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The origins of capoeira are still uncertain as of today, there are many different versions. The one we give here is the most commonly known among great capoeira masters and historians.

During the 1500s, masses of West African slaves were imported into Brazil by the Portuguese colonizers. They were thought to be source of inexpensive labour, which would work on the sugar plantations and create colonial wealth for the Portuguese crown.

After years of mistreatment, torture, inhumane living conditions and yearning for their freedom, the slaves began to up rise against their masters. Aware that their masters' superiority lay in the possession of weapons, the slaves came up with the idea of using their bodies to attack and defend themselves through a series of dangerous moves that would help them fight their captors. African songs and dances were used to disguise their training sessions so that their superiors would not become alarmed. With time their art and expertise grew and finally reached the point where they could use it to escape into the woods. Their style of fighting became known as 'Capoeira' because in Portuguese it was associated with the saying 'The black fled to the woods'.

After the abolition of slavery, the ex-slaves migrated into the cities of Brazil and continued to practice Capoeira. The art was for a time associated with anti-government and criminal activities as a majority of the ex-slaves had ended up in criminal gangs due to the lack of employment opportunities and a persistent unofficial but strong racial discrimination. As a result, Capoeira was outlawed in 1892. Punishment for the illegal practice of the art resulted in the cutting of tendons on the back of the feet. Rodas were often held in areas with plenty of escape routes, and a special rhythm called A Cavalaria was added to the music to warn players that the police were coming. Practitioners gave themselves an apelido or nickname to make it harder for the police to discover their identities. This practice is prevalent today, when a person is baptized into Capoeira, they are given their Capoeira name.

In 1937, Mestre Bimba, a great capoeirista who had fought to have the art recognized as a worthy physical activity, was invited to demonstrate Capoeira in front of the President of Brazil. After this performance, he was given permission to open the first Capoeira school in Brazil and Capoeira was proclaimed a 'truly Brazilian' sport which should be valued. Since then, Capoeira has been officially recognized as a national sport, and has spread around the world. Mestre Bimba's systematization and teaching of Capoeira has made a tremendous contribution to the Capoeira community.

In 1942, Mestre Pastinha opened the first Capoeira Angola school, the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola in Bahia. He had his students wear black pants and yellow t-shirts, the same colour then his favourite soccer team. Most Angola schools since then follow in this tradition, having their students wear yellow Capoeira t-shirts. Together, Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha are seen as the founding fathers of the two dominant style of capoeira; respectively Capoeira Regional and Capoeira Angola.

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Shaded Meanings: The Colour of your Corda

Shaded Meanings: The Colour of your Corda

The green Brazilian flag. The black African slaves. The orange of a rising sun. You cherish your corda–train with it, don it before every class, and no matter what you tell people, at some level you aspire for the next one; but do you know exactly what you’re wearing around your waist when you tighten that hand-dyed knot?

We all know that nearly every group in capoeira has a different corda system. What I wanted to discover was: Why? How? It’s hard to imagine that each mestre just wanted to distinguish their school from the rest and so decided on a random order of colours merely by virtue of no one else having used it yet! Unfortunately, I have never heard of my own grupo’s corda colours symbolizing anything in particular (so people, please enlighten me if I’m wrong!), but thought it’d be interesting to see what kind of meanings are given to corda colours in general.

Before I continue, let’s take a brief detour through Portuguese 101: Colours!

off-white/”raw”/undyed - crua
red - vermelha
orange - laranja
yellow - amarela
green - verde
blue - azul
purple - roxa
brown - marrom
white - branca
black - negra

You might have noticed that all the colours are in feminine form; despite what you may think, this was honestly for no more reason than that the word “corda” itself is feminine. Can I help it if I want to you use proper grammar? (I don’t rig things, I just take advantage of happy accidents ;) )

Now, apparently many grupos do base at least part of their corda systems on the colours of the Brazilian flag, which is where cordas verde, azul, amarela, and branca come from, as well as the different combinations between them found in single cordas. Grupo de Capoeira Lutaxé actually bases their entire adult graduation system on just these four colours, plus black and brown, which according to their website represents “the black race and time of slavery”.

Filhos da Bahia Capoeira gets particularly creative in terms of colour placement, with nine variations of corda amarela/verde, followed by six variations of amarela/azul. There are only so many ways you can dye one rope, and they seem to have come up with them all! Their system intricately follows the process of nature, starting beginners off with corda verde and adding more and more amarelo to it in several stages, representing a blooming or ripening fruit.

