Great and Small am I

Na roda da capoeira
Grande e pequeno sou eu

(In the Capoeira circle, great and small am I)

Capoeira, é defesa, ataque
a ginga de corpo e a malandragem

(Capoeira is defence, attack, the motion of the body, and trickery)

Try as one might to classify Capoeira, it’s not really possible to stuff it into one category. Ask any Capoeirista who isn’t a Mestre (Master) to define it, and they’ll stumble over their words in an attempt to describe it’s essence. By the end of their description, they will have told you it’s pretty much everything, and leave you none the wiser. It’s manifestation depends on the agenda of the Capoerista; it depends on the practitioner, their teacher, and the context.

Some will tell you it’s a deadly Martial Art, an amalgamation of West African fighting techniques, transported across the sea in slave boats as seperate traditions, and fused by oppression in the Senzalas of Bahia, Brazil, with a kicking technique evolved to suit those who’s hands have been shackled.

Some will tell you that it’s a dance, a primal and ritualistic communication between two bodies, symbolic of one’s path in life, the circle of people that envelope them representing a duality; the physical world and the Ouroboros or maybe an invocation of the spirit Orixas (Gods) of Candomblé.

Some might tell you it’s an expression of liberty, the freedom of movement, the freedom of expression, free will triumphing against fate; or perhaps that it is the domination of others, the strategic attack and defence, a game rather than a fight.

None of these descriptions are wrong; all of them have their place in Capoeira. (more…)

This entry was written by xander, posted on March 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm, filed under Words and tagged atabaque, bateria, candomble, Capoeira, martial art, orishas, orixas, pandeiro, roda, senzala, slavery. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

more vinyl, papa?

I have little time for socialising at the moment; My spare time is taken up with Capoeira, teaching myself webdesign, and getting ready for Brazil. So when I do get a chance to socialise, it’s great.
“Papa Vinyl” is the dj moniker of my girlfriend’s boss, Jim Willis. Apart from being one of the head honchos at the successful design/moving image business (gizza job Jim!) Bulb, and running the fantastic educational Arts non-profit Pedestrian, he finds the time to organise the exclusive “Papa Vinyl” evening, about once every four months.

The basis of the event is simple; you bring five songs with you, of your choosing. Your name gets chalked up on the board, and Jim plays one song per person, working his way down the list, and starting from the beginning (with a new song) each time. It’s an invite-only night, ensuring that there isn’t any gatecrashing by nu-rave cyber-crasher kids or black metal dervishes.

That said, the format is open and democratic; the song choice is entirely up to you, and the format can be anything from 7″ vinyl to an iphone streaming youtube (however cold and digital that might be!). A little Nancy Sinatra and Jesus and the Mary Chain, mingling with Sabrepulse and Hudson Mohawk, should be an indicator of the diversity that a night such as Papa Vinyl guarantees. The venue itself was perfect for the evening, too; a small tavern in Braunstone Gate, a back room no bigger than my bedroom, puke-pattern carpet, real ale and sweet fruity wine, and an outdoor pisser.

My inner-nerd wish for the evening would be; a group Last.fm playlist (or similar, Muxtape for example?) for the evening, for those too drunk or too far from the decks to enquire as to the name of the track or the artist. I’m sure there are a good few tracks I would love to get hold of, if only I knew the names!

You can listen to my choice of songs on Last.fm

Anyway, it was a fantastic night; props to Ski, Stu and Jim for the great tunes.

This entry was written by xander, posted on at 1:00 am, filed under Words and tagged 12", black horse pub, dj, event, flyamsam, flying lotus, hudson mohawke, leicester music, papa vinyl, record, vinyl. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Only own what you can carry…

(Me on my grandfather’s shoulders, my brother on my father’s shoulders, off on an adventure!)

No matter how well prepared you think you are, the unknown can be both exhilarating and overwhelming in equal parts. One finds comfort (and thus safety) in the familiar, whether it’s always visiting your favourite café, driving the same route to work every day, or more drastic manifestations such as never leaving your country of birth. “Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t” is a phrase that sums this up entirely; it’s far easier to deal with a familiar problem than to have to figure out the solution to an unfamiliar one.

So is this the slow-burning knot in my stomach, that dormant sharp rush of breath, the brief quickening pulse that I feel in the weeks before I leave a country for an entirely new one? Is that really the cause of my tempered anxiety? Surely I should be filled with the curious expectation of sights unseen, relishing the unknown experiences that I have just bought the ticket for? (more…)

This entry was written by xander, posted on March 26, 2009 at 11:11 pm, filed under Words and tagged adventure, backpack, explore, nomad, tourism, traveller, wanderlust, world. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

& so it begins…

I guess every blog must start off with it’s first post; it must be the most common topic. This is mine, and I’ll do my best to make it as painless as possible. I guess the best place to begin is to lay out my intentions, for my sake more than anyone elses.

wossat?

I have a bad track record with journals; my brother was always better than me at documenting his days; I was too busy using up every last drop of energy building a treehouse, chasing an animal, or passively destroying anything interesting that belonged to my father. I always liked the idea of documenting what I did, and as a photographer, I guess I have manged to, but in a visual rather than literal sense. I used to keep a journal on Deviantart, but within a few years I got fed up with the popularity contest/animé fanboy/myspace selfportrait crowd, and gradually switched off. The colour scheme is fuck-ugly too. So, it’s time to bite the bullet and dive into the brave (not-so) new world of blogging. (more…)

This entry was written by xander, posted on March 22, 2009 at 7:54 pm, filed under Images and tagged beginning, blog, start, writing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.