Guatebuena

      Guatemala has many faces; it seems to be partially (if not full blown) bipolar. She has both her manic and depressive phases. Its fertility seduces the eye which is lucky enough to lay sight upon her. Large trees with unique texture and full of life can be seen from border to border. Beautiful lakes surrounded by volcanoes and waterfalls paint the scenes of fairy tales.  Volcanoes covered by shaded coffee plantations makes one look forward to the following morning just to savor a perfectly brewed cup of coffee. Rugged mountains test the strength of our legs as we climb and descend the steepest roads we have seen yet. Powerful women travel these mountains wearing intricate Guatemalan weaves that cover a strong, dark, and stubby body carrying heavy loads on their head. Perfectly maintained colonial towns at the foot of volcanoes teleport you back in time to a magical utopia.

      She is not without her depressive phase, her dark side. Just like a young child who’s been abused, she knows not proper behavior at times. Towns become strong hold for local gangs where kids are no longer kids; they are lost souls with hard stares. Though prostitution and drug dealing are not on my traveler’s To-do list, they are too evident when you look closely.  Little concern for her ecological well-being created a country whose beautiful roads are lined with plastic garbage, her rivers contaminated by pesticides which eventually cause uncontrolled bacterial growth in once pristine lakes, her high plateaus and valleys covered in mass produced monoculture, and she smells of burning garbage far too often.

      Guatemala is small but mighty. Her mountains gifted me great humbleness, her summits hypnotized me with unbelievable views. I’ve been touched and transformed by this land. She granted me passage unharmed, in good health, and with high spirits, and has gained every ounce of my respect. Tomorrow we hit the next frontier, El Salvador. Check out the link below...

https://vimeo.com/86871395

In Search Of a Mestre

Here's a little something I wrote about what I've seen in Mexico.

In search of a mestre...

Some say that experience is the best teacher, others seek out teachers to show them the way. I do both. I seek out the best teachers to learn from. I always worked hard to attend top programs at top universities and I also look for the best masters to teach me martial arts. But I also make my own path, invent my own projects, and let experience and life show me the way. I'm always on the search for knowledge, in search for experiences, in search for my teacher.

A common theme I've found in academies in Mexico is that many of them are in search of a mestre. Capoeira was planted in Mexico, but mostly left to it's own device without a guardian to look after it. Every so often good mestres have come to Mexico to show the devoted capoeiristas the way, but many capoeira groups are still thirsty for a mestre to be with them full time. Some capoeirstas turn to "Mestre You Tube". They find they movements and the songs, but they lack the deeper meaning of the art and the sublties that give capoeira its flavor. Many capoeristas in Mexico are still in search of a mestre to guide them in the path of a Capoeirista.

My mestre, Mestre Acordeon, wrote the story "The making of a Mestre" in which a mestre went out in search of his mestre but failed to find him, for he had already passed away. It's this story, among other things, that inspired Mestre Acordeon to produce the B2B documentary and its story line. The story of Mestre Acrodeon going in search of his teacher, Mestre Bimba, and taking his students to meet him. It seems to me that even great masters like Mestre Acordeon are in search of their teacher, their master, to help them find meaning in the art of Capoeira and in life. In this sense, great masters and are no different than young students because they too are in search of their mestre.

I've been fortunate to have found Mestre Acordeon, Mestre Ra, and Mestra Suelly at a young age. I've had the privilage to train at the UCA academy where great mestres often frequent to teach workshops and share their knowledge of Capoeira. But even so, I'm still in search of my Capoeira mestre. I've had my mestres present at the academy, but deeper teacher-student relationships go beyond the capoeira class. I embarked on the B2B journey to find my mestre, to know him personally and find all the subleties in him and capoeira that give capoeira its flavors. To learn how to develop the sensitivities that few men have in this world. This trip for me, among other things, is to find my mestre.

Will I ever stop looking for my mestre? It seems not because the search for a mestre is an anology for the search for knowledge. I hope one day I will become a great teacher, maybe in capoeira, maybe in biology and metabolism, maybe in Gyrotonic, or some other technique. But I will always be looking to deepen my knowledge. Ironically, I think that my best teacher will eventually become my own students.

Mariano Galan Wechsler