I feel compelled to write about one type of martial arts that I have personal

experience with.  No..... not me personally but I have just a few kids (six to be exact).  One of my boys works all the time….one is a the quiet, artistic type,  one is wild and crazy and one is lazy beyond belief.  So, I started hunting for after-school activities that would be good for each of them.

The son that was working was easy…….he works…..the artistic son was also very easy…….I sent him to art classes!!  The wild and crazy and lazy ones were more difficult.  So I remembered a conversation I had been in with some other mothers some time back where they had been talking about some sort of martial arts called Caporera (that's how I would have spelled it before this article!!)

So I took my two sons (the wild one and the lazy one) and went to check out this capoeira.  It looked sort of like martial arts and break dance combined.  It looked nothing short of cool... so I enrolled them.

Interestingly enough the lazy one took a liking to it quite a bit more than my wild son…..he even goes to two classes a week and has become much more calm at home

The wild and crazy one likes it also and it has helped him expend a lot of energy as well as teach him respect (for himself, his siblings and others).

A little history:

Capoeira is the common name for the style of martial arts coming from West Africa which was modified and mixed in Brazil.  Originally Capoeira included weapons.

In Brazil, slaves from Africa were used to build the Brazilian empire.  They were lacking in self-defense skills and developed a martial art that included something they were using every day…..sugar cane knives. 

Similar to the Jews having to disguise the learning of the Torah by using a dreidel, the slaves disguised the study of this style of  martial arts by using dance.  That is why it ended up looking something like a mix of martial arts and break dance. 

Even more interesting…… due to the fact that the slaves usually had their hands shackled, a lot of Capoeira is done with the feet up. 

Capoeira consists of a stylized dance with footwork called ginga. The stance is basically one leg in front (with the body weight resting on it) and the other leg stretched in back and switching back and forth over and over.   This is practiced in a circle called the roda with music of the Brazilian culture which is basically percussion instruments such as the agogo and atabaqui and non-percussion instruments like the berimbau.

Capoeira (as mentioned before) relies mostly on kicks and leg sweeps for attacks and dodges for defense.  It is very unusual to be taught arm and hand movements other than positioning to block.  This form of martial arts focuses a lot on ground fighting. Only capoeiristas or street fighters used the hands for punches but when Capoeira began to be used by gangs, it was outlawed in Brazil due to the fact that it was being used against police.

When the student wants to go into kicking from the basic stance…….he/she simply falls backward onto one leg with his hands,  flexing the other leg in front, enabling the fighter to dodge, kick, make leg sweeps and especially unique to Capoeira……..perform acrobatics.

Capoeira is also characterized by the basic kick called the bencao,  the front-stomping kick called the mertelo,  the roundhouse kick called the chapa,  a side-kick,  a low kick,  a high turning kick,  sommersaults,  backflips and  headstands.  Sounds easy enough right??  Capoeira conditions and develops the muscles especially the abdominal muscles.

So, my kids continue to enjoy Capoeira and hopefully will for a long time to come because it has given them a lot more self-confidence and they seem happier but now that I know it works on the abs….maybe I'll get involved also.  Then again, after so many kids maybe I'll get stuck in the back flip thingy!!  That wouldn't be good!!