Click here to view the embedded video.

Contact Diego: capoeirashanghai@yahoo.com

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art form that mixes music, dance and gymnastics with its fighting components. Its beauty, fluidity and explosive gravity-defying movements have taken the world by storm. Capoeiristas can be found in movies, television ads, music concerts (Cantonese pop star Denise Ho hired Axe Capoeira’s Professor Berimbau to choreograph a Hong Kong show), and video games (Capoeira Mandinga’s founder, Mestre Marcelo, was the model for Tekken’s Eddie Gordo – one of the greatest video game characters of all time).

Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai’s second annual Batizado and Troca de Corda will take place on Saturday, September 12th. Following our massive success and vibrant performances at 2008’s inaugural Batizado at Lakeville Regency, Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai will be holding another visual and fun-filled event for 2009’s 2nd Annual Batizado and Troca de Corda.

Batizado 2009 Sponsorship Handout (in PDF format)

Once again we will have a two weeks Capoeira trip to Brazil in the beautiful tropical town of Ubatuba on the north coast of São Paulo from July 26 to August 2nd where we will have some great mestres from different parts of Brazil. Than we head up to Itacaré, South of Bahia to mestre Cabelo’s event from August 3rd to 9th.

The cost of each of the events individually will be $600 and $1100 for both events. That includes ground transportation from the airport to the locations, room and board for the entire week of the event and all the classes with all the mestres. The air ticket will have to be purchased by the participants. All participants should plan to arrive at the São Paulo Cumbica airport (GRU) on July 26th in the morning and leave from São Paulo (Cumbica or Congonhas) to Ilhéus (South of Bahia) on Monday August 3rd in the afternoon.

A fifty percent payment must be made until April first and the remaining no later than July first. A payment plan through a financial company Members Solutions will be set for people to enroll on the events. The total cost of both the events will be divided in monthly payments starting from when you want to begin the first payment up until July first. Refunds are applicable in case you
decide to cancel your trip (a $50 penalty plus 10% charge of all made payments will apply as a cancellation fee). More details will be available later but please save the dates. Note: It is possible for people from counties other than the USA to get enrolled on the payment plan as long as they have an international credit card.

Check the links below to see the areas where the events will happening.

• Ubatuba: http://litoralvirtual.com.br/ubatuba/index_i.html
• Location we will stay: Hotel água dôce www.aguadocepraiahotel.com.br
• Itacaré: http://www.itacare.com/

Muito axé and capoeira no pé!

Mestre Marcelo
PS. More detailed information will be posted at our website — www.mandinga.org

An introduction to the martial art Capoeira, featuring the Capoeira Mandinga Academy in Oakland, CA. An Expression Art College podcast.

Eddy Gordo in Tekken 3

This interview is from GamePro Online Magazine. It was deleted and found on web-archive, so I just post it here.

Editor’s Exclusive: Meet the real Eddy Gordo!

Scary Larry interviews capoeria artist Marcel Pereira—the man who gave Tekken 3’s Eddy Gordo his moves.

Marcelo Pereira was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has been involved with theater since 1970. He started playing (dancing, entertaining, fighting) capoeira as a child on the streets, and was later referred to one of the most famous capoeira masters, Mestre Suassuna.

He opened his own school, Associacao de Capoeira Senzala Grande in 1979, and in 1984, came to the U.S. to perform and teach. He then founded The Capoeira Institute Inc., and Brazil Dance Revue, but his school’s traditional name as of today is Capoeira Mandinga.

Namco motion captured Marcelo’s smooth moves for Eddy Gordo in Tekken 3. As Namco preps Tekken 3 and Eddy Gordo for the PlayStation, GamePro found out more about the art of capoeria from the master himself.

GAMEPRO: What is capoeira?

MARCELO PEREIRA: Capoeira is a blend of martial arts, dance, self defense, gymnastics and music. It is a Brazilian art form that is over 400 years old. For many of us capoeiristas, like myself, capoeira is a way of life.

GAMEPRO: What was it like motion-capturing the game? Did you meet any interesting people?

MARCELO: It was a really fun project to participate in. The Namco crew in Japan treated me like a king. We had fun discussing the project, creating new ideas and eating great food!

GAMEPRO: Did you get hurt during the motion capturing? Did you hurt anyone else?

MARCELO: I did not get hurt during film, but I was injured at the time I did the motion capture. That limited some of the acrobatic movements I decided to do towards the end to avoid aggravating the pain. I did not hurt anyone because all of the motion capture was done by myself alone! For that reason I was able to perform just about 20% of what capoeira has to offer. To execute other great movements, I needed to have another skillful capoeirista to spar with. Any person not familiar with the art could get seriously hurt in an attempt to spar with a capoeirista.

