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Community :: Family :: Spirituality
Capoeira Angola is an Afro-Brazilian martial art form that was brought to Brazil by enslaved Africans from Angola. Learning about Capoeira Angola was the first time I learned to be proud of my African heritage, as a woman of African descent, in a way that I had never felt before. I learned about the strength and resilience that Africans had to overcome extreme oppression during slavery, and the spirit of that resilience is expressed through the art form that we Capoeiristas still practice today.
Through Capoeira, I learned about identity and spirituality. I learned how to process challenging experiences, and above all else - I learned how to have a more intimate relationship with myself and with other people around me, instead of skating the surface as I had been doing for the first 22 years of my life. By the time that I discovered this art form at 22, I knew that I had been skating well, because I had gone to excellent schools and was on my way up the ladder of success.
However, deep down, I still knew that if I continued to climb that ladder of success without doing any real work inside, any ultimate success I achieved would have felt hollow. So, I went in. It's dark and scary in there. But the only way out of anything is through. After letting go of my reluctance to go deep, I've found my inner self to be warm, vulnerable, and resilient. And I really like the person I've come to know.
Through Capoeira, I learned about identity and spirituality. I learned how to process challenging experiences, and above all else - I learned how to have a more intimate relationship with myself and with other people around me, instead of skating the surface as I had been doing for the first 22 years of my life. By the time that I discovered this art form at 22, I knew that I had been skating well, because I had gone to excellent schools and was on my way up the ladder of success.
However, deep down, I still knew that if I continued to climb that ladder of success without doing any real work inside, any ultimate success I achieved would have felt hollow. So, I went in. It's dark and scary in there. But the only way out of anything is through. After letting go of my reluctance to go deep, I've found my inner self to be warm, vulnerable, and resilient. And I really like the person I've come to know.