Only The Strongest

The only capoeira podcast formed by natural selection. No idea is safe. Teaching advice, training tips, concepts, instruments, and Brazil news.

Parabens, Mestre Mago 11/26/2024

Parabens, Mestre Mago We'd like to offer some congrats to a great friend and mentor, the newly-minted Mestre, Mago. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/34169280

Can ChessBots Play Capoeira? 06/17/2024

Can ChessBots Play Capoeira? Varal presents an interesting/dumb thought experiment to the other two hosts, who, with minimal ridicule, manage to entertain the idea. Plus an important annoucement about the near future of the podcast. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/31774692

Only The Life Capoeiraest (w/ Kung Fu) - OTS x The Life Capoeira 05/06/2024

Only The Life Capoeiraest (w/ Kung Fu) - OTS x The Life Capoeira We're delighted to welcome Kung Fu to the OTS mic today. He joins us from England at an ungodly hour to talk about how he got into capoeira, why he started his podcast, and how he'll continue with capoeira no matter what, even though osteoarthritis might limit his time in the roda. His podcast: The Life Capoeira /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/31104953

Who Is The Best Capoeirista? 04/29/2024

Who Is The Best Capoeirista? Hint: there's no clear answer. There's not even a clear answer on what the criteria should be. Instas of some of the people we mentioned: /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/31038188

God Save Texas 04/15/2024

God Save Texas M. Amen's The Freedom Project: Azul fills us in on her recent, reinvigorating trip to a batizado in Texas. She talks about the importance of good music, the painful condescension of playing down to beginners, and why are there so many fewer female professors than male? /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/30830383

The Gang Updates Capoeira 03/26/2024

The Gang Updates Capoeira We discuss a joooooosee post from the subreddit about how capoeira should update itself. Bonzinho thinks the post misses the point entirely, Varal waffles in his usual manner, and Azul thinks we should punch more people in the face. Plus, the debut of a new segment: hot takes! The post: https://www.reddit.com/r/capoeira/comments/1b8telh/time_to_update_this_amazing_art/ /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/30552088

We Back 03/11/2024

We Back We're delighted to be back! /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/30325323

We Need Your Wild And Embarrassing Stories 01/11/2024

We Need Your Wild And Embarrassing Stories /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/29447268

Happy New Year 01/01/2024

Happy New Year A look back on 2023 and a look ahead to 2024. Did we make good on our past resolutions? What's in store for the coming year? /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/29296443

The Capoeira Holiday Gift Guide 12/18/2023

The Capoeira Holiday Gift Guide We got weird shirts, unicorn mugs, awkward sayings, and the perfect gift for alienating a teen girl from her dad. Plus our unanimous best and worst capoeira-themed gifts of this year. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/29083058

Capoeira Doesn't Believe In Concussions 12/04/2023

Capoeira Doesn't Believe In Concussions Prompted by a listener's email, we discuss emergency protocols when someone takes a meia lua to the noggin. Azul's interview on The Life Capoeira podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/3zw2dYywGNetOcXSaC8t8c /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28922073

In Which We Fail To Offer Any Useful Help 11/20/2023

In Which We Fail To Offer Any Useful Help Join us as we muddle our way through whether we, as capoeiristas, have an obligation to be political activists. That's right, we're talking about Israel and Palestine, and we're just as lost, confused, and upset as you. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28691598

Haunted Rodas And Pinatas 10/30/2023

Haunted Rodas And Pinatas A (not so) spooky Halloween episode where we talk about what it takes to make a good Haunted Roda. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28468565

Gettin' Mad And Fightin' Dirty 10/16/2023

Gettin' Mad And Fightin' Dirty Take our quick survey! How can we best prepare ourselves for the violence in capoeira? How do we control our emotions instead of losing our cool? /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28313567

Actually, The Caxixi Goes To The Left Of The Salad Fork, M'Lord - The Pros And Cons Of Etiquette 10/02/2023

Actually, The Caxixi Goes To The Left Of The Salad Fork, M'Lord - The Pros And Cons Of Etiquette Etiquette in capoeira is like gravity - you can't see it but it rules everything. Use three berimbaus. Don't cross the instruments when you volta ao mundo. When you volta, make a completed circle. Wait to play by crouching down. Wait to play by standing up. Don't buy the game during a chorus. Only the buy the game during a chorus, never a verse. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28133774

Sabia And The Sultan (HTWAR) 09/18/2023

Sabia And The Sultan (HTWAR) Video here We battle about whether two capoeiristas who are way better than any of us are actually any good. Bonzinho says yes, Azul says maybe, and Varal says no because he can only speak from a place of deep envy. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/28034379

That New Cord Smell 09/04/2023

That New Cord Smell Our recap of a very special batizado. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27936984

Chocolate Cake Was My Balrog - Fome's Return To Capoeira After Ten Years Away 08/14/2023

