QUEIXADA, MEIA LUA DE FRENTE AND ARMADA
A.A. Decānio Filho
Translation by Shayna McHugh
In Mestre Bimba’s basic
teaching sequence, we find grouped together these three movements that present a common thread: the circular motion of a lower
limb with the other one maintaining the support on the ground. These movements use mainly the pelvic, trunk, and leg muscles
and the control of balance. In the three movements the path of the lower limb should reach the goal of 90o, because
apart from this angle the foot starts to become more distanced from the target, for obvious reasons.
In the meia-lua de frente and
in the quiexada, the fulcrum of the spin is the articulation of the femur with the pelvis, keeping the posture facing forward
(without a spinning movement of the body’s axis). It is prudent to immediately return the kicking leg to the ground
after the 90o so as to maintain one’s guard and not to break the continuity of the ginga.
Considering that the aging
of animals is made itself felt in a very particular way in the pelvic-femoral junction and in the organs of the pelvis, as
well as the importance of these muscles in walking and in standing balance, we believe their development to be of great importance
in the maintenance of physical fitness in old age.
The quick turn of the armada
also functions as an exercise for the semicircular canals in the ear, for the mobilization of the fluid inside these ducts,
providing an instrument for the prevention of dizzy spells, frequent in later phases of life.
It is because of all these
reasons that we adopt Mestre Bimba’s basic, fundamental sequence of teaching, alongside the ginga, as a fundamental
of the ideal method of maintenance of physical fitness.
