Interview with Mestre Rony
Mestre Rony started playing Capoeira in the state of Sao Paulo in the small town of Pirassununga in 1984 where he had the chance to meet Mestre Luizao. Since then he has had the chance to train with several great mestres, that he considers his mestres as well. Mestre Rony arrived in the US in 1992 and with the help of Contra-Mestre Amunka, started giving classes in California where he taught Capoeira until 1996 when he moved to West Florida. Now situated in Sarasota, Florida he is expanding his academy along the Gulf Coast of Florida. With his patience and dedication he is teaching more than 100 students the art of Capoeira.
Q: Can you tell us about the Capoeira scene in Florida? Why did you choose to set up an academy in Florida? Why did you leave California for Florida?
Capoeira in Florida is at a good level and is growing every day. I have made great friends here and I just love the hot weather. I love California and I left many good friends there, but we moved here about 6 years ago to be close to my wife?s family.
Q: You now have two academies in Florida? How has the community reception been? What are your hopes for the future?
Actually, we have now three academies in Florida: Tallahassee (with instructor Aranha), Tampa (with instructor Girino) and Sarasota. It seems that the community is receiving us really well. We are trying to do a good job and teach what we love to do and I think people respond really well when they see our work. I am lucky to have good friends and awesome capoeiristas like Aranha and Girino to help me out.
We don?t have immediate plans for the future. My students and I just want to keep raising our standards and keep on learning Capoeira as much as we can with all the great capoeiristas I meet.
Q: You studied Capoeira under many different mestres. Why did you take this approach to the art? Where you able to learn different aspects from different Metsres? If so, could you share that with us?
I started doing Capoeira in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo with Mestre Luizao, when my Mestre started training with Mestre Meinha from Sao Paulo city and I also started training with him. Then I moved to the US and I met the great Mestre Acordeon who taught me perhaps as much Capoeira as my other two Mestres. So the fact that I have more than one Mestre is because I was lucky enough to meet people who were kind enough to take me as their student.
Q: Can you tell us about your history in the art?
I started doing Capoeira in 1983 and became a graduated teacher in 1988 by Mestre Luizao, who also graduated me to Mestre in 1991. I came to California in 1992 where I met my wife Cheri, who is the love of my life and my biggest supporter through verything. Today our group has an academy in Tallahassee, one in Tampa and our big academy in Sarasota.
Q: What has been the best experience you?ve had from Capoeira?
The best experience I had was to meet Mestre Acordeon. My views in Capoeira really changed when I came to the US and met him. As you probably know, he is a disciple of Mestre Bimba, and I have to admit I never met anybody quite that strong. Not only his Capoeira but his personality as well. It was like I could learn Capoeira from him just by sitting down and talking. The fact that he is so far makes it difficult but I try to go to California to visit him every year.
Q: How well does Capoeira translate here in the US in your opinion? Do Americans ?get it??
When I first started giving classes here you could tell Brazilians from Americans just by looking at them playing Capoeira. This does not happen anymore. The Americans are playing Capoeira better and better everyday, and playing the music and even learning Portuguese. What they lack in culture they compensate in effort and hard work. The biggest difference is that they don?t take anything for granted like the rhythm and the language. I still think that they have ways to go, but they are definitely closing the gap.
Q: What recent insights have you gotten about the Capoeira game?
The Capoeira game will always be the same. You play in the roda and try not to get kicked.
Does studying Capoeira have a social aspect? In other words, is Capoeira an art that is more communal in nature than individual? Can Capoeira help communities grow?
The fact is that there is no way to play Capoeira alone. Capoeira will always be a social sport. It?s really funny when somebody writes to me through the internet saying that they live in some place like Mobile, Alabama and they have been training Capoeira in their back yard by themselves for years. They clearly have no idea what Capoeira is about. I am not sure that Capoeira helps the community grow (at least not where I live), but it certainly makes the individual grow by being in the Capoeira community.
Q: Do you think Capoeira is a valid martial art? If so, how do you train your students the self-defense aspect of the art?
Calling Capoeira a martial art is a simplistic way to try to label something that people can?t understand. I truly believe that Capoeira can be used as self defense, but this aspect of the art pales to all the rest that it gives to you. Teaching somebody how to kick somebody?s butt is easy. Capoeira teaches you much more than that.
Q: When is a student ready to become an instructor in your opinion?
It?s really important that the student has studied Capoeira for many years and also has helped his Mestre teaching classes for a long time because practice is the mother of all skills, and the only way teach correctly is by experience.
Q: What do you look for when you watch other capoeiristas play?
Their wisdom. You can always learn something from watching old capoeiristas playing. They have wisdom and intelligence that you can?t find in young capoeiristas. Every time I see Mestre Suassuna or Mestre Joel playing I stop whatever I am doing to watch and try to learn something.
Q: Do you have a specific way you teach students the different aspect of the art? The music, lyrics, the rituals, the fight?
In our academy we have different classes for different aspects of Capoeira. Besides dividing the students in different categories (beginner, intermediate and advance) we also have music classes and the roda on Fridays is a great excuse to teach about the rituals. It seems that it is working ?cause my students are getting much better in all the aspect of the art.
Written by Brian Donnelly. Brian is the editor of Planet Capoeira and the overall Planet Capoeira dude. Also known in capoeira circles as Pardal. Brian started training capoeira in 1996 with Mestre Bom Jesus in New York City and holds a blue-orange cord much in need of further seasoning. Brian would like to say he has beeen incredibly consistent in his approach to training capoeira, but then he'd be lying. He also has a personal, non-capoeira related blog known as The Miniblog.
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