Saturday, December 31, 2016
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Friday, December 23, 2016
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
LAST WEEKEND WAS A GOOD OMEN!!!
SATURDAY!!!
Last Saturday, I went to the CAPOEIRA ANGOLA JOGO DE CINTURA FUNDRAISER, hosted by Jelani Ticum Lateef and CAJDC.
Now before I tell you why Last Saturday was significant, we have to go back a couple of months. IT ALL STARTED WITH A ROADTRIP...
Around the last weekend of August, Jelani took a group of about 13 of us up to the city of Oakland to meet his old Mestre, Mestre Themba Mashama, and train with him in his class.
Here's Mestre Themba in action:
I'm not gonna go into details right now, but it was a wonderful trip, and I would LOVE to go up to Oakland to train with mestre Themba again.
And that's part of what this fundraiser was about. To promote, recruit, and raise some funding for uniforms, instruments, and to be able to host Mestre Themba when he comes down to this area in the spring.
Now it was a bit challenging getting to the fundraiser, because the area where Pitzer college is located had a bunch of other colleges around there, and me and another workshop participant named Virginia who I ran into while trying to find the place ended up driving around there for about 15 minutes, until finally a campus police officer directed us to the correct location.
And now, on to the workshops.
Workshop 1 focused on percussion and ways to find ways to improvise on the basic rhythm, and we worked on a couple of songs.
I'm showing this video to illustrate because well, I like the video, and this WAS one of the songs we were working on.
Although, the beat and the tempo wasn't nearly that fast.
Workshop 2 was with portuguese teacher and capoeirista, Rosalba Gama, who gave us a very good introduction to Portuguese (in relation to Capoeira).
And, as I breifly pointed out at the workshop, she also makes some beautiful waxprint Instrument bags. click HERE to checkout her store on ETSY.
Workshop 3 was with our brother from another mother, Cheyenne Dunbar, who gave an outstanding demonstration of his knowledge of weaponry in relation to Capoeira, as well as some aspects of grappling in relation to capoeira. He gave some real time examples how to utilize what he taught in real situations. The techniques he showed were simple yet effective, and you know what? he pulled all this off while he had a back injury!
Then, it was on to Workshop 4, when brother Jelani gave us some movement instruction.
Now to go slightly off-topic here, The form of capoeira that Jelani, as well as my own teacher Charles Wiliams, is teaching and trying to preserve is Capoeira Angola, OLD SCHOOL Capoeira Angola, as popularized and taught by Mestre Pastinha.
But why, you may ask, are they so dedicated to the old ways? Well, the reason is simple.
It's only by going back to the past can we improve what we're doing in the present.
Now that being said, Jelani took us through a long combination of around 8 different movements. We did them in a straight line, around a chair, solo and with a partner. We also did them in a way in which we were very compact, covering little ground.
You see, in Capoeira Angola, we have what is called "Jogo de Dentro", which means "inside game". In this game, the players are very compact, and they play very close to each other, in a small space, with the idea being to be able to do them in a phone booth, if need be.
To illustrate, I posted this video of Mestre Jogo de Dentro(he got this name because he's known for his mastery of this game, even though he's like 6 feet, 5 inches tall). Notice how the roda gets smaller and smaller as the video progresses...
That's Jogo de Dentro.
Jelani also had he insight to modify some of the movements so those of us who are not all that strong and flexible could get through the sequence. I know, you can't learn to fight or play Capoeira Angola through sequences, but a sequence does teach you how to chain your movements together, and to develop flow throughout your movement, so it looks like you're doing only one long movement, when in actuality, you're doing 3 or 4 different movements.
And after jelani showed us some berimbau toques, We ended with a small, yet grand Roda. Each student had a lot of time to play instruments and play in the Roda.
I want to Thank all of the members of Capoeira Angola Jogo De Cintura (Soon to be N'golo Preto Velho Los Angeles de Mestre Themba.) and to my brother and crazy uncle in capoeira, Jelani Ticum Lateef, for his perseverance to to teach, propagate, and preserve traditional Capoeira Angola. Ase.
Oh, and check this out! Jelani at Capoeira Batuque's Batizado I beleive, playing with the one and only, Mestre BOA GENTE. That's Wassup!!!
And one more thing.
Congratulations Jelani, for becoming Mestre Themba's L.A. representative!!!
SUNDAY!!!
ON SUNDAY, I WAS BACK IN THE PARK.
It started out like most other Sundays. We played music for an hour, during which a family of hikers came and listened to us halfway through, and after a little while, we talked to them about what we do there. This time however, was a very special Sunday. In the middle of the Sunday class, while I was rushing to the bathroom, a man with long dreadlocks showed up.
Now for the last 3 years, charles always talked about a man called "Kekeu", who he trained with, a man who was one of the main reasons Charles started teaching capoeira.
And here he was in the flesh!
We talked about a lot of things, and we trained together.
Here he is, playing with charles in what is now my favorite Capoeira video...
Thank You Charles, for bringing me into this game of life called Capoeira Angola, and continuing to be my guide on this journey.
