Lest I forget…all of Your goodness, the blood You have shed…

    Hey everyone! The past few days of my life were most eventful, but before i say anything else I wanna wish my dear friend Ashley, a very Happy 20th Birthday!!! You’ve been such a great friend to me. Words can’t express how wonderful a person you are and I hope you have a blast on this special day! Thank you for being such an inspiration to me and those around you.

   
    Also, a very Happy 20th Birthday to my very dear friend Stephanie Thomas. She’s a real hottie and just last month (March), she won Malaysia’s Top Female Model of the month. Steph, I pray God will continue to lead you and guide you in everything you do. May all your dreams come true. I really hope you win the finals at the end of the year. *HUGZ*

    So lets start from Sunday. Filhos da Bahia Capoeira School had its 13th annual batizado (grading) at our new academy. The event was a huge success and there was a display of amazing capoeira. Famous mestres, profesors (teachers) and instructors came from Brazil, Argentina, and all over Australia. Filhos da Bahia currently has branches in 6 countries all around the world: Brazil, Australia, South Korea, New Caledonia, France and Japan. Capoeiristas were not only pulling off gravity defying stunts, but also challenging each other in the roda. During my turn, I played against Profesor Cachaca from Grupo Porto da Barra.

    Cachaca is known to be rather aggressive in the roda, so I was extremely careful. This cost me my usual flow in the roda, but I managed to hold my own for a while before going down via a headbutt to my midsection. From the moment we shook hands, there was no hint of mercy as I was bombarded with kicks to my head. Most were blocked using my arms but one actually connected to the top of my head when I couldn’t totally esquiva (dodge) in time. However, I’m just glad he didn’t get me in the jaw or neck, since that was where he was aiming for (i just took out 3 wisdom teeth!). Only at one time did he drop his guard and I actually manage to get in a kick to drive the point home. Most of the time I could only defend. So, after much hard work, I was awarded my 3rd cord. Woohoo!! A capoeirista from Japan after me wasn’t so lucky though. A kick from Cachaca actually connected straight with his face….nose bleed! Poor guy! (we don’t use protective gear) I was rather sad however, since it would be the last time I am a part of Filhos da Bahia since I’m moving to Gold Coast and will be joining Zambiacongo. So, here’s a pic of me and my instructor, Camarao.

    Then on Monday, the funniest thing happened. My connect group planned a surprise party for me. But guess what I surprised them instead. Haha! I totally forgot about Connect Group!! So there they were with cake, gifts and all, but no bday boy! Darrel called me an hour after it started, and I had to drive down to the city. Funny thing was they forgot candles and a lighter, so I was made to bring that as punishment. Haha! But we had a blast anyway. Thanks everyone for celebrating….me!! love u heaps! oh, and Ying made such yummy kenyaku (is that how it’s spelled?) jelly!

    On Tuesday, I had a birthday lunch for my family members, close friends, and school mates. I felt bad that I couldn’t invite so many other people (esp my CG), but my house can only fit so few and it was a really last minute thing. Hope you guys understand. But thanks heaps to everyone. I really love you guys. The gifts and cards you gave me were really thoughtful, and I wanna thank everyone even those from Malaysia, who wrote me a message in that album. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Terima Kasih!!

   
Well, thats all I’m gonna blog about for now. Take care everyone. Much love…

ps-if you read this blog, lemme know by commenting. And thanks Howee for the wonderful feedback!

Hey all! Thanks Aaron and Ashley for commenting…i think the both of you are the only ones reading this. keke! It’s weird, but I truly think of u both as my siblings rather than friends. haha…ok ok…before i get all emotional here…i better get to the point at hand…

Capoeira. The reason I’m writing about this today is because my batizado (grading) is coming up this sunday. I actually missed my training today, and was rather disappointed about it, but I am looking on the positive side of things…i mean, for all I know, I could have been kicked in the jaw or an accident could have happended at training causing all my remaining teeth to fall out (i just removed 3 wisdom teeth). ok ok…maybe not that dramatic, but I trust it was for my good. Yeah, so this weekend is supposed to be filled with workshops and stuff leading up to the big day on sunday, when i can finally change my belt (going from level 2 to 3).

"So, is capoeira a dance or martial art?"

Haha! This is a recurring joke among capoeiristas since its what we get asked all the time. Well, here’s a brief history. Capoeira was a martial art brought from africa to brazil in the 16th century by the slaves during the colonial period. Capoeira is said to have its roots in Africa, but was developed in Brazil. Because martial arts or any fighting form was banned by the Portuguese colonists, capoeira was mixed with acrobatics, music and dance to fool them. So, in its essence, capoeira is a fighting art, not a dance. Back then, blades were tied to capoeiristas’ feet, causing each kick, whether circular or linear, to become deadly. Because of this, capoeiristas hardly block attacks, but choose to evade them. However, in our modern day and age, this practice has become extinct, and only demonstrated in cultural shows in brazil.

