Faisca and Fumaça showing off at at a pre-Christmas party for students.  Mestre made some food and gave out cards and candy for all of us.. wowoo.

Programs I use:

• Lingoes – this allows you to highlight words on screen for instant translation (written: English / spoken: Chinese).  Below are the elements you need to make it work.
  • Essential dictionaries:
    • Vicon Chinese-English – This is essential for PinYin tones
    • Vicon English Chinese
    • CEDICT – Another dictionary necessary for PinYin help
    • 21 Century English-Chinese Bidirectional Dictionary – Large amount of terms to double check your translations
  • Install all dictionaries under Index and Text Capture
  • For Index I have, in order:
    • Vicon
    • CEDict
    • 21 Century
  • For Capture I have, in order:
    • Vicon
    • 21 Century
    • CEDict
    • Instant Translation
  • The best Audio Translator I found (female) was here:
    • Chinese Text to Audio – Download, install and it will appear on your list of speech options

After this is all installed, you should be able to right click on your bird (in lower corner of your screen) and check off: Translate selected text.  Now, whenever you highlight selected text it will read it to you.  Chinese text will be read aloud (in Chinese) and a little pop up (the Instant Translation) will appear over your highlighted words and translate it into English for you as you listen to the Chinese!

Now, for some live practice!

The largest instant messenger in China is QQ.  You can download it, sign in and participate in groups specifically for language exchange.

• Download QQ International
• After you sign up, click the middle icon under the Penguin, the 2 person icon.
• Select Language.
• Join some groups!

Now, as people type in the windows, you can highlight what they say, listen to it, and practice.  Are you a total noob and have trouble responding back?  Me too!  But that can be fixed, too.  Double click the Lingoes bird, select “Text Translation” from the bar and type in what you want in English.  Hit enter and let Google Translate help you out.  I like to highlight the result after I finish, to hear it read to me.. and to make sure the translation is what I want.

I also like to keep an ongoing text file with phrases I learn, everything from good morning to .. see you next time… I am a beginning student… and on and on.  That way, I can highlight and copy over to new chat windows.

Shape Shifter: 7 Years After Capoeira

When I started Capoeira, my objective was pretty simple:  lose weight.  I wanted a physical activity I could be a part of, socially, and physically.  I’d never enjoyed sports and looking back, the only PE class I could ever remember enjoying was at college: Capoeira.

This August will make my 8th year in Capoeira.  After about 7, I looked and thought… I have great health, fitness and a healthy heart due to Capoeira.  I have friends, family, travel, stories, language, culture, dance because of Capoeira.. but you know what? I want a to look better.  I started working out about a week before Thanksgiving, and this included 10 minute treadmill runs.  I built up until 20  min runs.. then just before thirty minutes, I hit the road.

In January I decided I wanted to run a 5k.  First, I had to look up what a 5k was and then.. I thought.. I can do this.  I run close to 2 miles on the treadmill.. I can do this!  To make sure I did do it, I signed up for the Conoco Rodeo Run.  My first 5k race.  My goals? Do not be last and run it in under 45 minutes.

First 5K Race

A couple of weeks ago, I met that goal.  Me and Margo ran through the goodie tents and I settled in for a weekend of relaxation before signing up, two days later, for the Warrior Dash.  Yeah — the jump through fire 5K.

It’s all a bit wack, but this morning I got on the scale and finally, after all the years.. I’ve found a routine that pays off .. in all aspects.

Vibram FiveFingers

As I wait for the news on my cardiac issues, I spent time looking at injuries I’ve had the past few months.  One of the hardest to get over was Plantar Fascitis.  I’d wake up every morning dreading my first step, gripping the wall all the way to the bathroom and then to the closet.  I researched it, found the exercises I need to stretch, rolled my feet on frozen bottles, bought thick cushioned support sneakers and a friend even made me a proper splint to sleep with as it healed.  Suddenly, one day I noticed.. my first step no longer hurt.

The hard part, was that after years of playing Capoeira barefoot, I missed it.  I started wearing shoes not because of blisters (I still have callouses) but because of the cold floors.  I started wearing sneakers, then lower profile shoes.. to try to compromise and adjust.  I would go through fits of pulling my shoes off mid class, then having my feet cramp from the cold and shoving them back on mid-run.  Then, I noticed someone with Vibram Five Fingers.

Yeah the funky toe shoes.  Them.  I bought some a couple of weeks ago, and finally, last week wore them for the first time.  The downsides?  Yes the impact, which after years of wear is back.  ie.  the harsh landing on meia lua de compasso.  The upsides?  Barefoot feeling without the scraping on sides of foot.  Barefoot feeling with a little more grip.  Toe stretching for balance.  Better understanding of where my foot is hitting.

