I won’t lie, I was nervous. Terrified even. I knew that Capoeira was difficult to get into and I knew that I would have trouble keeping up in class. But I had already made up my mind to go. So I got on the skytrain to the Capoeira studio downtown. I reminisced back to moments in my life when I had felt just as nervous as I did on the transit ride to my first Capoeira class. Travelling solo for the first time. Learning to play Broadway-level music in my high school pit orchestra. In both of these instances, I worked my hardest and I persevered. I became more confident than ever.

So feeling this nervous for Capoeira was a good sign. It meant that I was on my way to starting something worthwhile.

I was introduced to wonderful world of Capoeira before I even set foot in the studio. Immediately upon seeing me, I was greeted warmly by people who were also there for the class. My colleagues. The butterflies in my stomach disappeared. Seeing all of these smiling faces of people from all kinds of backgrounds made me grin back wider. I experienced the Capoeira community for the first time and I felt I had already been welcomed into their group. Greetings were exchanged through hugs and kisses as more students showed up and together we entered the studio.

Despite its appearance, the studio felt more like a home than anything else. I can’t really explain it. Everyone was helping out by turning on the lights, sweeping, and playing with one another as they got ready for class. It really was like I had stepped into another world flecked with the heavy influences of Brazilian culture. I started to get really pumped for the class.

The class itself was everything I expected and more. It was difficult but I didn’t feel like I lagged behind anyone. When I was in pain, we were all in pain. When drops of sweat dripped down to the floor, I could see the sweat streaked across the faces of my colleagues. When we counted, we counted together (in Portuguese no less). The movements were challenging and graceful. We swayed together in the ginga, blocking off invisible attacks and flexing out our own kicks. I felt like I was dancing and training in a martial art at the same time… and yet, playing Capoeira was unlike any dance or martial art class I had ever taken. It was just Capoeira. And I loved it.

For the last segment of class, we played together in a sparring circle called the Roda. Drums and the tamborine set the rhythm as everyone sings the melody to which Capoeira will be played. A Capoerista enters the roda and faces off with another Capoerista in a series of round kicks, gingas, and escapes. Altogether the game looks like an graceful dance between two colleagues and each capoerista is replaced as another colleague enters the roda. With the encouragement from the instructor, I entered the roda as well, looking forward to future times when I would be able to do much more.

My colleagues came up to me to ask if I liked the class and I told them I enjoyed it tremendously. The music, the movements, the discipline, and especially the community I experienced during this hour was impossible not to fall in love with. I couldn’t wait to come back again.

I raised my head high, waved my colleagues goodbye and walked out of the studio drenched in sweat and feeling the best I had ever felt in a long time.