As part of using a lot of different tools, from various disciplines, and thus trying to achieve a more complete understand¬ing and activation of human movement, I will present today a very old static posi¬tion strength move, later to become part of some dynamic movement sequences, called Queda De Rins (pronounced Keda-Ji-Hins). The QDR is part of the basic floor work in Capoeira training, although today you can see it used in a lot of other sport-art disciplines like karate, break dancing, etc... Some of these were influ¬enced by Capoeira, during the late 1970s, when it first came to the US.

Capoeira is an afro-Brazilian martial art more than 500 years old. It was created by the African slaves brought to Brazil by the Portuguese to work the land. The slaves had different back¬grounds and came from lots of different tribes, each with its own unique rituals, games, musical instru¬ments and even fight¬ing styles. Through a complex process of integration and mix¬ture of those different African rituals, a process no one truly understands, Capoei¬ra was created. Capoeira has gone through a lot of changes during its estimated 500+ years of existence, being both a traditional art as well as part of the open, change-welcoming way of the Brazilian people. Today, Capoeira is practiced worldwide, with schools all over the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and even Israel.

The Queda De Rins

The meaning of Que¬da De Rins in Portu¬guese is “fall of the kidneys”—this is due to the positioning of one of the elbows be¬ing in line with the kidneys, and its use as a “save” from be¬ing taken down on your ass in some situ¬ations. The Queda De Rins is actually a very basic Capoeira move, which originated in the traditional Ca¬poeira style—Ca¬poeira Angola. It is usually used as part of the Capoeira Flo¬reio—a low, floor moving flow of movements used to get to a strategic advantage, or just for the sake of artistic beauty. The basic static holding QDR is only used for learning purposes, as later in the Capoeira training you start incorporating it as soon as possible into dynamic movement, passing through it, without stopping the flow.

Starting Out

The QDR is a three contact point balance move (Like a head stand), advancing later to a two contact point move only. (Like a handstand)

Stage I

Flex your strong arm, creating a 90-degree angle, while keeping it close to your body. Most people have their elbows just above the oblique muscles. Now take the elbow a bit inside the body, closer to center line, but keep the hand pointing straight ahead, with an extended, semi-supinated wrist.

Take the other hand and put it above the extended wrist, pushing the arm and elbow into your body, without let¬ting the elbow slip sideways. The most important thing here is the 90-degree angle, which will allow the force from your other hand and later your body weight to transfer up/down the lower arm, providing a support.

Stage II

Maintaining the last stage position, stand near a wall, and position your hand on it, maintaining the 90-degree angle between the wall and your arm. Your fingers should point to the side. Add the other hand, al¬most at the same height on the wall, but just a bit higher, the fingers should point to the other side of the first hand.

Put your head higher on the wall completing a trian¬gle base of support, keeping your head turned to the side of the higher hand. You have just com¬pleted a QDR on the wall; This po¬sitioning should later be duplicated accu¬rately on the floor.

Push off and on the wall 10-15 times, be¬fore releasing, and make sure you under¬stand the correct positioning of each of the three contact points.

Stage III

Squatting low on your heels, put your hand on the floor be¬side you, not too far away, with the fin¬gers pointing back. Start descending with the body side¬ways, using your arm, until the exact contact point of the body-elbow from the last two stages is achieved.

Add the other hand further to the side and a bit forward to your first hand, while descending with the head be¬tween those two contact points, and to the back, those creating a triangle. Once you are secured in your new base of sup¬port, try getting first the further leg up in the air, while bringing the knee toward the space created between your three contact points.

Once one leg is up there, try bringing the other one close to it, creating a closed po¬sition. This is the simplest QDR, and the easier version. We call it Queda Fechada (closed QDR), because of the leg position¬ing.

Conclusion

Well, that’s it! This is the basic QDR posi¬tion, and the easiest one to learn. Further, more advanced positions and dynamic movements going in and out of the QDR are the following stages in the training evolution of this position.

Some points to consider:

* Due to a strong external rotation in the shoulder joint, make sure your shoulders are well warmed up before starting to “play” with the QDR.

* If you can’t seem to get the legs “up there”, try bouncing in and out of the po¬sition, while trying to correct your triangle base of support.

* For the ones who succeeded with the basic QDR, you can try the following posi¬tions, shown in the photos, like the one handed QDR and the flag QDR without the head support.

Future articles will show some dynamic sequences using the QDR as transition point in some strength-coordination-bal¬ance movements.