What about Burlamaqui's guard?


 After I trashed Mr. Sinhozinho(1951) for using a boxing guard in Carioca, some readers might be wondering - what about Burlamaqui's guard(1928)?


Well, Burlamaqui's guard is a bit different. It is a static guard; but it is not a boxing guard.

You can tell the difference easily - try using Burlamaqui's guard in boxing; and get your face flattened, because the thing has arms so far apart.

 

Note that this man

https://youtu.be/lDXgvpOy4LU?t=7

thinks he is using Burlamaqui's guard; but he is not. He is using Leopard mechanics(hands close together); while Burlamaqui uses Snake mechanics - see above for how far the hands properly are. There is nothing 'Carioca' or 'traditional' about this man's guard.

 

Burlamaqui's guard is not a boxing guard (designed to protect against punches); it is a guard that is designed so you can easily go into Peneiracao from it; and from Peneiracao into this guard.

Moreover, unlike from the boxing guard of Sinhozinho, from Burlamaqui's guard, you can execute most of Carioca techniques (so you do not have to invent gynecology tesouras that spread legs when applied).

 

So Burlamaqui's guard, even though not as good as Peneiracao (because static, see elsewhere), still follows in the tradition of Capoeiragem Carioca (unlike Sinhozinho's use of boxing guard).

So if you want to play Carioca as a sport, you could do worse than Burlamaqui's guard.

 

However:

1) Still, for the primary purpose of Capoeira Carioca, ie mass fighting, Burlamaqui's guard is wrong (see elsewhere).

2) You cannot use Carioca high-level skills from Burlamaqui's guard; so you are confined to the basic, physical level of Carioca.

3) If Burlamaqui really did his guard the way he shows in his book (Snake mechanics), he still did it wrong.

This guard has some combat tradition; but it has to be done properly (Snake+Seduction1 mechanics) to work as it should - see below, the man on the right. This is the proper form of this guard; note how unbalanced to the rear he is - this is a feature, not a bug.

The important feature of this guard is that when done properly, it uses Snake cloak skill (Snake+Seduction1), confusing opponent's sight and making him miss you with his attacks. There was no place for stupid, physical-only guards in old martial arts.

My reader Elias from Rio uses this proper, original form of Burlamaqui's guard in sparring to great success, I am told. (Of course, he goes into Peneiracao when needed).

 


Bonus - Ixprimenti!

If you want to be 100% sure that Burlamaqui's 'Rabo de arraia' (Pantana de frente) was done the way we do it (https://youtu.be/jShp2qJ-BFg?t=21), try the following experiment:

Stand in Burlamaqui's guard (pictured above - Snake mechanics or Snake+Seduction1 mechanics, hands far apart).

Then try to throw Pantana the way other people show (https://youtu.be/lDXgvpOy4LU?t=7). You should find out it is impossible.

Then try to throw Pantana the way we show (https://youtu.be/jShp2qJ-BFg?t=21). You should find out this is precisely how you throw Pantana from Burlamaqui's guard.

This should be the final proof that Burlamaqui threw Pantana like we do. Why would he show a guard in his book - from which he could not throw his own Pantana?

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So the only way you can throw this crap (https://youtu.be/lDXgvpOy4LU?t=7) is by using a guard Burlamaqui never used (boxing guard, Leopard mechanics). Then you also get 'Rabo de arraia' that Burlamaqui never used.

But why would you then call the result 'Capoeiragem Carioca', I do not know.

Take your pick.

 

Excursus - Burlamaqui's Thesoura

Here, I can also answer an old question some of my readers might have.

Why is Burlamaqui's Thesoura (that tilts sideways, shown in his book):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMnGo-XVzM4

different from normal Carioca Thesoura(that pulls backward)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujsEtwPDgh0

It is caused by his guard!

Burlamaqui's not-completely-alright-guard (Snake mechanics) only allows you to throw Burlamaqui's Thesoura (that tilts sideways); while to throw the real Carioca Thesoura (that pulls backward), you have to use the proper guard - Snake+Seduction1 mechanics (or from Peneiracao, of course).

This is another example how 'guard rules them all'.

(And it makes it probable Burlamaqui really used the not-completely-alright-guard (Snake mechanics) he shows in his book).

--

Thus on the mutations of Thesoura, you can see the way Carioca degenerated:

1) pre-1900: From Peneiracao or Elias' static guard (Snake+Seduction1), you can throw the proper backward-pulling Carioca Thesoura.
2) in 1928: From Burlamaqui's guard (Snake), you can throw the side-tilting Burlamaqui's Thesoura
3) in 1953: From boxing guard, you can throw the funny leg-spreading Sinhozinho's tesoura

This goes back to what I frequently repeat: If you want to learn real Carioca, you must learn Peneiracao!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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