It’s capoeira between us. Conversations with capoeiristas. Part 1. Natalia Korelina

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      About the Author

      My name is Natalia Korelina. My name in capoeira is Curiosa4.

      I started doing capoeira in August 2015 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. I was 20 years old. That year I finished my second year at university and decided to quit because I didn’t like the process itself. I started doing capoeira with monitor5 Brasileiro6.

      When I came to the first class, I only knew that capoeira was from Brazil and that it was somehow influenced by and resembled fighting and dancing. I came and they showed me ginga and a couple of kicks. They also showed a rhythm on a «drum». In fact, it was the drum that made me come to the second class.

      I did well, I made friends. The group was small: 6—8 people. After 3 months, everyone began to vigorously discuss an event, a master and belts. I had not been encouraged much to participate, no one bothered to explain the whole master and belt concept. And then the gloomiest and most taciturn guy named Tough Guy said to me, with eyes shining, «Be sure to come, it will be very cool, this is motivation for the whole year!»

      And I did go. I borrowed money and came to take part in it. There was a master Papa-Leguas7 and a bunch of strangers from different cities. Nobody in the group, not even my coach, spoke Portuguese. Only I and another guy could speak English, and he translated the class on the first day.

      The master was irresistible. Confidence and calmness emanated from him; he knew exactly what he was doing. Then I saw real capoeira for the first time, heard the true voice of our instruments and fell in love with it all. After one class, I plucked up the courage and started talking to him, I no longer remember about what. I think I asked if he lived in England, and he said that he lived in Brazil. Then he asked if I would receive the belt the next day. I was hearing about it for the first time and told him that I had only been training for 3 months, and that I was not ready, but he informed me that everything was fine, and that I could already receive the belt.

      When I was leaving the coach caught me and said that I would receive the belt the next day, period.

      On my way to the ceremony, the following day, I was reading Wikipedia in order to finally find more about capoeira and how Batizado8 worked. Yes, no one told me about it, and I actually did not ask.

      The master himself gave me the belt. At that seminar, I naively asked him, «Are you the only master who travels like this, or are there many of you in the world?»

      If only I knew then how many wonderful capoeira masters there were in this world!

      Soon regular classes were not enough for me. In the first year, I went 3 times to Krasnodar, once to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also spent a month in Israel, where I miraculously got to an event with Grande Mestre9 Suassuna and Mestre Ivan.

      During that year, I learned that I was training in the group called Cordāo de Ouro, and that this large and friendly family, which existed the world over, was waiting for me with open arms. Then, I have met almost all the YouTube legends. It got to the point where Mestre Cueca said that he was seeing me more often than his mother, and Suassuna kissed me on both cheeks and said that I was beautiful. I was happy. But I had plans. I was going to work on a cruise ship. I was supposed to get a second belt on the eve of my departure, but I learned with bitterness that the seminar had been postponed and I had to leave without the new belt.

      I left for 7 months, trying in vain to keep practicing on my own. I even managed to take time off from work once and train with a group in Miami. And then I decided to catch up on lost time in Brazil. So, having seen my master only once, I wrote to him and said that I wanted to come and train with him. I didn’t even know that receiving guests was a common practice for him.

      After a short visit home, I hit the road again. I stopped over in Rio de Janeiro for a little rest and spent some time at a local school, learning Portuguese. Following this, I bought a ticket to the small town of Patos de Minas, where Papa-Leguas lived with his family.

      He met me at the bus station at 5 am. I was embarrassed, because he is a master! I was supposed to stay with his student, but she had left for 2 days, and the master offered me a stay at his house until she returned. I met his wife and children; it was like in a dream. I was at my master’s house! What an honor! What a delight! But despite getting close to him and his family, he is still like a rock star to me.

      And so, the training routine began; I got acquainted with his instructors and the history of capoeira in Patos de Minas. Traces of this story are scattered all over the world: Mestre Chicote10, Mestre Parente11, Mestre Piolho12 and, of course, Mestre Papa-Leguas – they all once trained together, started together, and now live in Europe.

      On that trip, I also travelled to the event of world significance – Dia de Ouro13, where golden threads14 appeared in the masters’ belts. And this journey ended at Mestre Suassuna’s home, where I met groups from Russia, South Africa, Miami and other countries at the same time. The geography of our group is vast, but I noticed one trend – all stories lead to Brazil and Israel.

      Here, I propose to my readers to go on a trip and find out how capoeira began and is being practiced in different countries. I’ll start with the country where I got the idea to write a book – South Korea.

      South Korea

      It is our first stop on this capoeira journey and the place that inspired me to write.

      South Korea has become a very special place for me. I came here to patch holes in the budget and lick the mental wounds, so to speak. Well. Both goals were achieved. I left Korea full of energy, ideas and love for capoeira.

      Korea is a small country with beautiful nature and a developed economy. Technological and economic growth has occurred so quickly here that people and local traditions have not had time to fully adapt. For example, they monitor the waste recycling and protect nature at the governmental level, but at the same time middle-aged people throw garbage out of car windows. By the way, there are a lot of cars here, and all are quite expensive. At the same time, drivers in the provinces do not stop at a red light, drive without a license, and generally don’t regard traffic rules.

      Koreans have a curious way of showing respect to «age». Even if the age difference is one year. This is reflected in the language as well: they use different «you» for addressing a person who is younger than they are and another for a person who is older than they are. This reaches the point of absurdity – I have witnessed more than once when younger friends unquestioningly endured the idiotic antics of older ones. Without going into details, I will say that this does not fit into the modern European mentality, to which I belong.

      But this is all happenings in the provinces. Young people flock to Seoul, worship idols (Korea’s ideal pop stars), undergo plastic surgery, speak English, СКАЧАТЬ