Today’s Vegetarian Elite
will be presented
in Portuguese,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hungarian, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Mongolian, Persian,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.
Greetings smart viewers!
Today’s Vegetarian Elite
features Franci Blota,
a vegan master of capoeira.
Capoeira is a Brazilian
cultural expression that
combines music, dance,
sports, personal defense,
and a lot of fun.
It originated most likely
in the sixteenth century
and was first introduced
by Angolan Brazilians.
Franci Blota has mastered
this artistic sport
and teaches others
to do the same.
Capoeira is known
as a low bush, grass -
all bushes where we used
to play on at the squares,
on soccer fields –
are called capoeira.
That´s where the name
came from, because it
was created in this place,
in this environment.
Many action movies with
the famous American
actor and film producer
Wesley Snipes contain
scenes showing capoeira.
Mr. Snipes himself
is a capoeira practitioner.
Also, the Grammy
Award winning
Puerto Rican pop singer
Ricky Martin, and other
famous musicians such as
the Black-Eyed Peas and
Carlos Santana, have also
demonstrated this
energetic Afro-Brazilian
art expression in their work.
It is said
that breakdancing was
influenced by capoeira.
The greatest soccer players
were athletes,
they were capoeiristas –
Pelé, Garrincha
and many others
whom we already know.
Even Borges
from São Paulo
was a capoeirista.
Other athletes
of other sports
also used capoeira
as a mean to reach
their athletic objectives.
Franci Blota
teaches capoeira
at the Cultural Center
of Camafeu.
The center’s mission
is to spread and preserve
Brazilian cultural arts
like capoeira.
The Camafeu Group
is a new group.
It is a group that has
its lineage derived from
the Cultural Center
of Capoeira Ginga Brazil
of Master of Capoeira
Nenê, who is our patron.
Our objective
is to propagate capoeira
in the whole
municipal territory first,
and then, nationwide.
Camafeu, which is
the name of our work,
has a very interesting
meaning.
Camafeu is the name
given to a type of cutting
for a stone to change
into a precious stone.
Camafeu is a stone
that was given to kings
as a present, as an offering.
And then,
this had its value
as a divine value
and we view capoeira
as if it were a camafeu.
The students arrive
as a raw stone, a rock,
and it needs to be cut,
in order for them to learn
how to live
inside the capoeira
and for them to learn
how to live in the world.
According to Mr. Blota,
capoeira not only
teaches a sport,
but it is also a way
for social development.
Capoeira not only
makes capoeiristas,
it also makes citizens.
The ropes mean the levels
in which the capoeirista
will progress.
He obtains the first rope,
the second, the third,
the fourth, and then
he will already be
inserted into a context,
inside a social relation
which is exactly what
he will be transformed into.
He will become
a capoeirista,
seen by the society
as a teacher, as an athlete,
as one who takes children
away from drugs,
from the wrong path,
as one who
brings the elderly to
practice physical activity,
as one who brings
the handicapped
so that they reach a level
of importance in our society
and see themselves
actively doing something.
In addition to contributing
to his community,
Franci Blota has been a
longtime health-conscious
and eco-conscious
organic vegan.
The lifestyle
is compatible with, and
even boosts, his ability
as a capoeirista.
But before finding out
more about his diet,
Mr. Blota introduces us
to the world of capoeira.
Capoeira is characterized
by skillful and complex
movements using head,
feet, hands, elbows,
knees and acrobatic
gymnastic elements.
There are three styles
of capoeira, namely,
Angola, Regional and
Contemporânea.
Capoeira Angola is
more dance-like
and traditional, with
the players closer together.
Capoeira Regional,
a popular style in Brazil,
involves faster
and more athletic play.
Finally,
Capoeira Contenporânea
encompasses aspects
of the two other styles
as well as new movements.
Capoeira Angola uses
the most original
fundamentals of capoeira.
The capoeirista
in Capoeira Angola
cannot play barefoot.
In the Capoeira Regional
he can play barefoot
and use tennis shoes.
The capoeirista
in Capoeira Regional
cannot use accessories
like chains,
necklace, watch.
In Capoeira Angola,
they can use it.
They can play wearing hats
or without a hat.
So those are principles
that bring back
the thoughts of the past,
of past capoeiristas.
Capoeira has three
essential elements which
are closely connected
to each another: music,
“roda,” and “joga.”
Music is played throughout
the capoeira game
as it establishes the tempo
and style of the game
that the capoeiristas
are supposed to play.
It is comprised of
musical instruments
and song.
The musical instruments
are played in a row
called bateria.
The rhythm is set by
the berimbaus (stringed
percussion instruments).
Other instruments
in the bateria include two
pandeiros (tambourines),
a reco-reco (rasp), and an
agogô (doble gong bell).
The musicality
of the capoeira circle
is guided by
three berimbaus
(string percussion).
The first berimbau is
the master berimbau,
it is berimbau gunga, the
one with the larger head,
and it is normally played
by the senior of the circle.
The berimbau gunga
marks the rhythm
and always maintains
the same pattern of beats
and marks the rhythm.
The medium berimbau
which is
the second berimbau,
reverses the beat
of berimbau gunga.
So it always
plays the reverse
but at the same time
without staying
out of rhythm.
It is an intermediary
berimbau and
it can play variations
as long as there are
not many variations.
The berimbau viola
is the berimbau
that is free to diversify
and the player
has to be a skilled player,
one that knows
the berimbau well,
because he has to
maintain the variation
without getting off
the rhythm and without
disrupting the singer.
Roda, another key element
of capoeira,
is the circle of people
in which capoeira is played.
