Wait a Second, Breakdance Fighting is REAL!?
"They're break-dance fighting!"
Last week, my friend Joe went to his first Muay Thai Boxing class at a gym in the area (blog post about it here), and hilarity ensued (to borrow a phrase from Tucker Max). I’ve always been interested in studying a martial art to go along with strength training for a number of reasons:
- Why not? It gives me something to do.
- I’ll be able to defend myself against ninjas, which is nice.
- It’ll improve my flexibility, which could use some work.
- I’ll feel like a badass. win-win!
Now, I was trying to decide which discipline to follow and I came across Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art originally developed by slaves. What makes this one so awesome? Um, it’s literally BREAK DANCE FIGHTING. I’ll let that sink in for a second. Yeah, take fighting, and throw in flips, spins, rhythm, and a big helping of awesome and you got yourself on hell of an afternoon. I’ve been a terrible break dancer for years, and it’s something I’ve wanted to get back into, so I figure might as well learn some fighting moves and get better at that at the same time!
So I’ve done some research on Capoeira (apparently there’s this free encyclopedia on the net called Wikipeidia…who knew!), “Capoeira’s origins are not entirely clear. While many believe that the form displays a combination of African and Brazilian martial arts, historians are divided between those who believe it is a direct descendant of African fighting styles and those who believe it is a uniquely Brazilian dance form distilled from various African and Brazilian influences. The sparring is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks, and headbutts.” Sounds good to me, plus I’ll look like these guys:
Now, I do have some concerns in going this direction. One, there’s no real fighting when it comes to practicing Capoeira, it’s all about the movements and actually NOT hitting each other. If you get in a fight with a dude, you’re not gonna wanna practice NOT hitting him. You’re going to want to beat the **** out of him as quickly as possible if you’re in danger. Plus, if it happens in a bar or some place similar, then break dance fighting probably won’t help. Anybody out there ever done Capoeira? Can it actually be effective in a real-life situation? I’d consider studying Capoeira alongside a more applicable study like Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (also taught at the same gym) or Muay Thai boxing with Joe. Either way, I’d definitely like to jump into Capoeira soon. At the very worst, I could look like this guy and get cast in the next You Got Served movie.
Best Break dancing I’ve Ever Seen
Any Capoeira people out there? Any recommendations? Would anybody NOT recommend Capoeira?
-Steve
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Holy freaking crap those guys are in shape. I forgot how motivating watching some breakdancing and flips can be! Freaking awesome.
I believe this will answer all of your questions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6oiADjOdFg
Wow.
Evan that link is ridiculous, and that kick was unreal. Thanks for the link, and looks like I can move forward with Capoeira hopefully over the next few weeks!
-Steve
All I have to say is WOW. There is a studio for this stuff less than a mile from my house. You should see the honeys that come out of that place. This is definately something that I am going to look into in about 75 pounds.
Hey, never felt the urge to actually follow through and post anything on a blog or forum, but this time I just have to! I have done Capoeira on and off for 6 years. My 4 yr relationship is with a professional b-boy (breakdancer). Of course, capoeira surely isn’t breakdancing fighting, but does resemble some of the amazing aesthetics. Before training capoeira, I practiced other martial arts (tae kwon do and Okinawan karate) for 8 years and competed on a national circuit. I love the fight! Because Capoeira is so lethal, it is not often that you watch a Roda (the circle where capoeiristas fight) that shows extensive contact. That is to say that if you were actually following through with your circular kicks, the blows would be devastating. The meia lua (kick) was originally used to take out horses’ legs for heck’s sake! I have had my fair share of concussions and broken peices, trust me. As well, coming from a very egotistical martial art form (karate and tkd) I never initially gave capoeira the benefit of the doubt. I was absolutely wrong! Because capoeira has no linear handicap as many other asian style martial arts have, they are not as restricted and came dynamically attack from literally anywhere! Of course, ultimately it depends on the martial artist. But it is an awesome art that can be used for many things. Breaking, too, is an amazing form that takes just as much-if not more- strength, bodily control, diligence, sweat and bruises. One thing that makes it even harder to master is that you are often learning on your own or with few people instead of being able to use the infused energy of a capoeira roda!
Wow, great comment!
Ha, I realize that Capoeira is so much more than breakdancing fighting, but it’s a pretty accurate description if you had to tell a completely uninformed individual in two words!
You just made me so excited to start Capoeira training one day. As soon as I can afford to join the gym where it is practiced I’ll be going a few nights a week hopefully to try this out.
-Steve
Capoeira looks like tons of fun and I wholly recommend taking it. However, I strongly dis-recommend using it for self-defense. It takes years of consistent study before you can use Capoeira for fighting, it’s difficult even for the masters. Some of the main reasons are that it requires lots of range and most fights start from very close quarters, and also that it was developed to look like dancing and to be used in a roda, against other Capoeira practitioners. This is why knockouts like Evans are so spectacular. They rarely happen. You said the same gym also offers BJJ classes? Get in on that if you have the money. Very useful for fighting, also tons of fun. Have fun with your martial arts!
Hey Adan, thanks for the advice. I’m going to look into doing both capoeria and BJJ – I think they even have breakdancing too. Unfortunately the gym is quite expensive, so I need to save up some money before I can afford another monthly fee.
-S