We often get asked what people can do to start capoeira. The answer of course is to get to class as soon as possible! However, often people have a time gap before they can begin training, and it's for those people that I'm writing this post.

Aú

Firstly, you're likely to encounter many movements you've never done before. This can feel uncomfortable, but don't worry, it's a normal response! To minimise your discomfort though it's a good idea to at least start to familiarise yourself with some of these movements. The most obvious one is cartwheels (or as we call it "Aú", which sounds a little like "Awoo"). Unless you're a dancer or gymnast you may never have done these, so put your hands on the ground and try hopping across from one leg to the other. Make sure you try both directions, as it's likely that you'll find one side more difficult. Don't worry about making your aú perfect, your teacher will do help you with that, just get comfortable having some weight on your hands.

Advanced Aú

If you are comfortable with aú and/or handstands ("bananeiras") then try doing them in a capoeira style - instead of looking at the floor put your head between your arms and try and look at something in front of you. This will be very helpful later on when you can see what your partner is doing.

Ginga

The next movement to familiarise yourself with is the ginga. This may be a controversial pick, but in my opinion being a little familiar with the movement helps to free up your brain when your teacher shows you how to do it "right", and that outweighs any bad habits you may pick up by trying it out. Depending on your group and style of capoeira the ginga may be rigidly defined or a completely free way to express yourself (or somewhere in the middle).

Ginga means "sway", and it's the distinctive, basic side-to-side movement of capoeira. There are a lot of terrible how-to videos out there, so I found this one after a short search and it shows most of the basic features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbUxXJKitS4

Squats and Lunges

Capoeira works your whole body very well, but it is especially intense on the legs. You can get some advantage by practicing squats and lunges as deeply as you can: squat right down until you're practically sitting on the floor or lunge forwards (or backwards) until your knee touches. Be careful doing this if you have any knee injuries, you may need some help from someone knowledgable to correct your form. Even if you have strong legs from running or other sports you may find that the large range of motion here works parts of your muscles that you aren't used to.

Ground Work

Put your hands on the floor and go for a walk like a monkey, or a cat, or a crocodile. Try leaving your feet in one place and walking your hands around you in a circle. See if you can do a bridge. Play! This will get you used to moving on the floor as well as working many useful muscles.

Finally

The last piece of advice I can give is to get excited about your first class! Have a look at some capoeira videos online. There are thousands and they represent so many different levels of skill and styles of play. You won't be able to do everything you see on these videos straight away, but with enough work and a good teacher you will get further than you can believe right now. Things you can't dream of doing right now will become easy. The only guarantee is that there will always be some amazing movement or skill to learn, something new to train. Capoeira doesn't run out. It's an amazing thing and I can't wait to meet you in the roda some day.

Of course, if you'd like to start training capoeira in Perth we'd love to have you, check our website for our class schedule!