The idea of Vibram’s is to build the muscles in the foot and calves to withstand impact, less wear on joints.  As I thought about it, I didn’t get my Plantar Fascitis when I played barefoot.. I got it when I was actively using shoes.  The main thing I was supposed to stretch to help alleviate my Plantar Fascitis?  The calves.. the same muscle thats supposed to be built and conditioned using the Vibrams…

If they don’t work out, I won’t be too disappointed.  I absolutely love wearing them when I lounge around.  I’ve noticed my little toes starting to reposition and stretch out more instead of being so cramped.  I’ve started to notice the joy of walking around barefoot again.

When a man's an empty kettle he should be on his mettle, And yet I'm torn apart. Just because I'm presumin' that I could be kind-a-human, If I only had heart.

The past week or so, I’ve been feeling very Tin Man.  It started with me noticing that I no longer hang in the 50bpm range when I relax, its now more like the 40′s.  The flag for concern — a regular 39bpm spotting mid-morning and mid-afternoon.  I booked an appointment with my doctor (who just so happens to be a cardiologist as well, with a full cardiac care center).  Having only met her once, a year ago, it was a bit discomforting to see her pass by, spot me, and smile a smile of recognition.  I must be worth remembering…

I went in psyched to be told I would need a pacemaker.  I did all the research and I understood, its more to protect me from going *too* low.. to prevent me from sleeping and never waking up.  To drive the point home, an old man walked into the waiting room, looked around and sat down.  He nodded off as he waited and 40 min later, could not be woken up.  We watched as the doctor laid him on the floor and he eventually came to as his blood pressure evened out.  That would be me, if I don’t get a pacemaker.  I felt a bit at ease knowing I’d caught it early.

I walked in, somehow, again was familiar enough to the staff that they immediately booked me for the gamut of heart tests.  An ECG, ultrasound, blood test and 5 hours later, the doctor told me she wasn’t concerned about my low heart rates at all.  Because I keep myself so active, I keep the heart muscle nice and strong.  However, she was more concerned about the narrowing aortic valve and that, coupled with my slow heart rate and other signs.. pointed to congestive heart failure.

What what?  It’s not easy hearing the phrase “congestive heart failure” at my age.

Bradycardia, syncope, narrow aortic valve, mild murmur on 2 other valves…

Now, I wanted the pacemaker.  She’ll get the results of the ultrasound, look at my other tests and in week we can have a sit down to talk about my condition.  But, I’ve started to jog, but I’m becoming active.. should I worry?  She insisted because I’ve kept so active, my heart is as healthy as it could be, but in a week, we have a sit down.

So, now, I wait.  The worrying was eating me alive but I don’t know how to fix broken hearts, so I’ve resigned to just move on – with caution.  An active lifestyle has gotten me this far, and so I’ve decided to set new goals to make sure I”ll continue that lifestyle.  First goal?   My first 5k.  It’s a non-competitive run/walk.  Perfect!  I plan to run 20 minutes, walk 10, run another 10, and walk the rest out.  The Rodeo Run it’s called.  Registration closes the day after my doctor’s appointment.. but I decided not to wait.  I signed up.

Berimbau me Guia

What I learned from this study was the influence of rhyming. It can force your a rhythm, sometimes a rhythm you don’t necessarily want.. therefore sort of cutting your lyrics short.  And.. furthermore.. question, response, question response.  This is large part missing in my prose.

I’ve been very fascinated with Capoeira lyrics recently, specifically old Angola ladainhas. I’ve always been enthralled by the stories it told and have always thought of writing some lyrics of my own (why not put the liberal arts degree to some work, huh?).  I’ve always gotten a bit scared, though, when I thought of having to put it all to music. This week, I lost my fear. I just began writing down my ideas in prose, throwing it out there, to see how would I fit this into a Capoeira song? Lesson one? Keep it simple, stupid. Unlike prose, you can’t diversify the rhythms (not within one song) and this was the lesson of this song. I passed it to Mestrando Bicudo and he did his interpretation of the first portion (the chorus) and we talked about how to break the rest into another song or modify its rhythm to fit the chorus. A huge help!

 

His musical interpretation:

Capoeira Te Deu

And if *THAT* wasn’t cool enough… he delivered on a long promised gift. Once in trade for a favor, I asked him to record one of my favorite songs – “Zumbi, Zumbi” for me. He was hoarse that day, but promised to do so … his Christmas gift to me, the promised: “Zumbi, Zumbi”

Zumbi, Zumbi