Chocolate Cake Was My Balrog - Fome's Return To Capoeira After Ten Years Away Good friend of the podcast Fome joins us to talk about returning to capoeira after a decade away. He tells us that it's hard, it's ridiculous, it smells bad, and it's wonderful to be back. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27731928

To Batizado Or Not To Batizado 07/31/2023

To Batizado Or Not To Batizado A mailbag episode. We talk about some great emails we got recently, especially one from a listener who's decided not to host batizados anymore. Bonus - a meal that would save you after 3 months in the Sahara. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27613713

O Floyd, Where Art Thou? - Book Review Of Capoeira And Candomblé 07/17/2023

O Floyd, Where Art Thou? - Book Review Of Capoeira And Candomblé Today we don our mining helmets, switch on our headlamps, and dig through the book Capoeira and Candomblé: Conformity and Resistance through Afro-Brazilian Experience by Floyd Merrell. There's some great stuff in here about the similarities between the two Afro-Brazilian philosophies and their history, but it does take some backbreaking labor to get it out. You can read the book , but we'd advise listening to this episode first. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27436980

A Man Bun Man - Capoeira Preferences 07/03/2023

A Man Bun Man - Capoeira Preferences The big one fifty! Some nice informal capoeira talk to fill out what we think are the best practices for capoeira. What side should your cord go on? What's the best dish at a churrasca? When training, should you go man bun or long hair don't care? Tuck your shirt or let it fly loose? /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27356496

Gettin' Schooled, Old And New, Some Opinions For You 06/19/2023

Gettin' Schooled, Old And New, Some Opinions For You Azul has some important revelations about hand strikes in capoeira, which brings us to a nice discussion contrasting old school and new school types of capoeira. We got stuff for you on motivation, energy, rule-following, loyalty, special snowflakes, and boogers. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/27177342

Look What You Made Me Do (HTWAR) - Some Mestres Really Are Legendary 06/05/2023

Look What You Made Me Do (HTWAR) - Some Mestres Really Are Legendary How to Watch a Roda. A famous mestre who happens to be very old plays a less-famous Insta star who happens to be pretty young, and it is a delight to watch. There's a lot to dig into -- the stages of evolution of the game, the give and take, the theater, and Cobra Mansa's total command of capoeira. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26758377

ChatGPT Has Some Complaints About Capoeira 05/22/2023

ChatGPT Has Some Complaints About Capoeira Bonzinho fed a couple capoeira-related prompts into ChatGPT and got some interesting things back. We go through some "common complaints about capoeira" as defined by the AI to see if they're legit. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26775882

Silvinho Makes Azul Look Silly And She Says Hell Yeah 05/08/2023

Silvinho Makes Azul Look Silly And She Says Hell Yeah Azul and Bonzinho hosted Mestre Silvinho for a workshop and they fill us in on how it went. And Bonzinho has been doing a lot of flipping and thinking, which thoughts he wants to share. Azul and Varal respond with a nice chorus of "I told you so." /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26758305

Big Gains, Small Flips - Capoeira Dividends 04/24/2023

Big Gains, Small Flips - Capoeira Dividends A guide to which acrobatics are worth your time to try and learn. Some moves look great but they take way too much work to achieve. And some moves can be pretty easy, but they're undignified. Where's the sweet spot between the work required and the result? Hint: steer clear of armada dupla. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26638161

Keep Your Wrists Healthy And Your Vision Clear 04/10/2023

Keep Your Wrists Healthy And Your Vision Clear When did you start to find your groove in capoeira? How do you keep your wrists healthy? What are the best ways to develop vision in your game? The internet asked and, unsolicited, we answered. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26496516

You Throw Punches And I'll Do Rolé - Capoeira As Done By Other Martial Artists 03/27/2023

You Throw Punches And I'll Do Rolé - Capoeira As Done By Other Martial Artists Can other martial artists get capoeira to work for them in a self-defense situation? Some youtubers are asking that question, and we're here to answer (even if we think that's not really the right question to be asking in the first place). Sensei Seth. Kevin Lee. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26353752

The Best Counters We've Ever Seen (HTWAR) 03/13/2023

The Best Counters We've Ever Seen (HTWAR) How to Watch a Roda! A listener-submitted video proves difficult to diagnose. Who are these people? Is this game aggressive? Is it okay for a small person to wheelbarrow a big person into an atabaque? The one thing we all agree on is that this game is a blast to watch. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26158860

Live From CO, It's Saturday Night! - Batizado Recap 02/27/2023

Live From CO, It's Saturday Night! - Batizado Recap We quickly recap an event we all attended, recording in between the actual batizado and dinner. Azul's hair was still wet from the shower, Varal had just hastily brushed his teeth, and Bonzinho was perfectly ready because he opted not to shower since that would wash away the axé. /episode/index/show/onlythestrongest/id/26059947

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