Roda Do Brasil: Meeting Keita
It’s funny how one thing leads to another and then another and then another…
Back in October @instrutorahiro had one of her capoeira rodas with her students and some other teachers again this year as the final one for the year. She mentioned someone named Keita would come to the after party to talk about an upcoming event that he invited her to take place in. Little did I know where this would all go.
Handstands in the park after eating? It’s a normal Saturday with these guys. [Fuji Film X-Pro 3]
It all started off business as usual, we have the roda, I help out with photos and video, we all go to an afterparty and then we go home. That’s the typical chain of events.
Generally, when I shoot the video for these events I’ll use the Fuji Film X-Pro 3 oddly enough for video on a gimble and use the Insta360 as a B-Camera to get the low angles and wide shots while I do handheld with the X-Pro. Since the X-Pro does 4K it’s a nice high-quality cam for what I want. Also, it’s great with stills. The handstand photo above is with the X-Pro on a flat profile and no editing to the jpegs.
That’s one thing I can’t go on about enough is the quality of the jpegs straight out of camera.
Another roda in the books… [Good ol’ smartphone camera…. Thanks Samsung]
Last month it was mostly the same but at the end of the event a new face showed up and he wasn’t there to do capoeira.
Let me say, right out of the gate Keita was friendly, full of energy and ready to mingle. Usually with Japanese guys they’re a bit shier, more reserved, and more often than not, quiet. This guy… was not. Hiro said that he was second generation Japanese Brazilian. She was wrong.
Now at the end of the roda, Hiro is usually busy getting people to head toward the after party or seeing off the people who have other obligations and need to go.
I on the other hand was shoulder to shoulder with Keita because he took an interest in me.
I asked, “So, Keita you’re from Brazil?”
He smiled and quickly said, “No… but everyone thinks I am.” He went on to say that no matter how many times he tells people he’s Japanese born and raised in Japan, people assume because he speaks Portuguese so well that he must not be Japanese or some kind of second-generation Japanese.
He goes on to say, “I even put on my website that I’m Japanese, born in Japan… but people just don’t read it.”
I had to laugh because I know all too well the feeling of pouring your heart out on your website and no one really reading it. LOL
The mood was relaxed, and I have to say it was a bit weird to meet someone for the first time but feel like you knew them for years. I’d always heard about people like that but more often than not I’d never really experienced it until that day. I guess the underlying message to that story is I need to hang out with more Brazilians.
On the way to the Chinese restaurant, we continued our conversation and I got to know a bit about his history, why he moved to America and then Brazil and about his love for the Brazilian culture and people.
A very interesting guy. There were quite a few people that attended the after party, so we split into two groups. One group was with Hiro and her students, and the other group was mostly of the guests that joined from other groups that weren’t necessarily her students. Me being me I joined the other group to get to know these new people. Keita was next to me and we talked about California while waiting for our spicy ramen. I also had a chance to add him on Instagram and show him my web site. I’m not big on posting much of my work on IG but if you’re reading this and haven’t followed me, ya might as well! You can find my IG and Twitter below…
Did someone say spicy ramen? Uuumm YES PLEASE!
Now this smartphone pic might not look like much, but trust me when I say, the food was HITTIN’ I wish I had taken a picture of the gyoza (pot stickers) because they were fire!
You probably can’t see it but hidden off to the side up top was a small order of fried rice to go with it. I usually don’t eat when I know I have to do video or pictures. Something about my food digesting while I work that I just don’t like. It often leads to long hours of no food, but I’m used to it, so I’ll just say that’s my style and keep it moving.
Long story short the Chinese food was good as hell, and they even had one of those spinning tables to pass the food around to everyone. It was a good time.
Food in belly, some people decide that’s a wrap and they’re going home. The stragglers say hey, let’s go to the park and chill.
The park was near Nissan stadium, and it was cool because I think there was a soccer game that day and people were BBQing and just the mood in the air was nice.
Keita brought his banjo and with all the people in the park just chilling we had a mini concert just because we could. When I tell you the vibes were good… man!
This was around the time that I found out about the “Roda Do Brasil” event on a luxury boat (yacht?) that Keita invited Hiro to. He invited me once he saw the site and just like that, I was the cameraman for the gig.
I also ended up shotting a quick promo video for the event on Hiro’s phone I think, and it was quick and fun.
All and all a good day, a bit of “social” work but it was good to switch things up. If you enjoyed the blog post, be sure to leave a comment and all that good stuff.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your support and I look forward to reading your comments on the images from the actual cruise event. Until the next post, be well and be safe. Much love!