Finally, we have what seem to be more standard symbols for each colour, the particular order here taken from Abada Capoeira. Get ready to feel inspired

Crua
Raw, undyed, colourless–this one pretty much explains itself! The true, unt(a)inted beginner, with no knowledge, no experience yet.

Amarela
Represents the formation of a capoeira base as solid as gold, as well as the value of the student (yup, we’re worth our weight in it!) and their future.

Laranja
The rising sun - the quest for knowledge - the awakening of consciousness.

Azul
The sky, which opens into an infinite path towards knowledge. Also the ocean, indicating the vastness and depth of ground there is to cover.

Verde
The forest: at this stage, the now-advanced student is expected to begin contributing back to the group, the way trees give oxygen to the earth.

Roxa
Continuity… … … … … … … … … … … …

Marrom
The soil of the earth, the source of life. Marrom represents being grounded in the earth, and grounded in all aspects of capoeira.

Vermelha
In Abada, fairness. In Sinha Bahia, symbolic of the blood shed by the slaves who started it all, as well as the blood we all share. True understanding of all.

Branca
The colour of diamond–resistance, longevity, timelessness, and the colour that reflects all the rest.

Obviously, the rank of each colour affects the meaning the group will give to it, so it will be different for everyone, but this gives you a good idea of what’s out there! What do you think? Does your corda already have a symbol within your group? Or do you think that symbolism stuff was all just claptrap made up after the fact? Either way, I don’t think I’ll be looking at my corda quite the same way again!

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The Black Power of Capoeira

The Black Power of Capoeira

By D. David Dreis

The nation of Brazil is taking a long, hard look at its checkered past. Some of what it sees is in need of a whitewash, cleaned up and scrubbed so that it makes good reading in history books. Slave uprisings, the likes of which were steeped in bloodshed, are part of its folklore. And Brazil is finally accepting capoeira as the true black power of its nation.

For several years now, Brazil has skirted its heritage with capoeira. It has been overlooked, disregarded and dismissed. Historians battled against bureaucratic red tape to find the clearing, some gaps in history had to be filled in. A few years ago an 81-year-old Portuguese man, an eyewitness to the open gaps in history, told his story; the story was about capoeira.

Vicente Ferreira Pastinha was the man who did the filling. What he talked about at length were the slave uprisings against the cruelty of persecution and the tool of self-defense employed by the slaves, created by the blacks.

Now that Brazil is taking its reluctant look, it is learning about capoeira and wincing at what it has learned. Descriptions aptly outlined by the old man attest to fast-moving arms and legs battling the onslaught of intemperate slave owners, fighting against the huge organization of oppression only to be pressed down in bloody defeat. Capoeira had its most terrifying results in the slave uprisings against the plunderers of human dignity, the landowners who were in operation since the colonization of Brazil by the Portuguese. With each suppression came more and more restrictions until at last, weary and beaten, the insurgent African natives, the slaves, were defeated. As the white populous worked on the ledgers of history, they erased the black marks of capoeira, pretending it never happened. Pastinha remained alive and brought the reality of the past into full focus.

Kept alive in the secrecy of hardened souls, the martial art continued to be taught and learned, and if movements were displayed, they were said to be a harmless native dance. This was the way capoeira survived the torture of time.

Pastinha revealed how the cultural aspects of the art seemed to vanish and how desperate students used the art to break down the statutes that were placed in their way. That they used capoeira for damage and destruction without rhyme or reason is also part of the haggard history. Without the culture and the heritage, much as that taught in the world of the martial arts, there was nothing save destruction and demolition. Again and again, insurgent blacks were put down in one after another bloody encounters. Capoeira’s heritage seemed to vanish for good.

Now, 81 years old and blind, destitute save for the income that has been secured from devoted followers of the art, Pastinha is cared for with the respect of students who look at him with the same dedication that Japanese karate and judo students look toward their sensei. He lives in Salvador, Brazil, and still partakes in the martial art, although the years and the disregard have taken their toll on his prowess.

