Onboarding new students in your capoeira school
Integrating new students in your school is a key aspect of student retention. Using an onboarding flow you can standardize your process and make sure new students will feel right at home.
Pandeiro audio loops for music practice
When practicing music on your own, it’s helpful to have a reference track you can follow. Like a pandeiro playing for 10 minutes for example. Sounds interesting?
Mestre Ferradura’s crowdfunding project
Mestre Ferradura, founder of the IBCE, has plans for a new social project.
Song lyric and research: Mulher Rendeira
Today we’re taking a look at a song called Mulher Rendeira. It’s making its way in capoeira, but has existed for decades outside of capoeira as well.
How to make an arame for your berimbau
Making an arame for your berimbau doesn’t have to be hard. Practice is key and with the right technique you can prepare one in under 15 minutes. I made a tutorial video showing how I make an arame with little effort.
An objective evaluation methodology for capoeira
One of the main frustrations I’ve had with capoeira for years is the lack of a proper evaluation system. So I decided to develop my own framework to use in our school.
Teaching young kids is hard
After teaching a kids’ class for five months, I am taking the time to reflect on what I’ve learned in the process. I’ve always taught adults only, so it has been a real challenge.
A collection of quadras and verses for capoeira
Quadras are used in several forms of Brazilian music. There are thousands of quadras filled with beautiful metaphors and life lessons which you can use in capoeira. For this article I compiled a list of my favourite quadras and verses.
Abuse in capoeira
On June 1st, a Pública (a Brazilian non-profit investigative news agency) published an article detailing how several high ranking members of Cordão de Ouro had been accused of sex crimes. The news article blew the lid off the whole thing and now more and more stories are surfacing.
A quick update and a short break
Dear readers, I’m writing this update to let you know I’m taking a very short break on writing for the blog. At the moment my priorities have shifted a bit since there’s a lot going on in my private life and we are finally able to organize physical classes again (albeit with just 4 people,… Continue reading A quick update and a short break
History of the dobrão
We all know the dobrão is an essential part of the berimbau, but do you know what a dobrão actually is? Let’s take a closer look at the origin of the dobrão and its alternatives.
Berimbau Play Along samples
The best way to learn the berimbau is to play while listening to some form of feedback. Here’s a playlist with berimbau backing tracks to play along to.
4 years already!
Four years ago today I released my blog. Time to celebrate!
A review of online capoeira music classes: part 3
This is the last post in a mini series of 3. I already reviewed Mestre Nenel’s private berimbau classes and Mestre Negoativo’s study group. Today I’d like to talk about the Músicapoeira course by Mestre Ferradura.
A review of online capoeira music classes: part 2
This is the second post in a mini series of 3. Today I am going to talk about the study group of Mestre Negoativo. In the first article I reviewed Mestre Nenel’s private berimbau classes.
A review of online capoeira music classes: part 1
During the summer I followed 3 different online music classes. In this mini series I’m sharing my experiences with all three courses. In this article, I’m reviewing Mestre Nenel’s classes.
A platform to share your percussion rhythms
I just discovered DrumAp, a mobile app which allows anyone to create percussion rhythms on the fly, without having to know how to write music.
Moderation is the key to longevity
That has been my philosophy in capoeira for a long time. In other words, I believe that to be able to successfully practice capoeira for decades you shouldn’t give yourself 100% all the time.
Is it Contramestre or Contra-Mestre? And what about Mestrando?
Most groups use a title for someone who is on the path of becoming a mestre, but hasn’t formally been recognized as one yet. Titles commonly used are Contramestre and Mestrando. What is the difference? And how do you spell Contramestre?
Capoeira Angola: Ensaio Sócio-Etnográfico – 2nd Edition
If one book can be regarded as the capoeira bible, it is Waldeloir Rego’s work from 1968 titled Capoeira Angola: Ensaio Sócio-Etnográfico. And I found a free downloadable PDF!