Library's review
A Street-Smart Song presents capoeira's unique philosphy-a form of body knowledge that develops through practice andf lows into the practitioner's way of relating to people, the world, and life itself.
This compelliing examination of the inner life of the capoeirista traverses the phislophical and
A Street-Smart Song incudes a variety of capoeira song lyrics, suggeted exercises for 'training' the improvisational aspects of the game, and Nestor's wide-ranging memories of decades in and around the roda. Historical photos and unique graphic art depicting instruments, weapons, and the life of the capoeirista by the illustrator Carybe and other artists complement the text.
This book is an essential examination of all that capoeira encompasses, revealing the resilient heart of one of the world's richiest and most rebellious martial traditions.
Nestor Capoeira, a man of great humor and insight, is a mestre and longtime teacher of capoeira and the author of The Little Capoeira Book, and all-time favorite training manual, and Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game, a classic historical and cultural examination of capoeira.
Contents
Acknowledgments
First works of the 1985 Brazilian edition
Foreword to the 1999 Brazilian revised edition
Book One: Galo ja cantou
In the East there is Zen; Europe developed psychoanalysis; in Brazil we have the Capoeira Game
Part One: From the galaxies to planet earth, from the cave man to the space era...
Introduction-In which the author embarks on a cosmic trip and land his ship here, on planet earth.
The cosmic dance
Our galaxy
The sun
The planetary system
The earth
The author, addicted capoeira player, after a voo-do-morcego (bat's flight), does the famous pulo-do-macaco (monkey jump) and talks about life here on earth, some brilliant minds of the past, a lei do cao (dog's law), and those currently in possession of the ball.
Millions of years ago
The naked monkey enters the scene
The pulo-do-Macaco (monkey jump): from the caves to the spaceship
Some brilliant minds of the past
The technological era
The lei do cao (dog's law)
The author speaks about the coil that moves the world: money. And although ignorant of ecomnmics, he profiles a multinational company.
Urban accounting
The mutlinational corporations
Brainwash
Progress can be blamed for it all
The author tells us how to wear a tie and a three-piece nylon suit, and how to light a cigarette like a movie star, finally reaching a conclusion about the role of capoeira inthe space age.
200 to 1
A look at the life of the modern civilized man
Primitive rituals and contemporary rituals
Smart deals and diversion of funds
Capoeira's role in the space age
Part Two: The modern capoeira game
The author speaks about the rupture between two generations and suggests some practical, simple, and obvious measures.
After the invention of firearms
Rupture between two generations
The pulo-do-gato (cat's jump): although theauthor does notknow any capoeira movment by that name,he 'opens' is game and teaches one of the pulos-do-gato known to capoeira players in years past.
A type of game for each Berimbau rhythm
In Mestre Bimba's academy
In capoeira Angola
The pulo-do-gato: The reason for different types of game
How and why the player becomes limited
Stupidity and rough games
Based on his experience and observations, and the day-to-day living and practice with other teachers, the author offers tips for good capoeira teaching in our day.
Intuitive learning and structured teaching
Without a chorus, it doesn't work
Pernada (leg swipe)
Sound: A question of sensibility
Esquenta-banho (warming up for the cold shower)
Warming-up exercises or dumbing-down exercises?
Comprar (to buy) the game
Roda de rua (street roda)
About malicia
Street-fighting and objectivity
Uniorms, graduation, numenclature, championships, and federations
Analogies
The fundamento of capoeira
Complicating what is simple
Capoeira songs
The roda
Growing pains
Part Three: The last roda
Where the author says goodbye and boards a cargo ship, but not before telling about his last capoeira roda in a city by the sea.
The last roda
Violence: Innocence and mediocrity
Final words
Book Two: Capoera and its role in the construction of a Brazilian identity
The author, fourteen years later, talks about a volta que o mundo deu (the turn that the world did) and a volta que o mundo da (the turn that the world does).
Fighting stratgies and seduction strategies
Remembering is living twice
A fascinated author bumps into the femme fatale of our days, the Silver Venus: television
The possible subordination of the capoeira game's values to TV values
Choosing a 'pure, untouched, and traditional' capoeira as a reference for the changes that occurred after 1960
The myth of capoeira Angola as 'pure and traditional'
Passar bemou pasar mal, tudo na vida e passr, camara! (to pass well or to pass badly, all life is passing, my friend!)
The velha guarda
The middle generation of mestres
The new generaton of mestres
The 'very new' generation
The 'luggage' of the 'new' and 'very new' generations
Roda de rua
Two major changes in capoeira before the arrival of television
Bimba-a distorter of capoeira's roots?
Radio and the creation of capoeira regional in the 1930s
After radio, television
Training with TV
Capoeria's explosive expansion between1960 and 1980
Changes in synchorny with TV patterns and values
Televison in Brazil from 1960 to 1980
Political passivity
A sudden and unexpected change: 1980-1990
Inside the capoeira world in the 1980s
The victory of malicia over TV
Signs of change: The 1984 National Meeting
The velha guarda's opinion: Assessing the damage
The 1987 Meeting: A confirmation of the changes seen in the 1984 Meeting
Conclusions
Summary
Last words
Appendix: Learning capoeira
Jumping over
Spinning behind and under a 'round' kick
Spinning behind and under a meia-lua-de-frente
Carousel
Rolling over
Roling over with ginga
Final words to the English edition of 2006
Bibliography
Photo credits
This compelliing examination of the inner life of the capoeirista traverses the phislophical and
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historical territory that is capoeira, such as the 'fundamentos da malicia,' and looks to the future of the game in the modern age. Nestor Capoeira jumps and spins though his topics, from the teachings of the Velha Guarda-including old-time masters Pastinha, Bimba, and Leopoldina-to the brutal realities that a multinational economy inflicts on the poorest of Brazil. His comprehensive view of this living art illustrates how, in a world hypnotized by media and crushed by proverty, the truth of capoeira's spiritual heritage continues to resist and evade colonization by the established powers.A Street-Smart Song incudes a variety of capoeira song lyrics, suggeted exercises for 'training' the improvisational aspects of the game, and Nestor's wide-ranging memories of decades in and around the roda. Historical photos and unique graphic art depicting instruments, weapons, and the life of the capoeirista by the illustrator Carybe and other artists complement the text.
