[Capoeira] Do you think I that capoeira is right for:

[Andy Pandy]

I do believe that the most basic techniques are often the most effective, but I feel that I have a very limited range of moves and I need to improve on some specific areas.

I mostly need to focus on:
- Ballance
- Flexibility
- Co-ordination

I feel that although the basics will always be the more effective most of the time, there are always opportunities where more "acrobatic" moves can be used that would have a much more effective/powerfull/unpredictable outcome than simply throwing a simple attack (punch/kick/elbow/knee... whatever).

I currently do Muay Thai and Ju Jitsu, and I feel both of them are very practical for self defense and I think they make a nice combination of skills, but neither of them really focus enough on the 3 areas I mentioned above. Here is my question:

Do you think that doing Capoeira would be a good art to study to improve my weaknesses?

(If not please sugest other arts that you think would be more suitable that are commonly practiced (cus I struggle to find classes for the more exotic styles).)

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I would prefere to learn a style of Capoeira that is more geared towards combat practicality than dance, so if there is a specific style you would suject please mention it. Thanks again.

[Stuart H]

Good luck finding a school that's more than a dance class.

[M3inline6]

Good luck finding a school that's more than a dance class.

My school is! :D My mestre is a fighter, and it's evident in his game.

[Guy Mendiola]

I think all Capoeira schools would teach all of the Capoeira history and culture.

[valetudo74]

Good luck finding a school that's more than a dance class.

Welsh:

Visit a Capoeira school that teaches true Regional Capoeira and you will see more than a dance. Regional was created to be a fight, not a dance. The jogo, or game of Capoeira is only one aspect of the art. Regional rhythms also can dictate you change from a game to a fight. I've been a few capoeira scraps myself. Speaking from personal experience, it was hardly anything but dance.

[valetudo74]

I do believe that the most basic techniques are often the most effective, but I feel that I have a very limited range of moves and I need to improve on some specific areas.

I mostly need to focus on:
- Ballance
- Flexibility
- Co-ordination

I feel that although the basics will always be the more effective most of the time, there are always opportunities where more "acrobatic" moves can be used that would have a much more effective/powerfull/unpredictable outcome than simply throwing a simple attack (punch/kick/elbow/knee... whatever).

I currently do Muay Thai and Ju Jitsu, and I feel both of them are very practical for self defense and I think they make a nice combination of skills, but neither of them really focus enough on the 3 areas I mentioned above. Here is my question:

Do you think that doing Capoeira would be a good art to study to improve my weaknesses?

(If not please sugest other arts that you think would be more suitable that are commonly practiced (cus I struggle to find classes for the more exotic styles).)

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I would prefere to learn a style of Capoeira that is more geared towards combat practicality than dance, so if there is a specific style you would suject please mention it. Thanks again.

You need to find a school that specializes in Regional. Although it is important to learn Angola, your interest should be in Regional. Try to avoid schools that teach "Contemporanea," or "Contemporary Capoeira." Those are the schools that heavily incorporate acrobatics into their teaching. Regional is the original form created by Mestre Bimba to be used as a fight. Mestre Bimba himself was a Vale Tudo fighter in Brazil, and incorporated portions of other arts into Capoeira to make it more realistic. Being that he fought in Vale Tudo, he had to learn how to counter or avoid grapplers from BJJ or Judo, strikes from Boxers, and techniques used by Karateka. What you see today unfortunately, is a harmonious form of Capoeira that people call Regional, but is really Contemporanea.

Regarding flexibility, coordination and balance; Capoeira can vastly improve all of those areas. MMA fighters like Marco Ruas, Pedro Rizzo and Tadarius Thomas have extensive backgrounds in Capoeira, and use it for coordination training prior to fights. Each of them have trained in Capoeira for well over 5 years. Marco Ruas trained with Capoeira Abada, which is well-known for producing students who like to fight.

[Guy Mendiola]

Mestre Bimba is another true legend in the Capoeira world and in some of these MMA fighters fights they use some Capoeira but not very often but Jean Silva uses some of the techniques from Capoeira like those bobbing,weaving, and slipping but it's Capoeira style type of doing and not how like a fighter from a fixed stance would slip but I think Capoeira has the best slipping techniques and it's deceptive.