I found another hobby!

Last November I saw a capoeira perfromance for the first time and was mesmerized by it. (For those of you unfamiliar with capoeira, capeira originated in 16th century Brazil by African slaves. Capoeira is a combination of martial art, dance, and game and it is performed to music. You can see a sample of it at this youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZ9YP06f34

Having thought about it for a while, I decided to take my first capoeira class tonight. The instructor's (mestranda in Portuguese) name was Julianna and she was so nice (and fit! you should have seen her lean abs!) She had us do stretches for warm-up before she began the class. The first movement she taught us is called ginga and it is a basic capoeira movement that allows for an easy entrance to an either offensive or defensive action. From there, the moves became increasingly more complicated. Still, Julianna made sure to work with us individually whenever she saw one of us struggling.

Towards the end of the class, mestranda Julianna taught us some basic beats on tambourines, had us do sit-ups, and had us get into the bridge pose. Now, this is where the miracle took place because I have tried unsuccessfully soooo many times to do the bridge pose in yoga class. Tonight, my body decided it was time I get with the program and up my body went into the bridge pose. Hot Damn!

The class tonight was fun but challenging at times. I really liked this class and think I'll be doing it on a regular basis. Viva Brazil! (Oh yeah, measurements: Quads = 58 cm, Calves = 38 cm, Biceps = 28 cm)