Training on your own

[Bruno]

I'm curious as to what people do to train when there's no class, and no other Capoeirista available to train with. Most of us are not fortunate enough to have Capoeirista roommates, and maybe our academies don't offer classes every day of the week (or our schedules prevent us from going more than 2-3 times a week). As we all know, our Capoeira skills decay really quickly unless we keep up with classes and train as much as possible. What do you do when you're forced to train alone? I'm not talking about just training specific moves - does anyone have things they do to improve their game as a whole?

[Faisca]

It's quite difficult to train "for the game" if you don't have someone you can practice with, but I guess there are things you can do. Training specific moves is one of them.

I can never stress enough how important the basics are. Even if you've done hundreds of armadas, do hundreds more. The ability to think and react with split second timing is vital to a capoeirista, and the only way you can improve that is through repetition and practice. So, even though it may seem boring, practicing your basics every day is one of the best things a capoeirista can do. Even if it's setting time aside to do 10-20 armadas, meia luas, queixadas, etc a day, that's better than nothing.

You can also use the time to practice playing the instruments (well, this only applies to people who are fortunate enough to have their own instruments to practice with). One of the things that I know I lack in my capoeira game is the ability to play/sing well, and it's something I really need to practice more.

[CapoEspaco]

Yea i agree with Faisca, i started capoeira in 2003-2004 i was out of it for almost 2 years due to money issues, school, scheduling normal crap we all have to deal with at one point or another. I continued to train alone where i could, at home, the park, a gym. I did mostly Basic movements. . . When i finally got back into capoeira in 2006 late in the year, it took me less than a month to get right back on track because i had a good base, had the basic movements down so i didnt have to waste alot of time on basic, rather the instrutor saw my skills level and pushed me to do more. So yea man if u can Stick to the basics, have a good ginga, play instruments, learn songs, i think thats ur best bet.

[Leopardo]

Bruno-
first of all, you can always call ME!
Anyway, firstly- I would say 3 times a week is a really good amount to train...aside from some stretching on the off days, that should be enough.
2 days and under is too little and 4 days is maximum in my opinion- especially as we get older we need to be super aware of repetitive movements and their impact on our bodies.
That doesn't mean that if you train 3 days a week you can't keep in touch with capoeira by watching videos playing a little music or stuff like that- but it comes down to QUALITY training- not quantity.
One thing I would reccomend on off days is if you have 20 minutes, put on some good music and just ginga.
I still do this...work on moving around and esquiva within your ginga for 15-20 minutes and it will help your flow immensly. The biggest trait I see in capoeiristas who have spent too much time on specific movements is a lack of real strength and flow in their ginga.
Anyway- I go 3 days a week and, though I sometimes crave more- my body wouldn't like me if I went much more often and neither, for that matter.....would my wife :)
Paz e um abracos-
Leopardo

[Bruno]

Haha thanks. I'll take you up on that sometime!

These are all good suggestions. I didn't even consider the fact that I AM getting older, and my body is complaining a lot more than it used to. I sometimes just get impatient for progress, and try to think of ways to boost things a little. I guess practicing moving around in ginga, and some basic escapes and au's, is a good way to go, and it's easy enough to fit 20 minutes into a morning or evening routine.

Thanks for all the input. It helps to hear not everyone is doing 200 armadas, meia luas, and queixadas every day, or I would have felt really left behind!

Muito axé - salve!
-Bicicleta

[Faisca]

Leopardo, what you said about QUALITY training over QUANTITY training is perfect advice! If you're doing 100-200 armadas, they're not all going to be good armadas. You're going to start getting tired and sloppy, and that's not good for anything.

What you said about practicing the ginga and moving around is also great advice. This is one of the things I've started to focus on more in my training and it really helps your overall game.

[Relampago]

when im not at the academy, i either do basic non gymnastic shit (well role, au de angola, ensquiva and all the other fun movements.) and the basic kicks. and i also think of dope shit to do in the roda, like new ways to fuck with people or new ways to get into a move or sneaky shit in general

also as a prart of my training, i just dont do it. so by depriving myself of capoeira, im more hungry to do it, so therefore ill never get tired of it since im always approaching it with a child like curiousity and a hunger like nothing else, ya dig?

[Faisca]

I like what you said, Relampao, about not training capoeira all the time. Giving yourself some rest. That's good advice, because even though you may love capoeira very much, there are times when we all get sick of the things we love if it is a constant thing.

[S0rrisa]

I have found that training a different sport can help immensely, or even a different dance. I've noticed that I apply a lot of what I have learned from salsa dancing into my game: timing, ability to know what another person is thinking, flow, and of course, mad style! I agree with everyone else, training the basics is essential, but I would even take it a step further.
Training combinations gives you training with the basics, but also allows you to practice timing from one move to the next. You can get creative and make up your own combinations, or remember them from a class.