Capoeira Ijexa

My daughter goes to kids capoeira class and absolutely loves it. The teachers, including Gian, are wonderful. I can tell that they really love working with kids. The class consists of warm ups, learning the movement, games, playing capoeira, and music.

Mestre Urubu is the best capoeira teacher in the bay area. i’ve been to all the other groups. Plus Ijexa is a really welcoming group, very good axe (spirit).

Capoeria Ijexa has everything that you would want in a Capoeira group: A knowledgeable mestre, a supportive group of people who are well-​connected with other groups in the Bay Area and beyond, and a well-​equipped and clean studio space. Whether you want to make a serious commitment to the art form, or just want to see what it’s all about, this is a positive, non-​competitive, yet focused place to do it. Come check it out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7.

To start off, I have been training here for several years (going on my 4^th I think… well we all lose track of time so I’m not even sure now…) regularly and with great enthusiasm (ha! always wanted to work that into a sentence).
I will try to view it as objectively as possible because no one wants a biased review, am I right?
The first thing you should know is that capoeira is not simple to get into: it is an art form and like all art form it requires time dedication and the mindset of self refinement in all aspects. Capoeira, as much as it is a martial art is a philosophy and a way of life.
But that should not scare away those with a casual mindset. The beauty of capoeira is that it is not like all other martial arts: it is incredibly fun your first time and, 3 years later speaking from experience it is still just as fun.
This establishment in question is very nice: compact in the sense of a martial arts academy allowing for a great deal of attention from the master himself Mestre Urubu Malandro (one of the more quirky and funnier guys you’ll ever meet). If you’ve ever been to any sort of group training exercise, you’ll know the importance of one on one. Mestre Urubu’s great attention to detail yet noninvasive method of instruction allows his students, beginner to veteran, to explore the movements and find their own styles while keeping in mind the training itself.
The workout itself is very core intensive with a balance of a total body workout: you’ll be doing squats and rolling around on the ground. Of course not on your back, silly, but you will find that your arms and legs become a very important aspect in almost all of the movements learned: from balancing to weight transfer, you will use all of your limbs. Kicks utilize center of gravity and requires a fair amount of balance and grace that you will indeed learn.
Where the culture comes in and where capoeira is separated from almost all forms of martial arts is the music. At the end of class we often form a roda (or circle) where we each in turn play a «game» if you will with each other: working with the sound of the berimbau (the principle music instrument) to create flow to the game and playing in time with the drum to keep our rhythm.
All of this, though said with somewhat too many words, is still not enough to describe what this experience is like. It is something that really must be experienced first hand to even fathom a guess as to what it means but that’s really the beauty of it: you are able to decide how best to interpret it!
But I’m not going to get too philosophical about it. Capoeira welcomes all and excludes none: come and enjoy a bit of Brazilian culture and if you find that you enjoy it, definitely go with your gut feeling and stick around: you won’t regret it for a second.

Whether you are new to capoeira or have experience and are looking to join a group in the Bay Area, I highly recommend Ijexa. If I could hack Unilocal I’d give it 6 stars. Here’s why.
I first came to Mestre Urubu’s class having never done a martial art of any kind before. I had seen the group perform at a club and thought it looked like a really interesting and fun way to get in shape. So I had no idea what to expect.
From the moment I walked in I felt welcome — Mestre Urubu is amazing with beginners. On your first day you will learn the basics of capoeira, including all kinds of interesting new movements. This will stretch your body and mind in ways you have not experienced before. But Mestre Urubu will make sure you only push yourself a little bit, not too far, so you have nothing to fear. I felt so inept and clumsy but it was so much fun I could not wait to come back to try to get better at it. Especially after seeing the cool stuff the advanced students were training.
It is not just the Mestre that makes the class inviting, though. The students are very friendly, enjoy talking and playing around (during down or break time), and there is a wonderful community of capoeiristas that socialize, play, work, talk, laugh and cry together. Joining Ijexa is like gaining a family. Your degree of social engagement with your fellow capoeristas outside of class is totally up to you, but there is a strong community there if you want it.
Training under Mestre Urubu is both fun and challenging. Class is varied every day, even if there are themes that run across multiple days. He is very adept at breaking a single class into groups and ensuring each of them gets appropriately challenging exercises, supervising or delegating as appropriate to make sure everyone is getting training, all the time. It’s actually very impressive watching how well classes are run. Mestre Urubu is punctual. If you train or intend to train capoeira on an ongoing basis, you will really appreciate this.
In addition to being a great teacher and practitioner of capoeira, Mestre Urubu is a very accomplished performer. He has a charisma and wisdom that imparts to his students, which is a tremendous asset to the group. During and after class, we are frequently entertained by the crazy things he says. In short, it is a lot of fun being his student.
I personally have been training with Mestre Urubu and Capoeira Ijexa for many years now, and can’t imagine leaving. Capoeira is a very subjective martial art, and the degree to which you will enjoy it will vary from group to group, depending on that group’s style, teacher, and students, so there is no one group that is for everyone. That said, Capoeira Ijexa is the first place I’d recommend anyone train capoeira.

