It’s capoeira between us. Conversations with capoeiristas. Part 1

Editor Kadia Parker

Illustration designer Ivan Kopylov

Cover designer Marina Sotnikova

© Natalia Korelina, 2021

ISBN 978-5-0053-6239-1 (т. 1)

ISBN 978-5-0053-6240-7

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Foreword

When I started this book, I had no idea what the result would be. My designs were ambitious – to collect interviews from people who, in their country or region outside of Brazil, influenced the course of capoeira’s history. Some of whom initiated this historic act, some have already become legends in the capoeira world, while others live quietly and do what they love.

Interviews per se, questions and answers, are not so interesting if the context is unknown. It would not be clear to me what questions to ask without context, and for you, dear readers, it would not be such an interesting read. Therefore, I decided to speak only with people:

– I know personally and who share similar vibe with Cordão de Ouro¹ world.

– Who have several years of teaching experience in the country and have an actual capoeira group.

– Who are currently working with capoeira.

I needed this context to know what kinds of questions to ask. For the readers, I have prepared the context of my own life, and a map of my travels and notes about amazing cultures and incredible adventures in the countries where the heroes of this book live and work.

My idea took shape during the course of my work, changed, and evolved until it was finally settled on the pages of my first book. Writing a book is not easy, but writing about the lives of others is an even bigger challenge. I leave it up to you to decide if I have succeeded.

I tend to trust people, sometimes even too much, so I have only checked the words, names and dates that the heroes of this book have mentioned, during my interviews with them, where there were cases of obvious inconsistencies or where there were seeming doubts in the voice of the respondents, to specific questions. Please keep this in mind, when you read the interview, as well as the fact that this book does not claim to be a textbook on the history of capoeira. Nevertheless, I urge critics to share with me their additions and corrections if you find herein questionable information.

“It is capoeira between us” is the main idea of this book. It may well be that among the heroes, or between the reader and the hero, there is nothing that ties us, except capoeira. I approached my heroes with the greatest of respect and an open heart, ready for any answers, trying not to judge them in any way, because these are their stories, their opinions, and they have the right to both have and express them.

I ask you to treat everything that you read here with the same respect, and to not forget that there are varied points of view in the world about a given truth, or a specific situation, and all of them can be correct, even if right now you don’t understand how this could even be possible.

Introduction

What is capoeira? It is a large information field covering all inhabited continents of the Earth. Capoeira is the soul. Or does capoeira itself have a soul? I do not know. But when you connect to it, you feel oneness with everything around you, or at least, with those in your sight. This is such a natural, joyful feeling, one that I both love and treasure.

It is felt when you see a person for the first time, you look into each other’s eyes, shake hands, smile and start a dialogue without even saying a word; a few more strangers nearby are playing instruments, singing, clapping, watching your every move, but you are not scared at all, because you are at home.

Here is another one: you are in another city or country, you are taking the subway to a capoeira event, or you are walking down the street, looking for an entrance to the location, and then someone walks by with a four-strand bracelet on their backpack, and just by viewing that, you immediately become so calm and confident. You do not know the name of this person, but you know that you are family. You come up, smile, ask a question or ask for help, and they answer you, they help you.

Or you are passing through a foreign city, you do not know anyone, so you find a coach’s contact on the Internet; you introduce yourself and speak of your desire to meet and practice capoeira, and they offer you a stay at their home if you have not yet found an overnight stay.

Or when you meet up with a person once a year at seminars, but you have a feeling that during these times you have somehow become closer? This is a wow!

I would call all this a miracle, a utopia, a fairy tale, but no, it all happened to me and to many boys and girls around the world. And why? Because capoeira links us. It is between us when we are close, and when far away, it is always between us, if we choose it to be. Capoeira unites us, connects us to the information field, and we, without noticing, soon begin to add to and enrich this field ourselves.

Who teaches capoeira? What kind of people are they? In different parts of the world, they conduct their work, call themselves capoeiristas², show ginga³, kicks and escapes, and explain the culture of exotic Brazil to their students. They were born and raised in different families, they belong to different cultures and social strata. They could have lived their entire lives on different continents, not knowing about each other’s existence! But no, once they drank from the source, they wanted to share their joy with others. And one day a leaflet from one of these people entered my life and landed on my table.

Then there I was, in capoeira. When I came to the first class, I didn’t really understand the world I had entered. But having entered this world, its art has influenced my life path in many ways.

Several times in my life, several persons have encouraged me to write a book about all my adventures, but it always seemed so pointless to me.

Сapoeira, to my surprise, gave meaning and impetus to this idea as well.

