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Yesterday I spent the better part of it at the Catholic church in Ota. This is a small church whose congregation is mainly Brazilian (did I mention that there are about 4,000 Brazilians in Ota?). I was there because Mike was doing capoeira, a Brazilian martial art/dance. It was really cool to be around all those people. For a few hours, I almost forgot that I was in Japan. Why? Because there were non-Japanese all around me. Many of the people there were Brazilian or mixed Brazilian and Japanese. I met an American who spoke excellent Portuguese and now lives with Benedictine monks in Tokyo. I met Japanese nuns, people who's nationality could have been anyone's guess. One of the greatest differences was the appearance of the people. There were so many people who were dressed very casually, almost like good old American slobs (I mean it in a good way!). The Japanese always look stylish. Even when they are in excerise suits they are always fashionable. The people at this barbeque event at the church were in jeans and loose-fitting t-shirts. I don't think I've ever seen a Japanese person dressed like that. There were also an abundant number of larger people. Most Japanese are very petite. Their bodies are very diffent from us Western folk. Japanese bodies tend to be straight and flat. But on Sunday I saw bellies and thighs and butts. It was very strange. I can see why the Japanese often say that we are fat. Some of us are, but we also can't help our body structure. I think that I will have a hard time getting used to the appearance of Americans. Anyway, I saw Mike and his friends do capoeira. The "dance" they did was capoeira angola. The "players" form a small arc. There are instrumentalists who play drums and something that is a curved stick with a wire attatched, it looks a bit like an archery bow. The person hits this wire with a stick. The music isn't very melodic. The instrumentalists and the players sing. The instrumentalist are the main "story tellers" or "chanters", if you will. Two people play. They start by squatting in front of the instrumentalists. Sometimes the 2 players draw on the ground, I guess as a kind of prayer. The 2 players sing and then start the game. The game is hard to explain. The movements seem quite vague to me. This type of capoeira is slow. So the 2 players move around, seemingly trying to trip each other. They will kick, turn around, do semi-headstands and handstands. All sorts of things, but all very playful. There really isn't much physical contact between the players. I guess after one of the players wins, another person from the arc will take over, like tag-team. Those who "fight" will also play the instruments and sing. It is very interactive. I am sorry that my description was so bad, but I really don't know too much about this martial art. Valerie Straayer |