"So what’s modern day capoeira like?"

Well, this depends a lot on the capoeirista himself and the group he trains with. For example, some groups prefer to focus on the beauty of the art and the flow of the game, and others focus only on the fighting aspects of the art. Besides this, it also depends a lot on the rhythm of the roda (circle where capoeira is played-pronounced ‘ho-da’). Certain rhythms may require fancy moves and pure acrobatics, yet others require take-downs and violent kicks. And to dispell the myth, yes, there is contact in capoeira. In fact, you can have as much contact as you want. However, just remember, that if you punch someone in the face, then he can do the same to you.

"What is a roda like?"

Well, all the capoeiristas gather together in a circle, with the orchestra on one end. The orchestra consists of the berimbau (a brazilian instrument), pandeiro (tambourine), and atabaque (bongo drums). The mestre will the start singing a song, to which everyone in the roda will respond to. He will then give the go-ahead to start playing. 2 players will then move to the berimbau and from there shake hands and enter the circle. However, it is important to note that from the moment you shake your opponents hand, the game has started. If he decides to elbow you there and then, it is your responsibility to react. Other players can then buy the game to enter the roda whenever they want to.

"What’s malandragem?"

Malandragem is a main part of capoeira that makes it unique to other martial arts. Capoeira was born on the streets of brazil where there were no rules of engagement. In other words, anything goes! So, deft and trickery (malandragem), are an essential part of capoeira. You can even pretend to poke your opponents eyes, causing him to blink, and then employ a take-down.

"How many types of capoeira are there?"

There are many different types of capoeira. Out of these, there are 2 main types: angola and regional. Angola is a very ritualistic and traditional form of capoeira. Movements are low to the ground and the game is often slow but extremely tricky. Blink and your opponents may untie your shoelace!! Angoleiros often wear yellow shirts and black pants.
Regional (he-gio-now) was developed by Mestre Bimba. He incorporated more kicks and take-downs into capoeira as he felt angola could be improved. Besides this, he also made all his students wear clean white pants and shirts to separate capoeira from the idea that it is only for the lower classes of society (until then capoeira had only been practised by gangsters, soldiers, police, murderers, thugs etc). Giving it a better image, soon doctors, lawyers and teachers also started learning the art.

Well, that was a pretty long post. Hope you enjoyed the history lesson! Lemme know if anyone has any questions. Until next time…

Well, hi to everyone who may potentially read this! I never thought I’d see the day I start blogging…haha…but I’ve decided to use this blog to remind myself of all the wonderful things God has done in my life n the lessons I’ve learnt along the journey of life.

To kick things off, I just wanna say that since the end of 2005, its just been blessing after blessing for me. 2005 had been one of the worse years of my life. Many of you won’t know of this but I suffered a serious back injury (required physiotherapy), went temporarily deaf due to an ear infection, fell sick often, barely passed my subjects, was an emotional and spiritual mess, and pratically struggled in everything. But I believe that God allowed me to go through these rough times to show me my weaknesses and draw me closer to Himself. Through it all, although some of my prayers were left unanswered during my rough times, but ever since the start of 2006, I’ve been blessed beyond measure. And my faith in God no longer depends on what I can see in the natural, but rather on the promises of His Word. Well, since the start of 2006, I attained 2 distinctions for both my summer school subjects, my back injury is slowly disappearing, I got my Australian Silver Driver’s Licence, and most of all, I’m one step closer to achieving my dream of becoming a doctor. All glory to God!

To those of you who haven’t heard of the news, I’m leaving Sydney and moving to Gold Coast on my own to study medicine. Woohooo!! Yeah I’m super excited, but also kinda sad to be leaving my family and friends back in Sydney. Gonna miss them all so much. However, everyone has been so supportive of my decision to move. Thanks guys! Currently my dream is to become an emergency room doctor, but I’m open to God’s leading cause his plans for me are far beyond that which I could ever comprehend.

Well, enough of that. Just a few hours ago, I was at the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour for Hillsong Church’s Easter celebration. For those of you who don’t know, Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus Christ and Easter is a time where we celebrate His resurrection.  Three days after he was crucified and buried for our sins, Jesus rose again from the dead, taking with Him the keys of sin and death, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. To my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I just wanna say, thanks for everything…for your grace, patience, mercy, and unfailing love! I’m eternally grateful.

At the Easter celebration, for the first time, I heard Rebecca St. James perform. She is a singer who sings both Christian and secular songs. Her type of music may not appeal to everyone, but I sure LOVED every bit of it! Yeah, so I spent AUS$30 on 2 of her cds. There was this one song that I really liked though. It’s called Wait For Me. It’s a song she wrote for her future husband (I think she’s unattached), promising him that she would keep herself pure for him and praying that he would do the same. Haha…it’s a good song for all the single people out there. But yeah, it really touched a soft spot in my heart. =)

Well, that’s all for my first post. Will write again soon hopefully…thanks for dropping by! God bless!