Yes, with the fundraiser last Saturday, and Kekeu's arrival last Sunday(Not to mention the fact that I spent the weekend with 2 of the most important people in my capoeira journey), last weekend was a very good omen, as i'm about to start a big project.
Now, let's see how this weekend goes...
Monday, October 3, 2016
Stewie Griffin Where's My Money?!!!
For some insane reason, this makes me laguh everytime I see it...
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Friday, August 5, 2016
I can't believe it's Friday!!!
You know, everyday I keep telling myself that I'm gonna post something, ANYTHING on this blog. But because I'm too lazy, or too whatever, I don't, and next thing I know, a few weeks have gone by and I find that I didn't post a damn thing.
Well, hopefully that's gonna change today.
Maybe.
But for now, let me start this day with a public service announcment that we all should hear, listen, and take heed to.
I hope you enjoy it.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
GOOD MORNING, FAMILY!!!
I hope y'all enjoy it. Some young right-wingers tried to ambush me with video cameras and "gotcha" questions. But I think I turned the tables on them pretty well. I explained to them why Donald Trump is WORSE than a racist. And now this video is going viral on the right! Check it out.
https://youtu.be/fO-0i6jWe1U
Published on Jul 20, 2016
Legendary Carl the Cuck Slayer Owen Shroyer, engages democratic operative and CNN pun dent Van Jones in heated street debate
Category
People & Blogs
License
Standard YouTube License
Created using
YouTube Capture
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
Real short post here, I just wanna start off the day with some shit I found on Facebook.
I hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
MY JOURNEY IN CAPOEIRA, SO FAR
Hi Family,
As Y'all might know if you read this blog, next month, it will be my 3rd year as a Capoeirista, and once again, I feel compelled to tell you guys my history in this art.
Check out this video:
This is a video of my Capoeira Instructor, Charles Williams, teaching Capoeira class in Griffith Park.
You know, I wanted to learn this martial art for many years... Even before I knew what it was. The very 1st time I saw a capoeira movement was in the late 80's, in a movie named, "The Mighty Quinn", starring Denzel Washington and Robert Townsend.
It's been a couple years before I found out that this was indeed capoeira. I read in an old M.A. magazine about how the Capoeira fighting sequences were choreographed by Cedric Adams.
The first time I saw capoeira actually mentioned in a movie was this old movie called ROOFTOPS...
and since then, I was hooked.
I wanted to find a school, but this was the late 80's/early 90's, and I was out of luck.
Until... In 1989 Panther Productions decided to make 8 VHS tapes about Capoeira.
I bought them in the mid - 90's, and watched them from end to end, and learned all the movements. Hell, I can still do some of them... And I also watched and studied every video clip I could find on the art, from movies , travel shows, commercials...
And I must have watched ONLY THE STRONG about a hundred times...
But I stopped because I had nobody to practice or play with. Fast forward a few years, I gave up on learning capoeira, and started learning another fascinatingly beautiful, and deadly martial art called Pencak Silat:
Thiese styles in particular...
But, CAPOEIRA WAS NEVER FAR AWAY... And then, in 2014, as summer was ending, I became a student of this guy:
Charles Williams.
The man who is my teacher, guide, and role model in this wonderful way of life called capoeira.
I met him a few years ago at a bar in Downtown L.A. through a mutual friend named Danni El, another amazing person Whom I've written about MANY TIMES.
In fact, they were singing this very song when I first met him.
And then I learned about the Open Mic called "FREEDOM OF SPEECH THURSDAYS" that he hosts at the "Sabor y Cultura" cafe in Hollywood.
And of course, it's ALWAYS a pleasure to see SEAN HILL...
Anyway, the point is, at the time I met him, I had NO IDEA he was into martial arts AT ALL, much less capoeira.
But then, this party happened.
It was a going away party for Danni el, as she was going out to FLORIDA for a few months. And it was there that Charles was playing and singing some capoeira songs with a friend of mind named Alejandro (who was also a capoeirista, unbeknownst to me), and I found out that he was a capoeira instructor!
And after that, he would occasionally put this banner up on his Facebook page:
And despite the VERY CLEAR instructions on the banner, I tried and FAILED 2 times to find him in that enormous park... and besides, I was going through some financial difficulties, and for over a year & a half, I didn't have the money to get bus fare to get out to the park.
But then one Sunday, I was practicing my silat (Which I hadn't practiced in a long while) in a different part of the park than where I usually went to at that time (not even THINKING about Capoeira), and I just happened to look across the road, and there he was, playing a berimbau.
I had a little music lesson with him on that day, then I went to the observatory... And then I started training in earnest with him the next Sunday after that, and we've been rocking and rolling ever since.
Now guys, before I tell you guys what happened with me on my path as a capoeirista, I thought I'd take this time to tell you guys a little bit about the style of Capoeira that I practice.
Capoeira Angola, the Capoeira form that I practice, is an ancient martial art of African origin, is one of the many cultural weapons used to break the chains of enslavement in Brazil.
