda this time around, and both Mosquito and Danilo joined in. Good games all around, but still a couple of malandros around. That Mestre was still there, too. He looked over and saw me and gave me a nod. Cool! Then he walked away from the atabaque, which he was playing at the time, and came towards me. Hmmm?? He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in close to speak to me. I thought he was going to share some capoeira wisdom with me. Nope! He says, "Hey, can you buy some beers for me and my friends?" WTF?!!
At this point my suspicions about this mysterious Mestre were confirmed. So I lied and said I was all out of money. He scowled and returned to the bateria without saying a word, at which point I walked away. My first thought was, "That bastard!" But then it was quickly replaced with, "Oh shit, I may have just pissed off a Mestre and his malandro buddies!" Doh!! I asked Danilo about him. He knows the Mestre and told me that he is actually a good guy. So I don't need to worry about it. Whew!!
That was my experience at the street roda at Festa de Itapuã. I look forward to actually participating some time in the near future!!
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