But as Pastinha has revealed the past, a 68-year-old instructor known only as “Master Bimba” is advancing it to the future with his instruction in the martial art. Since he has been teaching capoeira, many practitioners have passed through his hands and are advancing the art further still.Five years ago, a group headed by Benjamin Muniz started to make a true and schematic study of the “kata” of capoeira, transferring what Pastinha related into viable and teachable terms. Reluctantly, the nation began to recognize capoeira and accept it for what it was although they have staunchly refused to accept it as a national sport, knowing all too well that capoeira is not a sport at all. Today, it has been “washed down” as a cultural, native dance. In this manner capoeira is, to the Brazilian hierarchy, “acceptable.”

International Prestige

Muniz and his group, the Olodum, are performing demonstrations wherever they can find an audience. Their efforts at folklore festivals have garnered them international prestige, despite the backhanded help given them by national officials.

Master Bimba is the foremost teacher of the martial art. He has built a following and respect for capoeira’s ability and culture to heritage of Brazil.


In 1968, the Olodum represented Brazil at the Third Latin American Folkloric Festival staged in Argentina and took second place after finding themselves winners of three gold medals and one silver. This year, they garnered a first place win at the Latin American Festival held in Peru. So commanding was their performance, supported by musical instruments, which are part of its clean-scrubbed look, that the Brazilian Ministry is paying homage to the art with the inclusion of capoeira demonstrations on its “official” schedule of national demonstrations.

But its homage is to the development of the black man in the martial arts. Although the students today are members of all races, much like many of those studying Oriental martial arts are Caucasians, the Negroes are paid the most homage through their development of capoeira.

Nothing is making the black man walk tall more than his tie in the culture of the martial arts. This heritage has become entrenched in the folklore of the martial arts history. And there’s nary a tinge of the Oriental in its makeup.

How strange it was for the heritage to start in Brazil and seemingly end there, because slaves were traded and deposited all over the world. Quite possibly, had there been instructors in the martial art in the United States, capoeira might have changed the face of history in North America.

This is not a treatise on civil rights; it is a testimony to an austere and legitimate martial art that identifies with all of the traditions of the other martial arts forms. As the Japanese warlords oppressed the Okinawan populace, causing them to seek an effective means of self-defense, so it is with capoeira, developed from the black African who was trained to fight the elements in his homeland but turned to use his training to fight against the tormentors of human dignity in Brazil.

Representatives of Brazil, those who wish to look with pleasure on the history of their nation, would like the demonstrations of the dance to continue and be treated as a dance. Indeed, capoeira, because of its potentially dangerous aspects, must be practiced as a dance, as a “kata,” but there cannot be a “kumite.” The practitioners know the law and are forced to accept it, but they earnestly believe that the art could be a dynamic sport if the reigns of government myopia were removed.

Admittedly, there have been many practitioners of the art who are working out with no punches or kicks pulled. It has resulted in some damaging effects, and even they recognize that the unleashed power of the art must be tempered somewhat for a sport in which the nation could take pride. As Gichin Funakoshi tempered karate and Jigaro Kano tempered judo, the leaders of capoeira, perhaps Master Bimba, are looking for that combination of sport-art.

The emphasis on capoeira is on muscular strength, joint flexibility and rapid movements. All of these are calculated to subdue, and subdue fast, any threat, any battle.

Quick Body Movements

Capoeira makes much of quick body movements as most of the martial arts do. But it places a greater emphasis on the power of the legs, strong weaponry in the employ of trained fighters. A capoeira man may meet a fighter face to face, but in a fraction of a second he can flip to the ground, shooting a strongly placed foot into a vital attacking area. It has been said that the capoeira fighter, trained to put punch-power in his foot, can effectively destroy a man mortally with a well-placed kick!

That it whets the interest of those who see it has been fairly well documented. In Los Angeles to attend a folklore festival, the members of Olodum were besieged with requests from students to demonstrate at local colleges and universities. At every demonstration, there was much interest in bringing the martial art instruction to the United States. Many of those people making the requests were, to no one's surprise, from the black community.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Waldemar Dos Santos is the man in charge of making capoeira popular. His is a mission that has seen the face of determination muddied by blockades to his perseverance.

Dos Santos, a short, strong man with scarred hands and forehead, learned his capoeira on the streets. But he is the foremost teacher in this city where study in judo and karate have reached a new high in interest and attendance. At 37, the man is determined to have capoeira become even more important than these other martial arts. “This is Brazilian,” he says with assuredness. “This fighting art is in the blood.”
Members of Olodu are considered top fighters in capoeira. Left to right: Ed Bomfim, Onias Comardeli, Fernando Pallos and Edvaldo Silva.

