The Blind Man Society

Tonight, I’m thinking about Hansel and Grettel. In the story, these two children used breadcrumbs to find their way out of a forest. This got me thinking about modern day breadcrumbs, and how they might be used…

The first example of modern-day breadcrumbs I can think of, is the time capsule. How many of you remember being children – and your school, put together time capsules to bury out on the school property somewhere. These were left, for the future to find – to mark who we were back then and reflect. I got to thinking that maybe they were more than this. Maybe they were a way to find our way back to better times…times that worked a little more effectively. Breadcrumbs to find our way out of the forest of time.

This led me to think about Capoeira. And, it’s origins.

Capoeira is the martial art of the slaves.  It is a mix of fight, dance and music where the movements are hidden in the dance that is played to music. It was developed and used to escape slavery – and once the inhabitants were free, they escaped into the jungle to Palmyra, the slave city they established.  They lived there for years and years, until slavery was no more.  Years later, after slavery was abolished, they arrived in Brazilian cities and tried to fit in.  But, they had no place in society – so they downgraded, as some people do, into crime.  They got so bad, and so lethal, that the military was called in to exterminate them.  Capoeiristas were hunted, and for years it was dangerous to be associated with them, or be one.  It wasn’t until the 1960s that two legal schools were started for it – in the styles of Regional with Mestre Bimba – which is the “fast” version, and Angola with Mestre Pastinha – which is the “slow” version…its very much like human chess.  And, it makes me wonder sometimes, if people in modern times are taking this story and history and putting it to use in their lives. 

What happened to the Capoeristas of those times?  Most were hunted down and killed by the military.  Only a few made it, and those two legal schools of the art were formed.  And, as time went on, it became less about the fight, and more about the art – movements that would not work in a fight, but were incorporated nonetheless.  Until, eventually, the tide could possibly recede – this hasn’t totally happened yet…but, I think, Capoeira will change into something else now.  There will always be the purists.  There will always be the artists.  But, either way, its creation was akin to catching lightning in a bottle.  And, eventually, the lightning will stop bouncing around inside the clear glass for all to see and fade out.  I don’t know that Capoeira will ever go away – it is too effective, and too fun, and too artistic and most of all, too historical to be forgotten.  I personally cannot say…just guessing.  I love the art.  I have told endless people about it – and the kids love to watch me practice it.  🙂

I leave it to the reader to find the breadcrumbs in the Capoeira portion of this blog post…but I’ll give you a hint: humankind has had Revolutions and World Wars in the past…now, we seem to be all about art and technology and the furthering of mankind. Where does it go from here, I wonder? And, where did it all start?

Have a great night everyone, and as always, comments are welcome in the box below!