At one time, Capoeira was outlawed, with death being the penalty paid by those caught playing Capoeira during the slavery era. For almost 400 years Capoeira Angola was taught and practiced in secret, and only in the 1930's did this African martial art become legal to teach and practice.
We who practice Capoeira Angola owe it to all those who fought to keep it alive in the past...
To learn, practice, preserve, and show this beautiful way of life called Capoeira Angola to the world.
And, to pass it on to the next generation.
And I would also like to give a shout out to Mestre Joao Grande. the man who has been doing just that for over 50 years.
Mestre João Grande, one of the top students of MESTRE PASTINHA, the godfather of Modern day Capoeira Angola, is a highly respected figure in the world of capoeira, and has received numerous awards.
These include a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Upsala College in East Orange, NJ in 1995, and in September of 2001 he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is one of the most prestigious awards for practitioners of traditional arts in the US.
Here's one of my favorite videos of him.
When Mestre moved to New York in 1990 and started teaching at his ACADEMY, one of his early students was a man named Omulu, who became on of Mestre Joao Grande's first graduates in New York. This man then came out to Los Angeles, where he taught some students at a place called PROJECTO JARDIN. My teacher Charles, was one of Omulu's students there, which makes Joao Grande the head of our particluar lineage.
I met him last month at a week long workshop he was teaching in Los Angeles last July...
But that's another blog for another time.
So, Do y'all want to know what a typical weekend Class at Agape and Griffith Park is like for me? here's some pictures of all the bus stops, train stops, etc. I take to go from the city of Carson, CA. to both places:
On Saturdays, I take class at agape...
...And on Sundays, we are here at Griffith Park. I like to get there an hour early or so, and talk to people, exercise a little bit, or just sit & chill. This is a very beautiful park, a small slice of nature in the middle of a huge urban landscape...
And what happens when class gets started? Well first, let's show the montage:
And in case you guys don't like pictures, here's a short video of the sunday class...
The class lasts 3 hours. For the 1st hour, there's a music class where we learn to play the berimbau, the pandeiro, and the other instruments, and we learn new songs.
Then for the other 2 hours, we have movement training, where we warmup with yoga exercises, and learn ginga, negativa, kicks, and other movements, and then we have a small Roda at the end of class, where we put it all together.
I love this class. We're there outside, Hot or cold, rain or shine, etc.
I beleive capoeira belongs outside, with different people, and animals, feeding you energy. It makes me so happy when I see families, couples children, etc. watching us, and when people come up to talk to us about what we're doing...
Sometimes my knee, hip, or one of my ankles sometimes hurts like hell, or my left pinkie from holding the berimbau. But that's O.K., because none of those are injuries, that's just my weakness leaving my body. Even when it takes 3 or days to do so...
And since I started walking the path of a capoeirista, there's been nothing but great times.
There were Rodas in Downtown LA...
LEIMERT PARK...
On the beach in SAN DIEGO...
AT CHUCO'S JUSTICE CENTER in Ingelwood...
In LONG BEACH, and other places...
Demonstrations....
Events like the CAPOEIRA EXCHANGE... In fact, there's another one on August 21st, I'll blog about that one soon.
And a whole LOT of love.
And Wonderful Memories...
And let's not forget the CAPOLOCK.
Capo-lock24 is an artist collective slumber party that combines Capoeira Angola and multiple art forms for 24hrs. Various teachers and group leaders from the Capoeira Angola/Afro Brazilian community will conduct workshops covering movement, dance, and music, in an open forum setting for all styles and levels.
Saturday evening, the event will extend into a nightlife celebration consisting of: spoken word, music performances, art installations, live art, healing arts, multiple DJs and a dance party. Vendors will also be present with food and merchandise.
People attending the event are encouraged to stay the night, bring your sleeping bags and tents. (There's ample amount of room in the warehouse)
As of this writing, there were already 2 of them, and there will be another one in October (Don't quote me on that). for more information about CAPO-LOCK 24, click HERE. Of all the memories I had on this journey into capoeira, this is my absolute favorite. Why? Because I never thought in a million years, I'd be doing this... Posing with my very own berimbau.
I would like to wholehardedly thank Charles Williams, Ian Trujillo, Tope Akintunji, Jelani Ticum Lateef, and Greg Bickham, who are all somewhere in the pictures on this blog (You know where you are), for being guiding lights in my journey as a capoeirista. You guys set the standard for what I want to be as a Capoeirista, a martial artist, and as a person
I've been on this path of Capoeira Angola for almost 2 years now, and though I feel my journey in the Martial Arts is not over yet, I"ll be a Capoeirista until the day I die...
And even after.
This Capoeira Angola class that charles teaches, is for everyone of all ages and skill sets. You will learn the movements, how to play instruments, sing the songs, and learn about the history and culture. Come out and have fun, enjoy, and be in the spirit. This is a donation class. Please wear comfortable sneakers, shorts/pants and t-shirt.
For more information, check out www.solsinmotion.com.
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