So pronounced is Dos Santos about capoeira and its nationalistic ties that more than 100 students are studying with him. He learned the martial art in the beaten-earth clearings, which were to become “academies” for capoeira in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but having now returned to Sao Paulo, the young man is determined to make the art “official.”

He, too, has suffered from the oppression of red-tape authority. He has titled his “course” a Brazilian folklore movement. His students practice in what was once the parlor of a townhouse, its walls now smeared with dirty palms and feet. After six months of “dance” movements, which in reality is the “kata,” Dos Santos instructs his students into the violent phase of the art. “I admit,” he says, not too proud of the statement, “that Brazilian capoeira is one of the dirtiest, formalized fighting styles known.”

How “dirty” has capoeira been or become? The history books are not clear on this point, either. There are many legends surrounding the martial art and explaining how it was used by Brazilian sailors who picked it up and “adapted it” from the slaves before them. According to some sources who reluctantly admit it, the sailors used capoeira to “fight for keeps,” taping knives and razor blades to their bare feet and hands before entering a fight. Dos Santos shrugs his shoulders on this facet. Perhaps that was how the art was “bastardized” by the Brazilian sailors, but he has enough confidence in “empty hand” and “empty foot” facets of the art to bypass that addition.

Recent Police Records

Recent police records in Rio show what happens when capoeira gets out of hand. Military police tried to arrest a drunken capoeira (the term is used for the fighter as well as the art) nicknamed “Master Satan.” Satan took on a 24-man platoon and fought them to a draw. Seven policemen were hospitalized, two with broken arms and two with split livers. When Satan still stood defiant after a battering by 24 billy clubs, police had to decide whether to shoot him or let him sleep it off. They decided to try the latter.

“The feet are man’s most deadly weapon,” says Paulo Romero, a Rio capoeira practitioner. “The head is the weakest. Capoeira aims at bringing the strongest weapon to the point of weakness.”

Master Bimba has defined the modern sport-art and outlined 72 separate movements that have colorful names, similar to those given in tai chi chuan, such as “Daddy’s Scissors,” “Banana Plant” and “Tail of the Dragon Fish.”

“Before World War II,” Master Bimba says, “capoeira was illegal.”

Police were called wherever it was practiced. Now, at long last, it is being appreciated for the thing of physical beauty that it really is. Speed, agility and multiplication of force is the key.

Master Bimba knows that this definition is in conflict with the view taken by the fighters in the art. “Capoeira is as graceful as a ballet, but it was invented to kill,” he admits. “In a street fight in old Colonial Brazil, capoeira was a fight to the finish. A knife, a razor, a broken bottle made a capoeira the equal of 20 men.”

Pastinha, however, shirks the contempt against the art. Historically, it belongs to Brazil and it should be recognized, in his opinion. “As a Brazilian,” he says, “I am proud of this friendly country. The capoeira meeting his adversary has the possibility by means of lightness and quickness of the art to disarm any opponent, either taking the weapon from him or vanquishing him by throwing the armed adversary to the ground.”

Pastinha is still the prime authority on the art, and he has seen it develop to a point of respectability. Master Bimba is the foremost practitioner and teacher in Brazil, and his students are as enthusiastic over the techniques as students anywhere. There are some who are unhappy that it is locked into the demonstration aspect, colorful though it may be with its musical accompaniment and bright costumes, ofttimes striped trousers that give off a garish and more “carnival” appearance than most. At least the art is being nurtured and someday perhaps, if it continues to live and gain in popularity, capoeira may grow into a full-fledged martial art and a national endeavor.

Right now, one university accepts it as part of its curriculum within its folklore program. Moving it over to physical education may be a tricky accomplishment, but until that day does arrive, the followers of the art will continue to demonstrate it, allowing people to forget it is really an example of black power.

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50 Cent

50 Cent (real name Curtis James Jackson III) is a highly successful rapper from Queens, NYC.

He has released three solo albums to date: Power of the Dollar (1999), Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2003), The Massacre (2005). He was also featured on the soundtrack to the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a story about his life in which he starred as himself, released in 2005.

Before 50 Cent ever inked a major deal, he built up a substantial fan base in New York through underground mixtapes. 50 Cent met up with Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. and was signed to his label to write all of Jay’s music. After he’d left JMJ, he signed to Columbia Records in 1999. On this label, he released Power of the Dollar, and the singles How to Rob and Ghetto Qu’ran. Columbia Records released him from the label after being shot on May 24th, 2000.

