I have too many hobbies, and among them is martial arts! I have a second-degree black belt in karate, many intermediate sashes in various kungfu styles, and I may have literally studied more martial arts than you have heard of. Among my favorites is the Brazilian art Capoeira, an energetic, acrobatic, and challenging style that I loved. For two examples here are the so-called best Capoeira video ever and something a bit more like my experience.
If you are looking to get started in this martial art, I have ten tips for you!
1. Get ready to sweat
Capoeira is a demanding martial art. You will run, jump, kick, and that’s probably just on your first night. Depending on your existing fitness level you might even start some basic acrobatics. You won’t be sitting still for long if at all, so deep breaths and keep at it!
2. Take time to recover after class
After getting through class, you may feel invincible, like you could just keep going and going! It’s a great feeling, but recovery will help you. Eat something, drink a lot of water, and get the best sleep you can. If you don’t feel sore after class I envy you, but I suspect you will, and recovering is an important part of making it to the next class.
3. Stretch
One of the things that will help you to recover is stretching out your tired muscles. While there is conflicting information about if this helps or hinders muscle growth, I can say with confidence that the days after class when I did not stretch thoroughly I hurt much more, so avoid that first-day pain and stretch!
4. Don’t get discouraged
Capoeira is hard, and it takes a lot of strength in some uncommon areas to do well, and seeing other students doing acrobatics you can’t even imagine can feel bad. Remember that at some point they had to get started too, and they had just as steep a hill to climb. Ask them, and they’ll tell you! Reframe your thoughts: don’t be discouraged by what you can’t do now, look forward to what you will be able to do if you train diligently!
5. Watch carefully
When you see the advanced students playing, it can look effortless and playful, but there are subtle things they do to get to look so good. When and how you turn your foot to spin matters! How you spread your fingers for a handstand can make a huge difference. These small details can be hard to pick out, so the closer you look, the better.
6. Make mistakes
Part of learning to do all the fun things that other people do is trying and failing to do them. If you are so afraid of falling down while doing a kick that you don’t try at all, you will never learn. View every mistake as a promise to do better!
7. Learn the songs
If you don’t speak Portuguese, the songs may be difficult, but the call and response style of singing gives you a lot of chances to practice your responses. Even if you have no idea what you are saying, repeat the best that you can! The music is an integral part of this martial art and the songs are the history, so do your best! Plus, I’m confident you can remember lyrics like, “Zoom zoom zoom.”
8. Sing the songs
Yes, you have to sing too. I am biased to find the songs catchy and infectious, but when I started, I was hesitant to sing along. I got over it and so should you! Singing brings you together with your classmates, all in the same shared sonic space, and singing well is far less important than singing at all! Don’t be afraid to sound off-key, just have fun!
9. Try the drum
If you get the chance, I find the drum to be the easiest of the base instruments to pick up. There’s a lot of technique that goes into the drum in some songs, but for others just being on beat is all that really matters. And playing is fun! Go for it and get into the rhythm.
10. Play hard
The end of most classes is the roda (pronounced “hoda”), the circle where everyone takes a turn (or a few turns) sparring with each other. The goal is not to hurt anyone but to practice what you learned that day and just generally to have fun. We don’t call it fighting, we call it playing! It’s a joyful expression of learning and ability; you worked hard to get to play, so play hard! You earned it. Just don’t forget to recover!