capoeira!

Yes, indeed! The weather cooperated and we were able to get an introductory capoeira workout under our belts Thursday evening. What the heck is capoeira? Only the coolest thing since sliced bread! ;-) If you want to full story, Google (or Wiki) it... but the long story short that it's a beautiful blend of martial art and dance that was developed by African slaves in Brazil and spread like wildfire all over the world. It also makes for a killer workout. It's staples are strength, balance, control, coordination, flexibility, endurance... you know, all those important things? I was drawn to it when I first saw it, and had a chance to train for a few years in a capoeira club at Tulane. Now I get to spread the goodness, starting with our last class :-) I introduced a couple of the basic movements and how to link them together. However, there was A LOT I could not show... such as the defensive movements, the music that controls everything, the playful interaction of an actual "roda" or game. So, to make up for what I could not demonstrate, here's a small collection of good videos from the web to show you what I mean (enjoy):

A slow game but really what a capoeira ANGOLA should look like:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2023414402

A slightly faster but another good, clean game:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1446009/capoeira_angola_palmares/

Basic moves intro (Angola and Regional styles):
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/349890/capoeira_basic_moves/

Street game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObvVmDvKIBE




Hyper-dramatized but ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL:
http://fr.truveo.com/Capoeira-Girl/id/1837428320