GAMEPRO: Had you ever done anything like this before?

MARCELO: Never. I have done movies, T.V., theater, and all kinds of gigs, but this one was definitely a unique experience.

GAMEPRO: Do you think martial arts are a good way to keep kids off the streets?

MARCELO: I know it is. I happen to teach kids in an after school program in the city of Oakland and the results have been astonishing. That program is one of the most rewarding projects I have done. Not only do I have the chance to educate, discipline, and encourage self confidence in the kids, but I have a chance to be a kid again myself. I wish more schools throughout the country could have similar programs.

GAMEPRO: How has this opportunity with Namco helped your career or made capoeira better known?

MARCELO: In the short term, my career has not been affected. Capoeira, on the other hand, is definitely becoming better known.

GAMEPRO: Are you working on motion capture for any other games?

MARCELO: Not yet, but I would like to be.

GAMEPRO: How did Namco find out about you? Were you surprised to be asked to do this?

MARCELO: I believe Namco heard of me through an International Capoeira Seminar that I organized in San Francisco in 1995. I was surprised and felt honored to be the person representing capoeira in this new dimension. Like many other masters of the art I have always been very concerned about capoeira being misrepresented. For us, tradition is a treasure that expresses the roots of the art. Therefore, it reveals the truth, the spirit and the soul of a capoeirista, bringing love, harmony, peace and understanding to us and our communities.

GAMEPRO: Are you pleased with the way your character, Eddy Gordo, is represented in Tekken 3?

MARCELO: On a scale of 0-10, I give Eddy Gordo a 6. As I mentioned before, tradition is an important fact. Capoeiristas have authentic nicknames such as Ze Faisca (“Joe Spark”), Cobra Verde (“Green Snake”), Gato Preto (“Black Cat”), etc…It would be O.K. if the name was in English, but Eddy is not a Brazilian name and Gordo in Portuguese means fat! In the same issue of names, the names chosen for the capoeira movements are pretty off the wall and are not like the traditional names I called the movements as I was motion captured. (A list of the correct names are listed on group’s web site, found at http://www.hooked.net/users/lagosta/marcelobio.html.

Eddy’s attire could be improved to better reflect the capoeira standards, and a strong drum beat if not traditional capoeira music would add great spice to the character’s ginga (swing). Please keep in mind that I am very critical because I am very authentic to my art. I do imagine that Namco had to deal with thousands of details for all the characters and strategies of the game.

Overall, I do like the character Eddy Gordo. I think he does some cool movements for a video game with some great combinations. Plus, to be appealing to an audience that knows practically nothing about capoeira, maybe that is just the way he needed to be presented at first.

GAMEPRO: Are you a Tekken 3 player? If so, do you play as Eddy Gordo?

MARCELO: I have never been a video game player. But I gave my son, Juliano, a PlayStation for Christmas so we can play Tekken 3 together. Of course I will play Eddy Gordo, but don’t be surprised if my six year old beats me. After all he is Eddy Gordo’s number one fan.

© GamePro Online Magazine

About Tekken from Mandinga’s official website

Namco invited Mestre Marcelo out to Japan and digitized his movements. These movements were used for Eddy Gordo, Tiger and Christie Monteiro in the Namco hit games Tekken 3, Tekken Tag and Tekken 4. Therefore, Eddy Gordo, Tiger and Christie are the digital incarnation of Mestre Marcelo himself. With few exceptions, all of their movements are authentic Capoeira, as practiced by Mestre Marcelo.

Strangely, the English names of the moves have been changed. In the Japanese version of Tekken 3, the Brazilian names that were given by Mestre Marcelo were used,but with minor mistakes in pronunciation and naming.

Does Eddy have a capoeira nickname?
Eddy’s second costume has the word, “Faisca” on it. Faisca means ‘spark’ in Brazilian Portuguese . Mestre Marcelo once had a student he nicknamed Faisca.

What color is his belt?
In the second costume Eddy has a blue and white cordão. Not bad for a 27 year old! (A blue and white cordão is considered a master of third degree by the Capoeira Federation System and usually takes at least 25 years to achieve…after being graduated in Capoeira).

Where did the gymnastics flare come from?
We know that Namco wanted to use the troca é pião move for the flair since that is what the move is called in Tekken 3. Mestre Marcelo thinks Namco lost the motion capture for troca é pião and hired a gymnast to do the flare.