It happened in South Korea in 2019, as walked around a lake, in the mountains, early one morning. At that time, I had been practicing capoeira for only 4 years, and I could already speak Portuguese very well. I had already been to Brazil twice, as well as to Israel and many places in Russia.

While walking, I was thinking about all those people who showed capoeira to the world and brought it to different cities and countries. Some of them had already become living legends, while others were still young, but had already managed to leave their “fingerprints” in the history of capoeira.

I became anxious to learn more about them. I had an irresistible desire to talk to them personally, to learn their stories, their motives, in order to have a complete picture of capoeira the world over.

Capoeira has travelled beyond the borders of Brazil; it has fallen into the framework of other cultures, and has taken root in foreign mentalities. How did it happen? How has capoeira changed in these countries? What kinds of people choose capoeira in this or that country? What difficulties do coaches face? What do Brazilian masters think of capoeira being practiced outside of Brazil? These questions ignited my curiosity!

And it was on that morning, in South Korea, that I decided to write about these people and to share my work with the world.

About the Author

My name is Natalia Korelina. My name in capoeira is Curiosa⁴.

I started doing capoeira in August 2015 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. I was 20 years old. That year I finished my second year at university and decided to quit because I didn’t like the process itself. I started doing capoeira with monitor⁵ Brasileiro⁶.

When I came to the first class, I only knew that capoeira was from Brazil and that it was somehow influenced by and resembled fighting and dancing. I came and they showed me ginga and a couple of kicks. They also showed a rhythm on a “drum”. In fact, it was the drum that made me come to the second class.

I did well, I made friends. The group was small: 6—8 people. After 3 months, everyone began to vigorously discuss an event, a master and belts. I had not been encouraged much to participate, no one bothered to explain the whole master and belt concept. And then the gloomiest and most taciturn guy named Tough Guy said to me, with eyes shining, “Be sure to come, it will be very cool, this is motivation for the whole year!”

And I did go. I borrowed money and came to take part in it. There was a master Papa-Leguas⁷ and a bunch of strangers from different cities. Nobody in the group, not even my coach, spoke Portuguese. Only I and another guy could speak English, and he translated the class on the first day.

The master was irresistible. Confidence and calmness emanated from him; he knew exactly what he was doing. Then I saw real capoeira for the first time, heard the true voice of our instruments and fell in love with it all. After one class, I plucked up the courage and started talking to him, I no longer remember about what. I think I asked if he lived in England, and he said that he lived in Brazil. Then he asked if I would receive the belt the next day. I was hearing about it for the first time and told him that I had only been training for 3 months, and that I was not ready, but he informed me that everything was fine, and that I could already receive the belt.

When I was leaving the coach caught me and said that I would receive the belt the next day, period.

On my way to the ceremony, the following day, I was reading Wikipedia in order to finally find more about capoeira and how Batizado⁸ worked. Yes, no one told me about it, and I actually did not ask.

The master himself gave me the belt. At that seminar, I naively asked him, “Are you the only master who travels like this, or are there many of you in the world?”

If only I knew then how many wonderful capoeira masters there were in this world!

Soon regular classes were not enough for me. In the first year, I went 3 times to Krasnodar, once to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also spent a month in Israel, where I miraculously got to an event with Grande Mestre⁹ Suassuna and Mestre Ivan.

During that year, I learned that I was training in the group called Cordāo de Ouro, and that this large and friendly family, which existed the world over, was waiting for me with open arms. Then, I have met almost all the YouTube legends. It got to the point where Mestre Cueca said that he was seeing me more often than his mother, and Suassuna kissed me on both cheeks and said that I was beautiful. I was happy. But I had plans. I was going to work on a cruise ship. I was supposed to get a second belt on the eve of my departure, but I learned with bitterness that the seminar had been postponed and I had to leave without the new belt.

I left for 7 months, trying in vain to keep practicing on my own. I even managed to take time off from work once and train with a group in Miami. And then I decided to catch up on lost time in Brazil. So, having seen my master only once, I wrote to him and said that I wanted to come and train with him. I didn’t even know that receiving guests was a common practice for him.

After a short visit home, I hit the road again. I stopped over in Rio de Janeiro for a little rest and spent some time at a local school, learning Portuguese. Following this, I bought a ticket to the small town of Patos de Minas, where Papa-Leguas lived with his family.

He met me at the bus station at 5 am. I was embarrassed, because he is a master! I was supposed to stay with his student, but she had left for 2 days, and the master offered me a stay at his house until she returned. I met his wife and children; it was like in a dream. I was at my master’s house! What an honor! What a delight! But despite getting close to him and his family, he is still like a rock star to me.

