I Survived the 2nd Come to Play Capoeira Festival in Cork

This past weekend saw the 2nd Come to Play Capoeira Festival in Cork, organised by Instructor Gaucho (my instructor) and Gringa of Capoeira Grupo Candeias Ireland Cork Candeias Academy. It was hectic with over 10 hours of Capoeira training between Friday and Sunday, as well as demonstrations, one of which was in front of Brown Thomas on Saturday morning, a Latin party on Saturday night in Bodega Nights club which saw an impromptu Capoeira demonstration put on by the instructors that had all the women in the club rushing to our section upstairs in the White Rooms, and a BBQ in Cork Candeias Academy on Sunday night to finish off the weekend . My fitness level is not great, and I’m still aching today, but I made it through all the training thanks to Lucozade Sport, Lucozade Glucose Tablets and lots of bananas!

Alex and I had our batizado on Sunday and received our first corda (belt). For my batizado I had to play in the roda with Instructor Camundongo from Czech Republic, and Alex had to play with Instrutora Bia from Bournemouth, UK. Bia, as well as Gaucho and Gringa, also talked Sharon into starting Capoeira, which Alex and I have been trying for ages, and she is going to the beginners class tomorrow, Wednesday 06-Jun-2007.

Malungo

I was given my Capoeira apelido (nickname), Malungo, today by my instructor, Gaucho. This is a tradition in Capoeira dating back to when it was illegal in Brazil and the capoeiristas (Capoeira practitioners) adopted nicknames to make it more difficult for police to discover their true identities. The nickname is picked by the instructor and is usually based on the capoeiristas personality and how they play in the roda, but can also be picked for a bit of fun, e.g. Alex was given the nickname Polegar, which means “thumb” in Brazilian Portuguese, possibly because he is the only child in the class and “sticks out like a sore thumb“.

The following is the best I can find in relation to the meaning of Malungo:

Slene notes that the philologist Macedo Soares gave as a definition of “malungo”in 1880 (in Portuguese):

“companheiro, patricio, da mesma regiao, que veio no mesmo comboio parceiro da mesma laia, camarada, parente.”

(translated: companion, fellow countryman, from the same region, who travels on the same conveyance, from the same background, comrade, relative).

Soares cites a 1779 Portuguese dictionary with the example, “Malungo, meu malungo…chama o preto a outro cativo que veio com ele na mesma embaracao”…

which is translated (Malungo, my malungo…the black calls another captive who came with him on the same ship)