Axe!!

I was on a long break from capoeira and I finally went back today… As usual I was greeted by Rafa like the normal way… A Michael Jackson “ooowww!!” It’s been stuck with me since I corrected him of my surname when I just started. He used to pronounce the Michael as Michelle and I told him, “You know Michael as in Michael Jackson?” So, it’s stuck with me as long as I can remember.

So, I’ve been gone long enough to now discover that the class has been repainted in the Brazilian theme of yellow and green, quite the Brazilian-Capoeira friendly and Rafa’s added a new tattoo across his uppers abs. As I commented on his tattoo, I had to remember not to stare at it for too long…

After the many “Where have you been?” class finally started. I thought, since class had been closed for 2 weeks due to the festive season, he might have mercy on us. I thought wrong. The guy never fails to push hard enough til your limbs go soft.

As I was trying to keep my balance in what I call the superman position, my thighs were shaking staying in that position while the whole class took turns to count before we restarted again by switching sides. You hardly could cheat cos he walks over to correct your posture as how he had instructed it to be... Leg straight, bend lower, face forward and what not. It was kind of a relief to see that the rest have rusted too over the holiday. I was not the only one losing my balance.

And the push ups… oh, the push ups!!! After staying in a position of full push up and half push up again with the whole class counting in each position, we still had to do an amount of 3 legged push ups which means you have switch sides as opposed to the normal push ups! He was killing me softly. What else? Oh… I can’t explain how you do this in words but it was another killer… No one had strong enough knees to pull themselves up. I barely did quarter and finally we get our water break. You don’t get to drink unless and until he tells you to.

Anyway, what I dread most is to walk across the class in a ponte (bridge) position and I actually practiced my bridge yesterday to feel how bad the strain was. It’s a good thing he did not have that today. When we finally came to the actual capoeira kicks and moves, I realized he went slower on that today and I was thankful for that.

At times during class, I ask myself why do I pay to get tortured but going for class has never failed to make me feel pleased with myself that I did something to make myself healthier (I don’t exactly have the healthiest habits and lifestyle) and it’s an artistic way of staying healthier. It has rhythm, it’s technical and it’s unique. It’s tough and I do get lazy but I somehow still look forward to it.

I hope I get my nick name or apeleido changed this year… It’s currently Palito which means stick… I don’t like it. I mean, some other people get Raposa which means fox or Boca Grande which means big mouth, haha! Palito is pretty lame.