On YouTube
The videos
Me talking to the camera. About capoeira, being a father, the creative process, and life's ups and beautiful downs.
Watch the videosAbout Me
Arnold 'Vitamina' Baldé
I'm so thankful for capoeira. I can be the dancer, the fighter, the player; I learn every day. Through the poetry of the movements, the vibrations of the songs, the energy of the people, the depth of the art. I love to share this with you, so you feel better, more connected with yourself, others, and everything.
38 years of training. 25 years of capoeira. 20 years of teaching. Still learning.
I started judo when I was five. I'm a black belt. Later came Thai boxing, MMA, and boxing. I learned how to fight. I can fight. But what was I fighting? Mostly myself.
After that period I wanted something other than kicking and punching hard. More exploring the body. More technical challenge. That's when I found capoeira.
I started in 2001. Over the years I trained with Professor Floris, Mestre Valú, Mestre Grandão, and CM Baianinho from Capoeira Engenho in Salvador, Brazil. I lived and trained in Suriname, Australia, and Brazil. In 2011 I founded Brincadeira de Capoeira Den Haag.
I've trained Capoeira Angola, Capoeira Regional, and everything in between. For a long time, the mix confused me: how to teach all these different styles and movements to students with different bodies and backgrounds?
The answer became the Connect & Play Method. A principle-based system that works for any style, any body, any level. Not instead of tradition. Alongside it.
After 25 years I love this art more than ever, because it is exactly what I need. Moving my body with attention. Finding the rhythm. Singing, playing instruments, among friends. Poetry, songs, lyrics, Brazilian culture. It's so rich it's crazy.
From fighting to playing.
Two bachelor's degrees and a master's in nutrition. I felt I had something to prove, so I did everything like a machine. I thought harder meant better.
It almost killed me. I burnt out. Completely. My body stopped cooperating. My joy disappeared. I had proven everything I thought I needed to prove, and I felt miserable.
What was always there was capoeira. The invitation to connect. To play, to sing, to express. In a big way, that saved me. Meeting my pain, my breath, my body. Accepting the moment as it is.
That's the shift. When you stop fighting yourself and start playing, with yourself, with other people, with the world around you, everything changes. Life gets lighter. And deeper.
That's what I teach. Not just technique. A healthier relationship with your body, your process, and yourself.
I didn't read this in a book. I went through deep lows and climbed to great heights.
For a while I stopped teaching capoeira. I wanted to perform stand-up comedy and spoken word poetry. It was tied to a life of stuttering, and I wanted to be free of it. To speak freely and fluently. Those 10 years brought me a lot.
Then I felt something was missing. Something magical. After a while, I realised what it was.
Genuine connection. Playing freely. Exploring movement. Laughing. Making friends, and keeping them. Brazilian culture. The rhythm. The dance. The freedom. Capoeira.
I turned my own problems, pains, and struggles into the Connect & Play Method. That's what I want to do for the rest of my life: connect with you, with others, and with the whole world, through capoeira, poetry, speaking, videos, and stories.
Ready to play?
The personal side
The Diary of an Artist
On Substack
The writing
The same diary, written. Burnout, divorce, fighting, playing, and what I learn on the way. Honest and often funny.
Read the diaryOn Substack
Poetry and spoken word
The poems. Some written, some spoken on stage. Words that come fast and honest.
Read the poems