This week one of my Maori friends came to visit and was playing on my computer when we got into a heated conversation about which civilization invented the Special Forces. My friend told me that way before the white man even conceived the use of Special Forces his people used key warriors tasked with eliminating enemy chiefs and messengers. These men would attack using a flexible and independent command infrastructure. There were also Maori berserker units, matataki-a-whiro, who would carry out suicide missions with no regard for their own personal safety.

Three weeks have pasted and this is my last week with Capoeira Mandinga Aotearoa and I have to figure out what it is I want to take away from my training. At the moment I am leaning toward the instruments of capoeira and here is why.

Ok so I know I said I would talk about the instruments of capoeira but I have just finished a class where the importance of the songs came up.

For the past week I have been training in capoeira here in Auckland. To be specific I have been training Capoeira Mandinga Aotearoa with Mestre Brabo.

Ever so often it is inevitable to come across negative people who would critique martial arts. Some would say that what I teach is only concerned with inflicting damage on people or that I am creating panic and worry by drawing on the violence of Israel and the 2nd World War and using scaremongering to market my Krav Maga classes. Generally people who come out with such outrageous statements are not martial artists. They may have tried a martial art but soon got frustrated and gave up through lack of patience and discipline. They even may have started training with me but as soon as full contact drills came into play decided that Krav Maga simply was not for them and they would sooner invest their time in a less challenging activity.