Around this time, Eminem had heard one of 50 Cent’s demo tapes and expressed a huge interest in him on MTV, as did Dr. Dre. Shortly after this, 50 Cent officially signed to Interscope Records. He was the first rapper to sign to the joint label owned by Dr Dre and Eminem. The first song he released on this record was entitled Wanksta and was featured on the 8 Mile soundtrack.

In its first week of release, his debut ”Get Rich Or Die Tryin’” sold 872,000 units - easily reaching Gold status. Within the second week it went Platinum (1 mil) and on April 12th, 2004 the RIAA certified it six times Platinum.

In 2005 he followed the success of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ with a new release - The Massacre (originally called St. Valentines Day Massacre until the release date was pushed back). The first single released off this, Disco Inferno, was a huge hit - he followed this hit up by the release of Candy Shop and then again with Just a Lil Bit.

In 2003 Interscope allowed 50 Cent to have his own label - G-Unit records. He first signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. In 2004, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent had signed The Game under a joint venture.

Before 50 Cent had even signed to Interscope Records he was involved with a dispute between rival rapper Ja Rule - the rappers recorded several mix-tapes ‘dissing’ each other. 50 Cent accused Ja Rule of singing rather than rapping.

50 Cent currently has an escalating feud with The Game. The Game, who had previously worked with G-Unit, left the group due to a growing number of personal disputes with 50 Cent. Recently, the feud has been unilateraly called off by The Game, but speculations have since arisen due to the presence of diss tracks on The Game’s LP, The Doctor’s Advocate.

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Kante West

Kanye Omari West is a ten-time Grammy Award-winning American rapper, record producer and singer. He released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, and his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008.

He gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip hop/R&B artists, including Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Cam’ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, John Legend among others.

The College Dropout (2002–2004)
On October 23, 2002, West was involved in a near fatal car crash while driving home from the recording studio. The crash provided inspiration for West’s first single, “Through the Wire”. The album also featured the singles, “Jesus Walks”, “All Falls Down” and “The New Workout Plan”, as well as Twista’s number one single, “Slow Jamz.”

The album was eventually certified triple platinum. Guest appearances included Jay-Z, Ludacris, GLC, Consequence, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, and Syleena Johnson.

Late Registration (2005)
The first two singles from Late Registration were “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” (which features vocals from Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds Are Forever”) and “Gold Digger” featuring Jamie Foxx, (which contains an interpolation of Ray Charles’s “I Got a Woman”). The album sold over 860,000 copies in its first week and earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song “Gold Digger”.

The album is certified triple platinum. Guest appearances include Lupe Fiasco, Jamie Foxx, Adam Levine, Paul Wall, GLC, Cam’ron, Common, Brandy, Nas, Jay-Z, Consequence, The Game, and Really Doe.

Graduation (2007)
In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent’s album Curtis, September 11, 2007. West was nominated in 8 Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for “Stronger” from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: “Stronger” (with Daft Punk) and “Hey Mama” (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, & Lil Wayne

808s & Heartbreak (2008–present)
On September 7, West debuted a new song “Love Lockdown” at the MTV Video Music Awards. “Love Lockdown”, which features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on Kanye’s fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. The first two singles from 808s & Heartbreak were “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless”. This was a success thanks to Rocky Dang and John Salinas’s producing.

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Berimbau

The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt on its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the southern parts of Africa.^{[citation needed]} The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, where it commands how the capoeiristas move in the roda. The instrument is known for being the subject matter of a popular song by Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The instrument is also a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition.

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Grupo Axé Capoeira

Grupo Axé Capoeira began in Recife in 1982.

Today, as Canada's first academy of Capoeira, the Group continues to rise as one of the world's leading Capoeira organizations. Backed by worldwide releases of six albums of music on CD, several VHS and DVD performance releases and the four Volume Instructional DVD compilation, enrollment continues to steadily increase with over 8000 students from all over the world.

The Group continues to travel around the world and participate in competitions and has participated in the 2001 International Capoeira Competition in Argentina. Furthermore, Grupo Axé Capoeira is renowned as a traveling group which promotes the history, music, art, and culture of Brazil in interactive and educational demonstrations.

