Bottom leg Volta Por Cima

Question

In Capoeira, I have always been taught to lead with the bottom leg when coming out of Volta Por Cima. Are there any practical reasons why the bottom leg is supposed to come around first, instead of the top leg?

Answer 1

Possible reasons:

• As mentioned by kioopi, momentum and effort. Moving the upper leg requires displacing it further upwards and increases the shear load on the supporting arm.
• Leading with the lower leg predisposes your front torso to be facing your opponent. Leading with the top leg predisposes you to wind up with your back towards the opponent. While it is possible to still get a decent line of sight by craning the head, it can reduce your tactical options.
• In terms of options, if the main movement is happening in the lower leg, there are a number of things you can do with the upper leg including sweeping it over for a kick or chambering it for a further movement. Swinging the upper leg out first, you'll notice that it's harder to do something meaningful with the lower leg, probably partially as a result of the shear stresses mentioned above.

Just to add one more late insight after a session last night and watching this video, which leg one leads with is basically the difference between queda de rins meia lua and aú queda de rins. Leading with the upper leg more or less forces you into a flipping motion and having to thread your head through your arms, landing in a more supine positioning. Leading with the lower leg, even if kicking with your upper leg (the meia lua) keeps you more in the queda de rins position until the end. volta por cima, being a more supported motion, tends to lead with the lower leg. Leading with the upper leg is more likely to put you into a kind of front handspring rather than moving in a circle around your upper body.

Answer 2

I think it's just easier to generate hip momentum with the lower leg. If you can do it with the upper leg first, that might be a nice variation.