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In 2006, I was tired of working out for the sake of connecting with the guys and looking stronger. I knew that exercise was important and provided multiple health benefits, but I was tired of the gym scene. It was very common to enter a facility where men grunted, yelled, and engaged other forms of obnoxious behaviors that many mistook as symbolic of their power and strength.
I needed a reason to exercise that went beyond appearances and meeting my friends at the gym four or five days each week.
The martial arts appealed to me because they offered an opportunity to learn self-defense, a reason to stay fit, and the chance to fulfill a latent desire from childhood. As a kid, I always wanted to take Karate, but with five siblings and my father’s ministerial salary, it was not an option. We had resources to cover our necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, but extracurricular activities like martial arts were not part of my family’s budget.
The desire to learn a form of self-defense stayed dormant within me until I reached adulthood and began to make my own money. One day I received a flyer from a friend with an advertisement for a martial arts’ class offered at a local park district fieldhouse. Familiar with the park, located near the non-profit organization I worked at in 2006, I decided to stop by and observe a class one evening on my way home. When I entered the training space, I saw students executing movements that resembled breakdancing combined with self-defense.
I reexamined the flyer that my friend gave me and reread the word: Capoeira.
With no connection to Brazil or the Portuguese language, I didn’t know how to pronounce Capoeira (kap-pa-wear-a), let alone understand it’s unique history. My first teacher told me of the dominant narrative that Capoeira began among enslaved Africans in Brazil. It’s combination of dance, acrobatics, self-defense, music, and rituals that was used as a tool of resistance against European oppression. Camouflaged as dance, Capoeira offered practitioners a clandestine method to stay in shape, prepare for hand-to-hand combat, and connect to multiple cultures from the African continent.
Capoeira has been one significant source of the work that has put me in the position I am in today—building a business as a writer, consultant, and personal development coach. I began teaching Capoeira at a Chicago elementary school in 2007. After a trip to Brazil with the school and my students, I started a sole proprietorship to instruct Capoeira in the evenings and on the weekends. Years later, the business grew. Eventually, I formed a limited liability company that provided classes to young people and adults in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
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If you follow me on any of the social media platforms, then it is likely you have come across a video of me training, teaching, or discussing some aspect of Capoeira. To document my progress in Capoeira during 2016, I decided to create and upload over 365 video representations of my training, weekly classes, and special workshops to the YouTube and Vimeo platforms. Specifically for Vimeo, I created a series of fifty Capoeira instructional and bodyweight exercise videos to encourage my current students to train outside of class.
The Vimeo videos were made for beginners with limited or no formal background in Capoeira and are intented to serve as a mobile tool that can assist the attainment of fitness goals. Each of the videos were made without any outside investments. I shot, produced, and edited much of the content myself and with two friends in my home garage converted to a fitness studio, a Los Angeles boxing gym, and on several locations in Mazatlán, Sinaloa Mexico.
The video series represents a raw and authentic version of the training that I have pursued to escape the madness of fitness centers.
Capoeira is my alternative option to the gym. It is a tool I use to build self-discipline, create community, connect with my ancestors, and develop a healthy lifestyle. I am grateful for Capoeira because it gave me a reason to keep going when I wanted to stop.
Join my mailing list to receive three free episodes of the video series.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images