Falling

Today so far: fallen twice on my head, a few times on my knees, uncountable times on my ass. I must say, the last is by far the best body part to fall on. The head, not so much. Only cried once though - the last head drop was pretty painful. I decided to demonstrate to Eli, on returning home, the crazy move we learned in class today, knowing the wooden floor was not having it. Down I went, and stayed for a bit. All of this thanks to capoeira.

But I think it's a useful if bruising exercise. The instructor today said the most important part of capoeira is learning to fall. If nothing else, learning to fall not on your head seems like a good idea. I know I've fallen a lot in my life so far, and every time I've stood back up more grounded, more humble, and less obnoxious.

It's easy to get caught up in the "there are winners and there are losers" culture, and capoeira is an antidote of sorts to all that. People watching can tell who is more advanced, but anyone at any level can play with anyone else, the more experienced person just adjusts their play to the novice's level.