And so, the training routine began; I got acquainted with his instructors and the history of capoeira in Patos de Minas. Traces of this story are scattered all over the world: Mestre Chicote¹⁰, Mestre Parente¹¹, Mestre Piolho¹² and, of course, Mestre Papa-Leguas – they all once trained together, started together, and now live in Europe.

On that trip, I also travelled to the event of world significance – Dia de Ouro¹³, where golden threads¹⁴ appeared in the masters’ belts. And this journey ended at Mestre Suassuna’s home, where I met groups from Russia, South Africa, Miami and other countries at the same time. The geography of our group is vast, but I noticed one trend – all stories lead to Brazil and Israel.

Here, I propose to my readers to go on a trip and find out how capoeira began and is being practiced in different countries. I’ll start with the country where I got the idea to write a book – South Korea.

South Korea
It is our first stop on this capoeira journey and the place that inspired me to write.

South Korea has become a very special place for me. I came here to patch holes in the budget and lick the mental wounds, so to speak. Well. Both goals were achieved. I left Korea full of energy, ideas and love for capoeira.

Korea is a small country with beautiful nature and a developed economy. Technological and economic growth has occurred so quickly here that people and local traditions have not had time to fully adapt. For example, they monitor the waste recycling and protect nature at the governmental level, but at the same time middle-aged people throw garbage out of car windows. By the way, there are a lot of cars here, and all are quite expensive. At the same time, drivers in the provinces do not stop at a red light, drive without a license, and generally don’t regard traffic rules.

Koreans have a curious way of showing respect to “age”. Even if the age difference is one year. This is reflected in the language as well: they use different “you” for addressing a person who is younger than they are and another for a person who is older than they are. This reaches the point of absurdity – I have witnessed more than once when younger friends unquestioningly endured the idiotic antics of older ones. Without going into details, I will say that this does not fit into the modern European mentality, to which I belong.

But this is all happenings in the provinces. Young people flock to Seoul, worship idols (Korea’s ideal pop stars), undergo plastic surgery, speak English, travel, and increasingly protest the archaic traditions of Korean culture. Koreans who have at one point or another lived abroad, stand out a lot. They have much more inner freedom, they look more consciously at everything that is happening in their country. They understand that the Korean mentality puts a lot of labels on people, and this is not always correct.

My conclusions about Korea are limited by my observations, conversations with locals, articles from Quora and videos from YouTube. I am generalizing since you can find any type of mentality even within the same culture. I lived in a province where most of the locals spoke very poor English, so it was difficult to understand what was going on in their minds. Take into account what I’ve said above but do not form any stereotypes.

What about capoeira in South Korea?

While in Russia, I tried to find capoeira in Korea on Instagram using hashtags – I couldn’t find anyone but Zumbi¹⁵. I looked in Yandex and found the Zumbi’s webpage again. Well, I thought, he must be the only one then. And capoeira, it seems, existed only in Seoul.

I worked far from Seoul and trained by myself in the park for 2 months. I wrote to Zumbi and informed him that I wanted to meet, chat and practice capoeira with him on my last day (and my only day off) in Korea. I had a flight in the evening, and Zumbi’s class was early in the morning, so I hit the road, slept for an hour and a half on the bus, and with drooping eyes came to his class. After that experience, my body had gone into shock. It had already been heavy after a sleepless night and I had rubbed my feet to calluses. I could barely walk after that class, as Zumbi is a maniac. Honestly, if he could, he would literally train all day long!

After the class, we went to have lunch and met Zumbi’s student. I barely remember conversations we had since my head was really foggy. But, having been on a first visit to Korea, I decided to come to Korea again and become better acquainted with the persons that I interacted with. So, on my second visit to Korea, I went to Seoul 3 times to get to know the Zumbi’s group. I met his student, who replaces him in classes when he is away, – graduada¹⁶ Formiginha¹⁷.I also met his student from Brazil: in fact, this guy began to practice capoeira in England, when he moved there as a child, and continued with Zumbi, after moving to Seoul. I also met a student from the United States with Brazilian roots who teaches English in Korea.

It turned out that I had met one of Zumbi’s students even before I met him. This happened when I came to Brazil to train with Mestre Papa-Leguas in 2017. This girl used to live and study in Seoul, and now she lives in Brazil. It’s a small world, isn’t it?

Are there any other capoeira groups in Korea?

Yes, Some of Zumbi’s former students had split off and continued to work directly with Mestre Chicote. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to meet with any of them during my time in Korea.

I managed to find 3 CDO¹⁸ groups in Korea. I have also heard of Capoeira Angola¹⁹ and Abada. All groups, judging by the photos, are quite small and do not hold large events.