What is Eddy’s most effective move?
According to Marcelo, he told Namco that the cabeçada should be a fast and deadly move. Indeed, the strongest Eddy players agree that the cabeçada is their bread and butter ground game move.

In a tribute to his Mestre, Mestre Marcelo suggested a combinação Suassuna: two mid-cabeçadas followed by a cabeçada uppercut to the jaw. Regrettably, Namco chose not to include this deadly sequence.

Wouldn’t it be great if Eddy could do some escape moves (esquiva, balanço or negativa) and takedowns (vingativa or banda)? We think it would add a completely new dimention to Eddy’s dazzling repertoire.

View pictures of Mestre Marcelo’s motion capture for Eddy Gordo.

From the age of 14 Mestre Marcelo studied under Mestre Suassuna. In 1984, Mestre Marcelo left Brazil and settled in the United States at which time there were only two other practitioners teaching Capoeira. Capoeira Mandinga, Mestre Marcelo’s organization, is a brother organization to Cordão de Ouro and is represented throughout the USA, in Israel, New Zealand, Mexico and now China. The Mestre is also known for his part in creating the character Eddy Gordo for the video game Tekken 3.

Mestre Marcelo Caveirinha

Mestre Marcelo was a student of Mestre Suassuna, who is the co-founder of “Associacao de Capoeira Cordão de Ouro”. In 1984, Mestre Marcelo left Brazil and settled in the United States, bringing with him the rich art from of capoeira and at that time, was one of only three people teaching.

Marcelo was asked by the publisher of a capoeira magazine, “What makes any particular capoeira game beautiful? From your perspective as a mestre and as someone who loves the game of capoeira, what elements do you want to see in a game of capoeira? When do you realize that the players are connecting on a different level?”

He replied, “The dialog between players can start from a very simple repertoire of movements, kicks and escapes to a much larger and complex vocabulary that may include even floreios, body expression and perception of the game. Just a small vocabulary is enough to establish a connection that can clearly define the harmony of the two players, creating what we call a dialogue.

The body expression involves knowing when to throw in the game that spice that enriches the moment. These body expressions are often a theatrical drama done by making funny movements or fakes that either imitates or remind us of things like an animal, a clown or anything that makes the player or the opponent look like a fool. This action adds to the game an element of humor which is an important, but almost forgotten aspect of capoeira.

Honesty, integrity and respect towards each other involves a bunch of things; for example: Knowing when you got caught by your opponent’s attack or trap and respecting that moment without taking advantage of it or ignoring it as a non threatening action. Also knowing how to control your kicks and strikes in a way that you don’t have to hit someone to prove your efficiency. When capoeiristas have the awareness mentioned above they will allow a certain flow in the game that can induce an incredible dialogue and perhaps even a trance like state.

Lets not think that some level of aggression will make the game ugly! Sometimes the players mutually agree that they want the challenge of a more aggressive game and still are able to maintain a good level of etiquette; where respect, dialogue and expression are present. It is up to the person judging that game to have enough vision to identify that such level of aggression was accepted by both players and that it did not hurt any of the principals of good etiquette and comradery. Only with such perception and vision that person can have a true opinion if a particular game was beautiful or not.

The joy of the game is when all of the above is happening together with a great music being played by the capoeira orchestra and the players are able to recognize the non-threatening yet efficient power of the capoeira game. This state usually leads the players to a trance like state that can not be described by words. It is, however, possible to see when two capoeiristas enter that state.

In short my answer to you is, a game is considered beautiful when played with the heart; when players have respect to each other and to the rituals, tradition and etiquette of the art. I would love to see capoeira gaining back the element of body expression, sense of humor and integrity. I realize that the players are connecting on a different level by the feeling I get from them when they are playing and radiating a sense of joy.”

Capoeira já é pra estrangeiro

Antigamente capoeira pra estrangeiro
Eu dizia que era mato de cortá
Hoje em dia tudo isso tá mudado
Estrangeiro joga angola miudinho e regional

Na europa já se joga capoeira
Americano dando armada pra matar
Tem japones fazendo volta por cima
Batam palmas minha gente pra esses mestres que estão lá

Na terra santa já tem muita capoeira
Ja tem angola e também regional
Já vi aluno falando para o seu mestre
Vou larger o meu fuzil vou pegar meu berimbau

Aos capoeiras que viajam pelo mundo
Com berimbau muita coragem pra lutar
Levando a arte de lutar sorrindo
Deus proteja esse povo que fica de pé pro ar

O alemão jogando pequenininho
Americano dando armada pra matá
Tem japones tocando seu berimbau
Vou falar do Mexicano dando até salto mortá