This book is an essential examination of all that capoeira encompasses, revealing the resilient heart of one of the world's richiest and most rebellious martial traditions.
Nestor Capoeira, a man of great humor and insight, is a mestre and longtime teacher of capoeira and the author of The Little Capoeira Book, and all-time favorite training manual, and Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game, a classic historical and cultural examination of capoeira.
Contents
Acknowledgments
First works of the 1985 Brazilian edition
Foreword to the 1999 Brazilian revised edition
Book One: Galo ja cantou
In the East there is Zen; Europe developed psychoanalysis; in Brazil we have the Capoeira Game
Part One: From the galaxies to planet earth, from the cave man to the space era...
Introduction-In which the author embarks on a cosmic trip and land his ship here, on planet earth.
The cosmic dance
Our galaxy
The sun
The planetary system
The earth
The author, addicted capoeira player, after a voo-do-morcego (bat's flight), does the famous pulo-do-macaco (monkey jump) and talks about life here on earth, some brilliant minds of the past, a lei do cao (dog's law), and those currently in possession of the ball.
Millions of years ago
The naked monkey enters the scene
The pulo-do-Macaco (monkey jump): from the caves to the spaceship
Some brilliant minds of the past
The technological era
The lei do cao (dog's law)
The author speaks about the coil that moves the world: money. And although ignorant of ecomnmics, he profiles a multinational company.
Urban accounting
The mutlinational corporations
Brainwash
Progress can be blamed for it all
The author tells us how to wear a tie and a three-piece nylon suit, and how to light a cigarette like a movie star, finally reaching a conclusion about the role of capoeira inthe space age.
200 to 1
A look at the life of the modern civilized man
Primitive rituals and contemporary rituals
Smart deals and diversion of funds
Capoeira's role in the space age
Part Two: The modern capoeira game
The author speaks about the rupture between two generations and suggests some practical, simple, and obvious measures.
After the invention of firearms
Rupture between two generations
The pulo-do-gato (cat's jump): although theauthor does notknow any capoeira movment by that name,he 'opens' is game and teaches one of the pulos-do-gato known to capoeira players in years past.
A type of game for each Berimbau rhythm
In Mestre Bimba's academy
In capoeira Angola
The pulo-do-gato: The reason for different types of game
How and why the player becomes limited
Stupidity and rough games
Based on his experience and observations, and the day-to-day living and practice with other teachers, the author offers tips for good capoeira teaching in our day.
Intuitive learning and structured teaching
Without a chorus, it doesn't work
Pernada (leg swipe)
Sound: A question of sensibility
Esquenta-banho (warming up for the cold shower)
Warming-up exercises or dumbing-down exercises?
Comprar (to buy) the game
Roda de rua (street roda)
About malicia
Street-fighting and objectivity
Uniorms, graduation, numenclature, championships, and federations
Analogies
The fundamento of capoeira
Complicating what is simple
Capoeira songs
The roda
Growing pains
Part Three: The last roda
Where the author says goodbye and boards a cargo ship, but not before telling about his last capoeira roda in a city by the sea.
The last roda
Violence: Innocence and mediocrity
Final words
Book Two: Capoera and its role in the construction of a Brazilian identity
The author, fourteen years later, talks about a volta que o mundo deu (the turn that the world did) and a volta que o mundo da (the turn that the world does).
Fighting stratgies and seduction strategies
Remembering is living twice
A fascinated author bumps into the femme fatale of our days, the Silver Venus: television
The possible subordination of the capoeira game's values to TV values
Choosing a 'pure, untouched, and traditional' capoeira as a reference for the changes that occurred after 1960
The myth of capoeira Angola as 'pure and traditional'
Passar bemou pasar mal, tudo na vida e passr, camara! (to pass well or to pass badly, all life is passing, my friend!)
The velha guarda
The middle generation of mestres
The new generaton of mestres
The 'very new' generation
The 'luggage' of the 'new' and 'very new' generations
Roda de rua
Two major changes in capoeira before the arrival of television
Bimba-a distorter of capoeira's roots?
Radio and the creation of capoeira regional in the 1930s
After radio, television
Training with TV
Capoeria's explosive expansion between1960 and 1980
Changes in synchorny with TV patterns and values
Televison in Brazil from 1960 to 1980
Political passivity
A sudden and unexpected change: 1980-1990
Inside the capoeira world in the 1980s
The victory of malicia over TV
Signs of change: The 1984 National Meeting
The velha guarda's opinion: Assessing the damage
The 1987 Meeting: A confirmation of the changes seen in the 1984 Meeting
Conclusions
Summary
Last words
Appendix: Learning capoeira
Jumping over
Spinning behind and under a 'round' kick
Spinning behind and under a meia-lua-de-frente
Carousel
Rolling over
Roling over with ginga
Final words to the English edition of 2006
Bibliography
Photo credits
Show Less
ISBN
158394155X / 9781583941553
Publication
Blue Snake Books Berkeley, California