Murphy Was a Capoeirista

18 12 2007

These are some capoeira maxims I came up with just for fun a while ago,  inspired by Murphy’s Laws.  I don’t know how widely they apply to capoeiristas in general, but in my training experience, I’ve lived by them! 

Muy Thai's Tony Jaa takes on capoeira's Lateef Crowder in The Protector 

Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.

1. The longer and the harder you work at doing something right, the higher the chances are that you’ll be caught out the one time you do it wrong.

2. The degree of certainty with which your teacher states something is directly proportional to the likelihood that they mean the exact opposite or something else entirely. Exceptions to this are when it is equal to the degree of certainty with which another teacher tells you the exact opposite, or something else entirely.

3. The amount of rushing you do to arrive at an event on time directly influences the lateness with which it will begin, increasing the exact amount of rushing you did not have to do. This is also known as the Universal Theory of Brazilian Time Dilation.

4. The class(es) you miss, no matter where, when, or why, will always, categorically, and unconditionally be the class(es) you most wish you had attended

5. A watched student never moves. (Note: This law is only ever concluded by teachers through empirical evidence and inductive reasoning, due to a freak coincidence of constant impeccable timing between the exact moment a student tires out and the exact moment a teacher checks across the room.)



6 responses

18 12 2007

What to do when Murphy strikes again.
Numbering according to ‘your’ laws.

1. Keep training hard, but when you fail say a) you were trying some malicia b) you wanted to see what would happen if you did what you did. [a/b depending on situation of course]

2. Learn Portuguese so they can explain it in their own language only to find out that capoeira is full of contradictions. Then find your own style. And everything you do different is just your style.

3. The more important the event is, the later you can come. Classes start 10-15 minutes late, a batizado usually at least an hour.

4. Never miss a class 😉

5. Sempre ginga (dixit Bimba) or hide behind a well muscled capoeirist.


18 12 2007


“The more time spent learning/perfecting a certain move, the less time it will take for your body to forget how to do it.” (Friggin macacos).

…figure into these laws at all?

This is a great post!

19 12 2007

Lol. Those were written more as a joke than as genuine grievances, but thanks for trying to help! =P

Haha, it absolutely would. Thanks!

19 12 2007

OMG too funny… I always get caught on #5

20 12 2007

My tips weren’t meant to be interpreted seriously either 😉

22 12 2007

lol, to both branca and xixarro…thanks =P

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