return of gremlin and toyota

Yesterday, I got a Valentine's Day card from Queencie and it said something like "We'll be spending Valentine's Day at ABADA (capoeira school). Just like the old days..." and it was interesting that we had planned to try out that school on V-day. I remember last year, I was crossing my fingers that V-day would land on a Monday or Wednesday so that I would already have a distraction from the fact that I was single on the day of romance. It landed on a Wednesday and I happily went to class and worked out.

Back when I was more obsessive about capoeira, I felt like I used it, in some sense, as a boyfriend...as a distraction from everything else. Whenever things in life weren't going well, I could count on the class to distract me with a tough workout or with a few laughs from the classmates who had become like family. So although this year, I had no qualms about V-day, it was ironic that even after a two-month break, our first day back in the roda landed on Feb. 14.

It felt good to be moving again, letting the familiar beat of the drum and the songs guide me in my game. I felt a little awkward to be doing those kicks since it had been two months, but it felt really good, and we were having so much fun. The old passion and enthusiasm flooded back into my body, into my heart, and I remembered how much I enjoyed the art before all the politics and the extra responsibilities came along.

Being back in the roda, training capoeira, left me feeling a little sad. On our way back home, Q and I even drove through the parking of Mission Dolores High like we had done every Monday and Wednesday night for the past two and half years. I missed the old gang...the upper belts who helped us with flips, whose abs we drooled over, who ignored us for the first year...the lower belts that we moved up with and joked around with...the ABADA crew was nice and friendly, but it just wasn't the same. I'm sure in time, we'd enjoy their company as much as we did with the old bunch, but in transition time, anything familiar transports you back to what you were used to...and that, for us, was Omulu, with Mestre Preguica, yelling at us to work hard, sweating alongside our classmates. And on the flipside, there were the "social events" where it was not about who had the best games or the strongest arms. It was just about getting to know each other and having a good time as a group.

It makes me nervous to think about training with another school when I return to Sac. What are the rules about playing? What can or can't I do? Should I do the acrobatics that I'm used to doing or will that look like I'm showing off? Do I wear my old belt? So many rules...but I have to remember that really, a capoeirista is a capoeirista not for the rules that he/she obeys, but for the respect and passion that he/she has for the art.

Axe.