Just want to give a thank you to the boys who turned up for the ELS show at their centre in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. Good job to Jamal, Perereca, Durim, Mascote, Porkolinho, Asad and Sorriso for taking time out of their busy daily schedules to spread some axé to this batch of ELS graduates.

The show started slightly late due to some classic mis-direction on KL roads by our Pee-Jay-born-and-bread crew but the ELS peeps were more than happy to oblige. We kicked off at about 12pm with a big shout out and thank you to ELS for giving Rafael his basic English certificate that has helped him tremendously in his work and his life here in Malaysia.

The crew then went to work and thoroughly entertained the ELS crowd with characteristic Bantus axé ending with a fast n’ furious game between Rafa and Mr. Froggy himself. I was completely swarmed with inquiries about Bantus and our academy after the roda finished!

A few minutes later ELS Academic Director Ms. Hoo Fung Mun graciously summoned the troop on stage to receive an ang pow and an apple (!) each as a token of appreciation. All in all, a good morning’s work.

Next year is World Cup year! That means many of my friends are going to be losing muito dinero and sleep (due to the time difference in Germany) on World Cup matches. That also means Brazil will again be pushed to the forefront of global consciousness. You know, Brazilians and their “Samba football”. Guess people have no other nice name to call it… since Brazil=Football+Samba.

Interestingly enough, the peeps at Nike sponsored a new football documentary by Fernando Meirelles—the director of City of Gods (Cidade de Deus), that super gritty movie based on the lives of two kids who grew up in the favellas of Rio de Janeiro in the 60’s and how one turned to violence and another turned to photojournalism during the disco 70’s. This new football documentary is called ‘Ginga‘—loosely translated for the masses as ‘The Art of Movement’—and how it influences Brazilian football. So now when you talk to your friends about Brazilian football, call it “Ginga football”.

Cool huh? A friend of ours at Nike invited us to perform the opening gambit at the launching of the ‘Ginga’ documentary at the National Art Gallery this past Saturday. The special launch was by invite only and comprised of the who’s who of the local movie scene. In the words of the MC, ‘What better way to illustrate the Ginga than to invite some friends on stage who practice the Ginga everyday. Lets give a big round of applause to the Bantus Capoeira Troop!’.

What followed was a fast and furious 5 minute music, solo and game sequence on stage that left the audience amazed and asking for more!

Look out for more collaborations with Nike as the World Cup draws near! We’ll also be getting a copy of the movie shortly (and also hopefully a TV and DVD player… hint hint) at the academy for those of you who wish to view it.

We’ll be having an end of the year meeting, kind of like an informal general meeting this Saturday, 26th November, at the Bantus Academy. We’ll take stock for this quarter, get feedback from everyone about what you liked, what you think can be improved and discuss plans for next year.

As usual, it will be a rather informal meeting and all students are encouraged to come over to chat with us so we can all work together to improve Capoeira in Malaysia. Details as follows:

• When? Saturday, 26th November @ 4:30pm to 5:30pm (please note that the meeting will start and end promptly because we have a performance right after that followed by our overdue street roda!)
• Where? Academia Bantus
• What to bring? Feedback on what you liked this year, what you want improved and suggestions for next year.

We’ve had tons of enquiries over the past few months about having a kids class at the academy so we’ve decided to start our dedicated kids program.

Please pass the word along to your friends and family so we can soon see more Bantus kids flipping around during public rodas! Details as follows:

• When? Saturday 11am to 12pm
• Where? Academia Bantus
• How much? Special introductory offer—if you pre-register before 30th December 2005, MYR 50/month! Normal rate MYR 70/month. Spaces are limited.
• Who can join? Children 16 years and younger

To pre-register please send an e-mail to quek@bantus.com.my with your name and phone number or call Quek at 012 288 7908 so we can inform you when the class will begin!

Coming Soon—keep an eye out for Brazilian samba classes at the Bantus Academy…

For a capoeirista, it’s hard to beat the feeling you get when you receive a different coloured cord at your Batizado in recognition of your progress in the art form. You’re proud of your achievement—and you should be. In Bantus it takes a lots of effort to cover the grounds on which one will be considered for a change of cord. It is hard-earned.

Before we venture further let’s set the record straight about what getting a higher level cord is not. It’s not about having the right to belittle younger students, whether in a roda or on the streets. It’s not about being able to execute flawless aerials to wow a crowd. It’s not about brilliant singing or playing of any of the instruments.

What it is however, is far more difficult to attain. Mestre Pintor agrees to award a person with a higher cord based on strength of character and maturity. Maturity breeds humility, and from there stems the natural desire to step beyond one’s personal interests and instead labour with those of others in mind.

If it all sounds rather abstract at this point, well, it is—Bantus doesn’t operate purely by numbers and a hard-coded syllabus. Perhaps now though, you’d understand why it would take different people different lengths of time to attain the various cords we have in our school.

To our green-cord students, much is expected of you. Not only will you need to train even harder in your movements, music and singing, you should be showing more interest in the actual day-to-day running of the academy as compared to your junior counterparts. Demonstrate your accountability to Bantus and be mindful about maintaining its good reputation.

Whether you intended for it or not, you will be looked up to as mentors and examples to be followed by the younger students, so keep your noses clean. Remember that genuine respect never comes automatically, but is, as with most good things, earned.

Moving on to another aspect of cords, here’s the gist of the various colours which Bantus awards to its students:

Beginner Cords

• White/Black/Red (Coral—named after the coral snake)
• Green
• Green/Yellow

Intermediate Cords

• Yellow
• Yellow/Blue

Advance Cords

• Blue (Aluno Graduado—graduated student)
• Blue/White (Transitional—for students who may not be ready for the next cord)
• Blue/Green (Aluno Formado)
• Blue/Green/Yellow (Professor)
• Blue/Green/White (Contra-mestre)
• Blue/Green/White/Yellow (Mestre)

Having said all this, Rafael keeps saying that ultimately the cord is just a string to hold your abadas up—meaning that a capoeirista’s worth is not necessarily dictated by the colour of the cord he wears