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(left) Members of the KU Capoeiria Club watch two capoeiristas in combat. (below) Alaide Vilchis, club president, and Leah Goldblatt, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, greet each other before beginning a match.
PHOTOS/JON GOERRING
Relationships formed between opponents are a key part of capoeria, a Brazilian martial art.
- by Matthew Foster
Dancing, singing and joking around probably aren't the first things that come to mind when describing a martial art. But in capoira, these social aspects are just as important as the discipline itself.
During meetings at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, members of the KU Capoeira Club, known as capoeiristas, ignore the somber environment of the martial arts room and clap their hands and sing in celebration of the 400-year-old Brazilian martial art.
Watching the capoeistas move across the padded floor, it's unclear whether each pair is engaging in combat with high-reaching kicks or dancing to the Hispanic rhythms coming from a boom box in the corner.
Even after the leaders of the group begin to give instructions about proper movement, it still doesn't seem like this could be a martial arts lesson — after all.
one of the five pairs brakes off by themselves to compete in a spinning headstand contest.
Eventually everyone makes it through the motions demonstrated by Jacob Dysart, Overland Park senior, and the club's president, Alaide Vilchis, Mexico city junior.
With the berimbau strung and the capoieistas in a circle, the group claps and repeats each verse sung by T.J. Staley, Battery Hill, Ala., graduate student. The roda is formed and, within it, capoiae is performed.
As the group begins to form the roda, which is Portuguese for circle, Dysart strings up his berimbau, a percussive instrument with one string that resembles a bow. Dysart explains that a roda can include up to three berimbaus and that the number determines the pace of the exercise.
According to Vilchis, one of the songs in the roda roughly
translates to "Capoeira: It's defense, attack, movement of the body.It's trickery."
Trickery is malandragem in Portuguese. Vilchis believes that malandragem, as well as verbal and physical dialogue, is a big part of the roda because the circle is reflective of the relationships that are found in everyday life.
"As the song says, capoeira can't be categorized as only a fight, or definitely not a dance, or only trickery." Vilchis explains. "Capoeira is all of them put together."
"I often think of a roda as something that and all the interactions in it," says Vilich, who has practiced the art for more than four years. "Sometimes things can get ugly and you might get kicked, and sometimes everything goes well and as planned. Not every day is perfect, just as not every game you play in roda is perfect."
Besides the lessons learned in roda from malandragem, Dysart also says that verbal dialogue is important because capoireistas have to explain to each other what they are doing and why they are doing it during training. Dysart explains that this type of dialogue may not be the most important type that takes place in capoireia though. Dysart, who has studied the art for two years, also describes what he calls physical dialogue.
"You throw a kick and they escape from the kick," he says. "It's like saying hello and having a response."
Dysart says that to learn how to effectively attack and defend, the participants must understand themselves as well as the other capoeirina. This view of combat may seem counterintuitive, but it actually helps build relationships within the capoeira community.
"If somebody gets hit in
capoera, which happens all the time, it's not the person who kicks who is at fault — it's the defender's fault for not getting out of the way," he says.
Dysart, Vilich, Staley and Leah Goldblatt, Kansas City, Mo, freshman, also participate in a capoera group in Kansas City. Amongst these more experienced capoeiristas, terms like hit, kick, trick and takedown aren't the only prevalent themes. There are also many sentiments of how much the members rely on each other.
"We are an extremely tight-knit group of people," says Goldblatt, who has practiced the art for four years. "Although we all have lives beyond capoeira, when we're there training and playing in rodas and performing, we're all a family. When something happens to one of us, other group members are there to congratulate, comfort, or joke with you."
WHAT IS CAPOEIRA?
Capoeira is a 400-year-old Brazilian martial art. It was developed by African slaves and the indigenous people of Brazil. "Because of coming from a slave background, capoeira is very social," says Jacob Dysart, Overland Park senior. "You had to get to know people because those are people that you have to survive with."
Dysart says capoeira appears very acrobatic because the slaves weren't allowed to practice martial arts, so they disguised it with dance and music.
$\Rightarrow$ Capoeira has two basic components:
roda (the game) and luta (the fight). Dysart has studied the art for two years and says that most of the relationship building happens during the game, which is all about dialogue.
Source: Jacob Dysart
03. 29.2007 JAYPLAY
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