Capoeira

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art form that has earned international notoriety for its beauty and the skills required of its practitioners. Because Capoeira requires a combination of dance, acrobatics and fighting skills, those who practice must exceed physical strength and cultivate endurance, flexibility, and intuition. The music played and sung by capoeiristas provides the rhythm for the games--while capoeiristas create a dialogue of movements. The appeal of the game and its philosophy is so widespread that it is now practiced around the world. Because Capoeira was practiced in secret for many years, its definitive origins remain elusive. Most researchers agree that Capoeira emerged among African slaves in Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries as a means of fight training. Unlike slave masters in the northern hemisphere, masters in Brazil permitted slaves to sing and dance. Eventually, Brazilian slave masters felt threatened by the slaves' games and the fight aspect of it was camouflaged by the dance and music. The beauty its players created in the "roda" (or circle) allowed the game to survive. After slavery's abolition in 1888, Capoeira was outlawed until the 1930s because it had become a lethal martial art. Once these laws were repealed, the Brazilian government recognized Capoeira as Brazil's only truly national sport.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling and specially ground fighting with the goal of gaining a dominant position and using joint-locks and choke holds to force an opponent to submit. Due to the fact that control is generally easier on the ground than in a standing position, much of the technique of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is centered round the skill of taking an opponent down to the ground and wrestling for dominant control positions from where the opponent can be rendered harmless. To control and overcome greater size, strength and aggression with lesser size and strength is the keynote of the sport. This is done by utilizing superior leverage, grip and position upon your opponent. Students of the sport gain a deep understanding of the workings and limits of the human body. This knowledge can be used to subdue and control an opponent with whatever level of severity the student chooses. The path to this knowledge is physically and mentally demanding. Students benefit from greatly increased physical fitness, problem-solving ability, self-knowledge of their body and mind and the many social benefits of working within a large group of like-minded fellow students as you learn and have fun together.

The art was based on early 20th Century Kodokan Judo, which was itself then a recently developed system (founded in 1882), based on multiple schools (or Ryu) of Japanese Jujutsu. One of the most important aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that it promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person using leverage and proper technique can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be trained for self defense, sport grappling tournament (gi and no-gi submission wrestling) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition.

Samurai and Ninja Arts

The arts of the Samurai and Ninja warriors come from the battlefields of Japan. At the core of these centuries old martial arts is taijutsu , the art or skill of using one’s body. It includes punching, kicking, throwing, locks and holds, and ways to recover safely from locks, holds, throws and falls. It is a very complete system. Our training in weapons includes long and short edged weapons, flexible weapons, stick weapons, projectiles, and combinations of these basic categories.

Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu

Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu is a traditional Japanese martial art transmitted for generations within the Takeda family of the Aizu domain, and disclosed to the general public by Takeda Sokaku starting around the end of the 19th century. The main line of this tradition was inherited by Takeda Sokaku's son, Takeda Tokimune, who then passed it on to Kondo Katsuyuki. Kondo Katsuyuki is the only individual to have received the menkyo kaiden (license of full transmission) from Takeda Tokimune, and as such continues as the leader of the Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu tradition today.

Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu is a form of jujutsu, a system of unarmed fighting and minor weapons techniques to defeat both armed and unarmed opponents. It is noted, as the name suggests, for emphasizing the principles of aiki (some aspects of aiki are also referred to as kuzushi). The Daito-ryu technical tradition includes both jujutsu and aikijujutsu, but a clear distinction is made between the two and the emphasis is strongly on the latter.

From ancient times the admonishment to "attack where the opponent has been unbalanced" has been a fundamental axiom of Asian martial arts. In Daito-ryu, the principle of "how to unbalance the opponent" is referred to as aiki, and a great many of the tradition's oral transmissions and secret teachings pertain to the various aspects of aiki.

Today, Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu is a cultural heritage of the Japanese warrior class with a long history and tradition. It was developed as a means of self-defense against unprovoked violence, with the ultimate aim of neutralizing violence, not causing it. This is one of the reasons why Daito-ryu relies on using forms (kata) to train in the art, but does not include any kind of competitive matches. Further, as a classical Japanese martial art, Daito-ryu goes beyond mere self-defense, offering the way to temper one's body and spirit, with the aim of developing personal character and contributing to the greater social good.

Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu holds the regular membership in the Association of Japanese Traditional Martial Arts (Nihon Kobudo Kyokai) and the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Traditional Martial Arts (Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai). Each year the leaders and representatives of the school participate in Japan's premier martial arts demonstrations, held at the Nippon Budokan, Asakusa Riverside Sports Center, Meiji Shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, and other locations throughout Japan.

Capoeira KIDZ

The Capoeira KIDZ program is unique in that it combines games, music, dance and acrobatics to achieve our ultimate goal which is Capoeira. Students learn the martial arts technique through games and drills that help them improve coordination, agility, flexibility and strength. We believe that discipline and respect are taught by leadership and example, not by fear or force, giving our school a positive output and a great environment for children

Our school's teaching methods are conducted in a friendly and non-stressful manner, which enable students to enjoy physical and mental exercises while improving at their own rate. This is accomplished with the guidance, encouragement and motivation of our instructors.

MMMA Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing or on the ground.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use different fighting forms to their strategic and tactical advantage in a supervised match.

Free Introductory Class

We offer a free introductory class in any of all our classes for first timers. Please call in advance.