I've wanted to do it ever since I first learned about it. When Sarah introduced it to me personally during my sophomore year at Kalamazoo, I found it to be so very different, and so very interesting. A community of people that practices capoeira together has such a different feel than a community that practices karate together. Not only does the flipping and the acrobatic aspect appeal to me, but the ideas and the philosophy of it appeals to me as well (at least from what I understand of it). Whereas one thing that turned me off about judo and karate what how personal and competitive people got, getting egos involved in training, what appeals to me the most about capoeira is the element of play. When judo-ka say that they are going to play judo, what they really mean is that they are going to fight, compete, or train for fighting. When capoeiras say that they are going to play, I get the idea that it is more playful. It feels more like a game. Much like other games, there can certainly be winners and losers, but when people keep a smile on their face they (amazingly enough, stay happier). I don't play with a specific goal in mind to score points, to damage an opponent, or to win. I want to play with just one goal: to enjoy the game. If this involves successfully moving my body in a particular way, so be it. If this involves myself and whoever is playing with me exchanging movements back and forth in a friendly and a good-natured challenge, all the better. I don't have a problem with Kudo or Karate or similar martial arts. In fact, I have enjoyed them very much in the past. But so often I have seen people training without seeming to enjoy it very much. I guess if they view their personal worth as directly related to how well they do in a martial arts class or competition, it is not such a fun a laughter-inducing matter. In this situation, if one performs poorly he or she is less of a person. Nonsense, I say!
I can perform a complex series of motions with juggling balls in my hands, or I can horribly fail at an attempt to do a backflip; I can read a script that many peers consider to be impossible nonsense, or I can sing so poorly that people request I never attempt it again: none of these affect my view of my own worth as a person. Maybe is it because I have such a diversified skill set that I have such an easy time of considering myself to be able to let go of ego. After all, I could justify it to myself as “it doesn't matter if I am not skilled at X, because there are a dozen other things that I know I am great at.” That just seems like super-confidence, though. I wonder if my desire to more zen-like has just allowed me to convince myself that my super-confidence in a lack of ego? My transferable physical skills certainly wouldn't hinder that theory. After all, it is easy to not have my self-perception damages when I perform far better than any other beginner on my first class of capoeira, similar to my experiences with kung fu, judo, and jeet kune do.
Regardless of the philosophy behind capoeira (I assume that I am idealizing it quite a bit) and regardless of how nice it is to engage people with a physical sport without feelings of harsh competition, I enjoy the physical aspect of it too. Although I've starting to go running and to do a little bit of exercise in the mornings before going to work, it has been a long time since I have been a part of a group or a class like this. Sure, I did circus at Kalamazoo College, but that wasn't much of a physical challenge. I took popping, locking, and breakdance classes last time I was in Beijing, but a dance class has a very different feel than a martial arts class. I remember trying our a couple martial arts classes when I studies in Beijing back in '08, but they didn't last. I have to go all the way back to the summer of '08 and the preceding spring in order to find the last time I was part of a little martial arts community, when I was going to the local YMCA to do Jeet Kun Do that summer. It feels good to use my body in these ways again. Not only are there the physical and community aspects of it, it is also a great way to keep Brazil in my mind so I don't forget about my future goals!
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