B2B - BERKELEY TO BAHIA BY BICYCLE

 I am glad that you are following me because I will share insights and projects with my readers. What is of value to me is to help enrich the lives of others. Capoeira is a remarkable tool of personal transformation, and it is the chisel that I hold. The plans below resonate with the mission that has guided me throughout my capoeira career.
(O texto em Português sera apresentado brevemente)

After our 2012 Encounter & Batizado, I will start a long journey, biking from Berkeley to Bahia. One year later and 14,000 miles away, I intend to arrive in the historical plaza Terreiro de Jesus in time to celebrate my seventieth birthday and fifty-five years of capoeira in a roda. I am open to ride along requests and sponsorships.  It is essential to me that this ride and its various endeavors raise enough funds to ensure sustainability of a program for kids’ at-risk that we support in Brazil, Projeto Kirimurê (http://www.projetokirimure.org/).

My plans for this trip incorporate the following projects: 

• Workshops and participation in capoeira events promoted by groups along the way;
  
• To capture the many ways that capoeira has transformed the lives of capoeiristas we encounter, via interviews, filming, and recording;
  
• A collaborative CD, reflecting the diverse musical and cultural backgrounds of participating capoeiristas;
  
  
• To finish a book in progress about reflections on capoeira. Hopefully, the monotony of constant pedaling will sharpen my perception, and help me articulate thoughts that have been floating in my head for some time;
  
• A documentary film that will weave old historical capoeira footage, footage from relevant cultural aspects, and that of significant moments of the ride. I want to create a work of art on par with other professional documentaries.
  

It may seem like nonsense for someone at may age to embark on such an undertaking. I am conscious that I have already crossed the juncture in life in which to achieve the ordinary requires the extraordinary. There is an essential part of myself driven by challenges, and the “Berkeley to Bahia by Bicycle” is my answer.
In route, confronting the difficulties of countless hours of riding, unpredictable obstacles, and my physical limitations, I want to dive into a process of introspection in which past, present and future may fuse together in a quest for self-knowledge and further meaning of capoeira. I have the personal commitment and determination to meet this challenge, and I want to emerge from it as a better person and teacher.

A major project of this sort is complex and nonlinear and is not meant to be attempted alone. It requires a diverse group of people helping in all kinds of ways. I humbly ask that all of my students and friends consider their skills and talents to see how they may contribute to this cause. It will take a team effort to make this large plan a reality.  We will need help finding capoeira schools in Central America and northern South America to determine the final route, help in finalizing the whole plan, including choice of equipment, selection of human resources (film producers, grant writers, sponsors, etc), and above all, your collective moral support.

Please, go to the discussion area of this page and lets brainstorm to develop a realistic schedule. Submissions should be entered under proper topics already in place. It will be useful if you let us know who you are, what is your field of expertise, and how you may contribute. My sincere hope is that this collaboration will only deepen and enhance the relationship of all of us to capoeira as a global art form. Let’s join forces to make this happen in its full potential!

More to come soon.