Capoeira

[BadgerFu57]

Is Capoiera beneficial and if so in what respects?

[eXcessiveForce]

It looks like fun and a damn good workout but I don't see much in the way of combat effectiveness. Just an opinion though. I've messed with it but never enough to evaluate it except from the perspective of an observer.

[BadgerFu57]

excessive, i know your a stud so i bet you can answer that.

How beneficial is learning Kata and Point sparring.... I just wonder because I am athletic and could probably do well in Karate/TKD tournaments. I just don't want to invest time in something that will make me a worse fighter.

[platinum_angel]

kata and point sparring is good for kids. such as tkd and karate. but for teens and adults i suggest something else. if you are going to learn caperiaiaiiai or whatever might as well learn how to dance.

[eXcessiveForce]

that's a tough question.

Can kata improve your abilities? sure to a certain degree if used as a proper training tool. Will be a great Kata person make you a good fighter? no probably not.

Other's will disagree on here but I believe Kata to be beneficial if used in training. However there are many Kata out there and not all are created equal. Kata's should be built out of combinations that have some purpose to them. You won't ever use a kata to defend yourself but you may use combinations out of them. They will never replace bag work.

Point sparring if done properly will increase you abilities. Techniques are "pulled" in point sparring. For some odd reason over the last 10 years this has meant throwing weak slow techniques. When I started it was you throw a full speed, full power technique at the wrong target For example Punching to the tip of the nose rather than through the head. Point sparring will build speed and accuarcy and give you some timing a allow you to learn distancing without taking damage from high contact.
It can also teach you very poor habits such as not blocking well enough, not following through on your hits, and following rules regarding target zones.

If you train it properly it can help somewhat. the only way you will know is to try it and see if you benefit from it. It's all what you make of it. If you train for real you can go and win tournaments very easy, Most of my students win and usually take double first place. They also tend to get a few warning for excessive contact and such. But they spar within the rules at a tournament but differently at the school.


Good luck

[BadgerFu57]

I love you excessive force.

And yes, I wanted to take Capoeira for fun reasons, not fighting. I bet the chicks would dig it.

[platinum_angel]

if you want to impress the chicks then learn how to dance like MJ and n'sync. its called pop and thats how i dance take advice from the man. which would be me

[RebelFury]

I, myself, have family and have been to Brazil a few times. My cousin is now one of the head instructors at a Capoeira club. Capoeira is next to useless as far as combat usage goes. Seeing as how the whole point of it is to get as close as possible WITHOUT hitting the guy..

As for the fun-ness of it. I love it. It's SO much fun. Tiring though... and don't try to fight when you're exhausted.. you're just gonna end up hurting someone, or getting hurt..

[seeker]

I think the beneficy of capoeira (or anything) to your fighting skills depends on what kind of things you see as beneficial (obviously). I think that capoeira can be beneficial as well as anything else. It is not only about how hard you can hit etc. Movement, flexibility, good condition. All these are important when it comes to fighting. Of course you can improve these things while learning to hit hard, but i think it is better to do everything. For example muaythai training will get you in shape, but according to my experience it isn't really good in making you flexible. So it is good to do things like taichi, yoga, capoeira etc.
A person who trains kickboxing (or any other martial art) for years will probably be a pretty good kickboxer, but he isn't a perfect fighter. thats why we should explore things. Do everyhing.

[Half-Asleep]

i havn't done capoera so i won't pretend to know much about it but it seems to me it would be good for teaching u not to get hit just moving around strikes and the such and then in combination with other martial arts it could help improve u greatly as a fighter

[ultraphine]

I can see how people would think that capoeira has no combat effectiveness, but ive studied quite a few martial arts in the past, wing chun bein the main one (5 yrs full time plus o/s training) and ive been assesing what they are teaching me at the capoeira school im at now (filhio de bahia melbourne) and believe me there is method to the madness. Alot of the stuff people see during demosis not what is taught for self defence. Saying that i still believe that it aint the best thiong for street fighting far from it in fact , but im beginning to find a few nice techniques that i think have merit, plus u gotta realise that the whole point of capoeira was to hide the intention of combat to their slave masters.

plus as im gettin older i need to work more on flexibility and agility.........

plus the women at this place arew awesome lol

[swan104]

Originally posted by ultraphine

plus the women at this place arew awesome lol

I'm going to sign up! Sh*t! My nearest school is in London!

[platinum_angel]

swan did you read my post at all........jeezzzzzz