In my personal experience, most Koreans do not know how to relax and have fun in a healthy way. Constantly competing for jobs, they worry too much about their social image, and Koreans simply don’t have the time and energy to have a real hobby, let alone devote themselves to capoeira and start teaching with a yellow belt.

Professor²⁰ Zumbi – Seoul, South Korea

***

Zumbi is an amazing person who is in love with capoeira. He was the first representative of the CDO school in Korea. He breathes such confidence that it seems that he never doubts that he will achieve everything he wants.

Life is unpredictable and full of surprises, which is why, while in Korea, I interviewed Zumbi on Skype, and not in person. Zumbi was in the United States at that time. If I’m not mistaken, the difference between us was about 12 hours or even more, so I had to get up early for the conversation while for Zumbi it was the evening of the previous day.

Conversation with Professor Zumbi.

Curiosa: Tell me about your background: Where were you born? Where and when did you start practicing capoeira?

Zumbi: I was born and grew up in Jamaica. In 2000, I moved to the USA at the age of 23 where almost immediately I started to practice capoeira. I started in Berkley, California with Mestre Marcelo Caveirinha²¹ in the capoeira Mandinga group. At that time, it wasn’t so popular to use the name of Cordão de Ouro, so basically I started with CDO masters in a group with a different name. Capoeira became my passion and was my motivation to get good grades at university. I would allow myself 4 hours a day to practice capoeira but only if I got excellent grades!

In 2003, I started to train with Mestre Chicote in Vallejo, Oakland, and SF. These times were hard ones because Chicote was giving classes at different hours and in different locations, still I tried to go to all of them even if they were far and ended late.

Curiosa: When and how did you start to teach capoeira? Was it easy? Did it come naturally?

Zumbi: In 2005, I started to teach capoeira with the yellow belt. I didn’t really make any income from teaching, but I saw it rather as a hobby that would allow me to organize my own workouts during the week. So, I would give classes at the same place and hour to my students from Mondays to Thursdays and trained with the big group from Fridays to Sundays.

As to whether it was easy, discipline and goal setting have always been important for me. I enjoyed preparing for every class, explaining capoeira to others and mastering my own skills through teaching and for me teaching came easily; it is a part of learning.

Curiosa: Who was your greatest inspiration in the practicing of capoeira?

Zumbi: Among the people who inspired me and influenced my capoeira the most are the 2 first American masters: Beringela²² and Xangô²³. They are geniuses in capoeira because they managed to excel in all areas of capoeira and to understand all cultural and traditional aspects of it without actually living in Brazil.

Curiosa: Why and when did you move to South Korea? What was the situation with capoeira in Seoul at that time? What is the situation now?

Zumbi: In 2009, a Korean company offered me a full-time job, which was too good to refuse, in Korea. So, I moved to Seoul and immediately started to search for capoeira classes. I found a group called Filhos de Bahia. The leader of the group was Mestre Nei Boa Morte. Their teacher’s name was Alegria, but he had temporarily stopped teaching and his wife was giving classes instead. I didn’t enjoy going to their classes and was training alone in a gym. The same year, a student of Alegria started a Muzenza group. I was visiting their rodas²⁴ and helped them with their first Batizado.

Soon after, I started my own group and right now I’m not getting on well with any other capoeira teachers in Korea. Most of these Korean teachers never left Korea and haven’t been to Brazil, so we always have disagreements on how things should be done.

Curiosa: What did you do to form your first group?

Zumbi: I came to Korea with a yellow/blue belt, and I was an estagiario.

Curiosa: I know it as a monitor belt.

Zumbi: In the class, if you have yellow/blue belt, your teacher tells you what to do and you show that to the class, then you become a monitor. However, if you don’t have a master who teaches you, or like in my case, you’re the only representative of your group in the whole country, you are called an estagiario.

So, I was working out alone in a gym every day. One girl kept looking at me and finally I offered to teach her. I said, “If you want to learn, you should come every day at 6 am and be committed.” So that’s what she did. Soon she started to come with her best friend. We would have discussions and drinks after the classes until I eventually formed a capoeira club.

I got lucky. My employer sponsored my club with $800 per month that I spent it mostly on musical instruments. Soon there wasn’t enough space for everybody to train. We rented an acrobatic studio, which cost $2000/month, for free. Again, it happened because the owners of the studio wanted to have good partnership with my employer. There were fifty students by then.

Most of these students were highly educated Korean boys and girls between 22 and 32 years old. They all spoke English, so it was easy for me to give classes, although I had been learning Korean.

Curiosa: How quickly did you learn Korean language?