Its circular form keeps
focus on both players
and musicians while
retaining the energy
created by
the capoeira game.
Music is central
to the circle’s function.
The main singer
of the circle is the one
who has the ease and
a better voice to sing,
the one who already had
singing classes,
for example.
If he sings peace
then there is peace.
If he sings acrobatics
then there are acrobatics.
So he is the singer.
And the capoeira music
that drives the circle,
that drives life.
The one
who guides the circle
is normally the highest
in position in the circle.
He is the one
that coordinates,
not necessarily
by singing, but
he arranges the progress
of the music’s repertoire.
Joga, the third element,
is the capoeira game itself.
Capoeira is not intended
to injure the other party.
Instead, it emphasizes
the player’s skills.
In capoeira, they do not
play against anyone,
they play it
along with someone.
When we return,
we’ll find out how
vegan capoeira master
Franci Blota enhanced
his playing and life
through a pure
plant-based diet.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
Vegetarian Elite
with our featured guest
Franci Blota, a Brazilian
vegan capoeira teacher.
Master Franci Blota
had enriched his life
with capoeira.
He also found
favorable transformations
in himself after
becoming a vegetarian.
For many years
I had been interested
in vegetarianism but I
didn’t have the knowledge,
I did not know anyone
and I did not know
of any means
to attain the knowledge.
That was when I met Paulo
from Lar Vegetariano
(Vegetarian Home),
and through his daughter
I got to know about
vegetarianism and
immediately adhered to it.
I became a vegetarian
overnight.
Franci Blota recognized
that a veg diet is beneficial
to himself as well as
to the animals,
in addition to being
a planet-saving lifestyle.
I already knew about
some of the benefits that
vegetarianism brought
to myself and to
all the animals on Earth.
Then I associated all this
and thought
it was very interesting
that I could become,
let’s say, one of the savers
of the planet.
He has also noticed the
inside and outside wonders
that a plant-based diet
rapidly provides.
It was a biopsychosocial
improvement.
Biologically speaking,
my body functions in
an extraordinary manner.
Socially speaking,
I feel much better.
I interact with people
in a more sincere way,
without hypocrisy,
or fakeness.
And psychologically
speaking, it has worked
very well in my life.
I do not carry anymore
the karma
from eating animals
and today I am happy.
Today I can say
that I am happy after
I became a vegetarian.
The Brazilian
vegan capoeirista also
looks for optimum health
by preferring
organic vegan raw food.
My lifestyle is healthy.
I am usually
very concerned about
my health, think about
the health of the animals,
the well-being of the planet.
I always seek
to eat organic food,
like many fruits,
many vegetables, grains.
I do not consume many
processed products.
I do not eat too much
salt, sugar, oil,
only when it’s necessary.
My food is
almost always raw.
I rarely prepare fried food,
braised food
and things like this.
I always prefer eating raw.
Franci Blota explains
to our viewers how fast
his transition had been
to a completely
animal-free vegan diet.
My transition to veganism
was very quick.
I decided that
I would be vegetarian
the moment I knew
about vegetarianism.
I ate vegetarian food
and when I went home,
I slept and thought:
from today onwards
I am already vegetarian.
And since that day
I am an active vegetarian.
I do not see meat,
milk, eggs, chicken, fish
as food anymore.
For me, those were lives
were cowardly taken,
in a brutal way and
without any necessity
at all, because we can
live very well from
what the Earth offers us.
Master Franci Blota also
has a message
to all viewers who wish
to understand further and
thus adopt a vegan diet.
The message is simple
and sincere.
Do not do to others
what you do not want
done to yourself.
Put yourself in the place
of the animals
at the moment
of their death.
Do not think
only of the food that is
on your dinner table.
And yes,
(think) of all the evil,
of all the trouble
caused to a life.
And always remember
that the One Above
who created humankind
also created the animals.
I am a defender of ecology
and of veganism.
So be veg, go green.
Protect the planet,
don’t forget this.
Just as capoeira
teaches respect
within the roda circle,
in the same way,
veganism naturally
leads us to value
the circle of life and
the sphere of the planet
that we call our home.
Thank you
Mr. Franci Blota for
sharing your precious time
to introduce us to the
engaging and rich world
of capoeira, and for your
practice and advocacy
of the vegan lifestyle.
May the Providence
bless you, your loved ones,
and students.
Eco-friendly viewers,
we appreciate
your kind presence
for today’s episode of
Vegetarian Elite.
Up next is Between
Master and Disciples
on Supreme Master
Television.
Wishing you a vibrant life
in Heaven’s infinite love.
Greetings smart viewers! Today’s Vegetarian Elite features Franci Blota,
a vegan master of capoeira.
Capoeira is a Brazilian cultural
expression that combines music, dance, sports, personal defense,
and
a lot of fun. It originated most likely in the sixteenth century and
was first introduced by Angolan Brazilians. Franci Blota has mastered
this artistic sport and teaches others to do the same.
Franci Blota (m): Capoeira is known as
a low bush, grass - all bushes where we used to play on at the squares,
on soccer fields – are called capoeira. That´s where the name came
from, because it was created in this place,in this environment.
HOST:
Many action movies with the famous American actor and film producer
Wesley Snipes contain
scenes showing capoeira. Mr. Snipes himself
is a capoeira practitioner. Also, the Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican
pop singer Ricky Martin, and other famous musicians such as the
Black-Eyed Peas and Carlos Santana, have also demonstrated this
energetic Afro-Brazilian art expression in their work.
It is said
that breakdancing was influenced by capoeira.