Experiences with Capoeira

[battousai16]

i only played capoeira for a little over a year, but i found it to be one of the most valuable experiences during my time in the martial arts. the way they teach, at least here in madison, kind of throws you straight into the fire, so you get into good shape really fast, and you quickly get adjusted to getting in close. having to play in a small circle of people made sparring one on one seem like i had all of the room in the world to do whatever i wanted. you also have to think more in terms of set-up, instead of just throwing moves out until one connects. a lot of it isn't particularly practical, but if i got into a fight i certainly wouldn't mind having a capoeirista in my corner.

[yingampyang]

yes i have done it for many years , it is a mixture of dance and martial arts so i guess some of it is for looks. but it can be very useful when confusing your opponent.

[kenpo4life]

Unfotunately, most "Capoeira" has ben filtered down to ethnice dance in most places. In the old days, Capoeira also had a great deal of groundfighting called Ungala. Nowadays the ginga and all of that are just remnants of the dancy stuff that is so common. Capoeira actually is really gritty. I mean the real kind. Lateef from the protectors is one of the few guys who knows the real stuff. He showed the dance stuff in the movies. Kind of like the whirling TKD kicks in movies. They look cool, but they are not used in fighting.

[bushido_man96]

I think that in Brazil you can get more of the genuine experience of Capoeira.

However, there have been some MMAers that have been putting Capoeira to good use in the ring, and it really flows well into the ground fighting. Check out the original thread of the post for some links to some matches.