What are the pros and cons with running an academy?
Grande: One of the hardest things to do is to always find and keep a space and to administer the academy. Actually, teaching the students is the easiest part. NEA: What are the skills or elements needed for one to master capoeira? Grande: The most important thing is you must have a good teacher to guide you. You must be able to play all the instruments; you must have something called “Qgo bonita,” which means, “a beautiful game.” In capoeira, you always say what you’re doing is a game. Even though it’s a martial art you never say you’re fighting – you’re never fighting because it is not a fight, it’s a game. That’s a very important thing people misunderstand, it’s very different from the eastern martial arts, which train actual combats. You say you’re going to “play capoeira” or “practice capoeira” or “do capoeira.” All of that training, for it is still a martial art, will allow you to know what to do when you get in a difficult situation, but you never practice actually hurting people