Zumbi: It took me four months to learn 40% of Korean language that I now speak. The rest took me more than three years.

Curiosa: What are the major milestones of your work with capoeira in Korea? Were there any dramatic or difficult moments that caused you to consider giving it up?

Zumbi: This big group existed for one year. Many people already knew about me and my club but some of them couldn’t participate because they were affiliated with the competitors of my employer.

That was one of the reasons why I decided to form a real group and to start giving paid classes in a dance studio. It happened in 2012. Believe it or not, but in that studio, I had just 6 people. I think most people just didn’t take it seriously and gave up capoeira because they had to pay for the classes.

Curiosa: How do Koreans see capoeira? Why do they choose capoeira?

Zumbi: Koreans are a very busy nation where the people are highly competitive in studies and in the work place. They are always busy with crazy hours at work or with their families. Korean people have many sports to choose from, but they don’t really need a hobby. Some find their passion and follow it. But majority just try things out and drop them for things of a higher priority such as work or family.

So, for me, it was a time to learn this bitter truth, but I also had mainly foreign students who naturally wanted to have a hobby and a community to socialize with. And yes, they were ready to pay for this. So, I was back to over fifty students again.

I worked hard to attract people at that time. I made many street rodas and distributed some flyers. And from a small number of foreign students, my group grew to fifty-five people, half of whom were Koreans. Those were the best years for the group: I held 10 events with many masters including Chicote, Acordeon, Tico²⁵, Cobra Mansa²⁶, Kibe²⁷ and many other. At that time, I had two students with yellow belts and one monitor in my group.

But, in around 2015, there was a major change when I had to leave often to see my sick father. I wanted to be quiet at that time and stopped going to the parties. The way I taught capoeira changed as well. I focused more on capoeira wellness rather than on fighting aspect. I introduced meditation sessions before the capoeira classes. They were optional and free. Students started to leave. I think only those who genuinely liked me and capoeira stayed with me.

In 2017, I made a decision to close the studio. It was a sad time.

I found a new passion though. This was my work with cryptocurrencies that I still have as my main occupation today.

But as for the students who remained in my group, we moved from place to place every 2—3 months.

Curiosa: Are there any the legal requirements for teaching capoeira in Korea? Did you need to provide any documents in order to give classes?

Zumbi: As for the legal requirements are concerned, I formed a legal company. To be a capoeira teacher in Korea, you don’t have to have special education.

Curiosa: What are the main competitors to capoeira in Korea?

Zumbi: I stopped thinking about competition between capoeira and other sports. You just have to inform people about capoeira and let them decide whether they want it in their lives.

Curiosa: You don’t have a master next to you anymore. How do you stay motivated and develop your capoeira?

Zumbi: I don’t really need anybody to motivate me. I am developing my capoeira through teaching.

Chicote put no limits on my creativity as long as the result of my teaching methods were good. However, when the master was around, it wasn’t easy. He saw and mentioned all the mistakes.

Nowadays, I am working with Mestre Xangô. Xangô comes to my events every year.

We haven’t set the date for this year yet because my students haven’t completed their curriculum yet.

Curiosa: Do you students have a curriculum?

Zumbi: Yes. I’m not just teaching capoeira – I am teaching life skills. If they can’t set a goal and commit to achieving it in capoeira, they won’t be able to do it in life either.

I require all my students to start giving classes with yellow belt. I only give them a goal, the way to achieve it, they choose themselves.

Curiosa: How do you see the future of capoeira in Korea? Are you planning to stay in Korea for the rest of your life?

Zumbi: I plan to stay in Korea for the foreseeable future as well as expand and grow my group again. I want to teach capoeira in the USA and Jamaica as well.

I received the professor’s belt in 2015 from Mestre Acordeon in Paris and I am completely satisfied with it. I don’t really want to get the next belt because of the responsibility that comes with it.

Curiosa: What place does capoeira take in your professional and personal life?

Zumbi: From 2000 to 2011, capoeira was my first priority. But, as of 2012, the first place has gone to meditation. My priority shows in my commitment.

My everyday schedule shows it in the best way: at 6am I start meditation, then at 7am I train capoeira, and then go to work. Relationships and other stuff come after. Capoeira is a big hot fire. And you need to know how to manage it. Capoeira enhances one’s life but one should be careful not to let capoeira become a burden.

Interesting facts

– Zumbi doesn’t teach kids. He says he is very much into the discipline and doesn’t have enough flexibility to have kids’ groups.

– He got his apelido²⁸ because he was “big, black and scary”.

– He has a Brazilian student. Yes, a Jamaican is teaching capoeira to a Brazilian guy in South Korea. (It made me smile).