About me

Welcome to my Blog!

Here I want to tell you a bit about me, about the guy who is behind this blog. The first and most important thing to know about me is, I am not a mestre, just a student. Yes, I am Angoleiro since 2001 and I have see quite a lot in Capoeira, have had experiences with Angoleiros and Regionalistas, and thus decided that it’s time to share my experiences with the world.

About me

I started with Capoeira Angola, because that was the style of Capoeira offered in the university program when I started studying 2001. I didnt know of its existence until the teacher of my first lesson told me this. And I stayed, and I liked it. Of course I have seen Capoeira Regional before, but I liked Angola. Why? I dont know, now I can tell you, what I like more about Capoeira Angola. But back then I think it was just fitting my personality more. The playfulness, the exotism and the apparent lack of big muscles around me were a good starting point. The first lesson I watched I became pretty excited, although the only kick given there was a Meia Lua de Frente (as far as I can remember). The next week I joined the class, and became infected. I learned playing pretty fast (which is not always good) and in the next few summers I spent more time in the park than at class, hanging around with my friends and doing Capoeira.

After a couple of years I got more insight into things as I became more important in the organization of the group. I also was the “example boy” of my trainer and when he was missing, I gave the lessons (actually those times were the times where I learned most about capoeira, interesting, hu?). But times change and even if you fit into your group perfectly and could never think of joining another group, there are times where you have to move on. After 5.5 years in my first group I moved away to Holland, into a new life, new job, new people. And here the first thing I realized about Capoeira Angola was, it is almost non-existent here. There is Totti Angola’s group in Amsterdam though and sometimes I train with him, but Amsterdam is not really around the corner. And as there was lack in Angoleiros around me I decided to train with practitioners of modern Capoeira. For a year I trained with them now, realizing every day more and more, that I am an Angoleiro.

So what is the next station in my Capoeira existence? I don’t know yet. But I will keep you informed if things change.