I recommend coming to class with a water bottle and definitely think about the day after you come to class, because you will be sore!
Mestre Urubu divides the class into levels so beginners will be taken care of either by him or other experienced players. People are super friendly, but that doesn’t mean they will be laughing all the time, when they are sweating, be sure to be aware and perhaps get hit :)
You’ll learn a few Portuguese terms and come out of class in good spirits. Always recommended!!! Takes dedication though.
Each day is different in the class, sometimes easy, sometimes hard. But unfortunately my first capoeira class was hard and had a hard time walking up and down the stairs, but believe me it was a good hurt – a great workout.

I’ve been training with Capoeira USA for about a year now and I have to say that I’m extremely happy to have joined this group.
Mestre Urubu Malandro is a great teacher and friend who is extremely inviting to new people looking to learn capoeira. The graduated and advanced students are also all really great at teaching and make the extra effort to help you learn a new move or perfect something you’ve been working on. One of the best things about Capoeira USA are the people in the group. Within a few classes I made several new friends both at my level and above. People look out for each other, help each other grow and learn, invite people to go out to an event or a night on the town, and generally care about each other.
Now I’ll be honest, the first class for anyone can be a bit intimidating. You walk in and see all these people in uniforms doing crazy hand stands and kicks and you feel that you can’t possibly do that — but remember, everyone in that room was at one time a beginner. The challenge is to keep motivated and working hard to get to the next level and like I said, everyone in the group is there to support you in getting there.
I’ve met many people that have been scared about trying capoeira but after their first class they fall in love with the movements, music, history and get totally hooked. Give it a try. I highly recommend it.

Let me start off by saying that Capoeira is not something that I will find myself really getting into. There is a lot of choreography involved and I just don’t think I’m prepared to dedicate myself to that type of coordination. I wasn’t really sure exactly what it was to begin with, but my boyfriend and his co-​worker wanted to go and asked me to try it out. Wow.
Although it won’t be one of my prime interests, I found this place to really be an amazing experience. I don’t regret going to the class at all. Many of the students there have been there for YEARS, with only a few beginners. As far as Mestre Urubu Malandro goes… he’s amazing. He recognizes beginners and tells you when to take breaks. Although he pushes you to do the movements, he allows you to stay within your comfort zone.
The classes are at different locations on different days and at different times. I would say that this program really requires dedication, no matter what level you’re at. Capoeira requries that your body be flexible and you really have to keep on it so you don’t hurt yourself. If this is something you’re thinking about getting into, Capoeria USA is definitely the place to go!

I was a student at Capoeira USA from Sept. 2002 to about 2005. At the time, I was crazy with activities, taking dance classes several times a week, dancing with 1 or 2 dance companies, performing at various locations and events…
Mestre Urubu Malandro of Capoeira USA is one of the best instructors I’ve had. He has a great teaching style and does not adopt a «one-​size fits all» attitude, as many capoeira academies do. In short, he’ll recognize a beginner, and adjust his teaching accordingly.
I’d recommend going to the Acro Sports classes first if you’re truly just starting out. Acro has nice padded and bouncy floors that are much easier on the joints than the cement floors at Capp St. Go easy on yourself. Though Mestre is gentle on beginners, the movements can take a little time to get used to; and you will be sore after your first few classes. Your feet will need some time to toughen up — and you will need to play barefoot. Invest in some athletic tape to help your feet with the blisters.
The crew is one of the best, most down-​to-​earth and centered groups of people you’ll ever meet. You’ll learn to train hard and also party hard: cachaca and Brazilian BBQs (think lots of really tasty, salted meat) will fill your life. Your body will change in crazy ways, and you’ll be able to make it do things you never expected. And not only is Capoeira about playing and training, but you’ll also learn the instruments — the berimbau, the atabaque, the pandeiro — and sing in Portuguese!
It was one of the best periods of my life.
p. s. I no longer train because I can no longer dedicate the time to it – as you move up in belt levels and seniority, the game asks you to commit more to it – Mestre recommends at least 3 times a week if you hope to improve — and at this time I find that I cannot… perhaps some day again in the future?
p.p.s — check out the website since it lists the various class schedules: MWF at Capp Street; Tu/​Th and Sat at Acro Sports.