Philosophy & Methodology

The philosophy of Grupo Axé Capoeira is to respect all the mestres, preserve the roots and traditions of Capoeira, and train Capoeira in all its aspects: as a fight, art, and culture. We endeavor to teach and educate so that capoeira will grow in a positive healthy way. We attempt to pass on to the students physical and mental methods of training so that they learn to create situations and maintain a dialogue within the game. By playing both with friends and enemies, students learn to deal with any situation in or out of the roda. In North America, we not only teach movements, but the Brazilian language and customs as well, so that the students may become true capoeiristas.

Objectives

Axé Capoeira is working hard to ensure that Capoeira has a strong future. Through research, travel and participating in events, we hope to increase our knowledge in the art and contribute to the evolution of Capoeira. Our goal is for Capoeira to be placed among the most widely practiced and respected martial art forms in the world.

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Apa Yang Terjadi Pada 2012

Bagian luar Tata Surya masih memiliki banyak planet-planet minor yang belum ditemukan. Sejak pencarian untuk Planet X dimulai pada awal abad ke 20, kemungkinan akan adanya planet hipotetis yang mengorbit Matahari dibalik Sabuk Kuiper telah membakar teori-teori Kiamat dan spekulasi bahwa Planet X sebenarnya merupakan saudara Matahari kita yang telah lama “hilang”.
Tetapi mengapa cemas duluan akan Planet X/Teori Kiamat ini? Planet X tidak lain hanya merupakan obyek hipotetis yang tidak diketahui?
Teori-teori ini didorong pula dengan adanya ramalan suku Maya akan kiamat dunia pada tahun 2012 (Mayan Prophecy) dan cerita mistis Bangsa Sumeria tentang Planet Nibiru, dan akhirnya kini memanas sebagai “ramalan kiamat” 21 Desember 2012. Namun, bukti-bukti astronomis yang digunakan untuk teori-teori ini benar-benar melenceng.
Pada 18 Juni kemarin, peneliti-peneliti Jepang mengumumkan berita bahwa pencarian teoretis mereka untuk sebuah massa besar di luar Tata Surya kita telah membuahkan hasil. Dari perhitungan mereka, mungkin saja terdapat sebuah planet yang sedikit lebih besar daripada sebuah obyek Plutoid atau planet kerdil, tetapi tentu lebih kecil dari Bumi, yang mengorbit Matahari dengan jarak lebih dari 100 SA. Tetapi sebelum kita terhanyut pada penemuan ini, planet ini bukan Nibiru, dan bukan pula bukti akan berakhirnya dunia ini pada 2012. Penemuan ini penemuan baru dan merupakan perkembangan yang sangat menarik dalam pencarian planet-planet minor dibalik Sabuk Kuiper.
Dalam simulasi teoretis, dua orang peneliti Jepang telah menyimpulkan bahwa bagian paling luar dari Tata Surya kita mungkin mengandung planet yang belum ditemukan. Patryk Lykawa dan Tadashi Mukai dari Universitas Kobe telah mempublikasikan paper mereka dalam Astrophysical Journal yang menjelaskan tentang planet minor yang mereka yakini berinteraksi dengan Sabuk Kuiper yang misterius itu.
Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)
Sabuk Kuiper menempati wilayah yang sangat luas di Tata Surya kita, kira-kira 30-50 SA dari Matahari, dan mengandung sejumlah besar obyek-obyek batuan dan metalik. Obyek terbesar yang diketahui adalah planet kerdil (Plutoid) Eris. Telah lama diketahui bahwa Sabuk Kuiper memiliki karakteristik yang aneh, yang mungkin menandakan keberadaan sebuah benda (planet) besar yang mengorbit Matahari dibalik Sabuk Kuiper. Salah satu karakterikstik tersebut adalah yang disebut dengan “Kuiper Cliff” atau Jurang Kuiper yang terdapat pada jarak 50 SA. Ini merupakan akhir dari Sabuk Kuiper yang tiba-tiba, dan sangat sedikit obyek Sabuk Kuiper yang telah teramati dibalik titik ini. Jurang ini tidak dapat dihubungkan terhadap resonansi orbital dengan planet-planet masif seperti Neptunus, dan tampaknya tidak terjadi kesalahan (error) pengamatan. Banyak ahli astronomi percaya bahwa akhir yang tiba-tiba dalam populasi Sabuk Kuiper tersebut dapat disebabkan oleh planet yang belum ditemukan, yang mungkin sebesar Bumi. Obyek inilah yang diyakini Lykawka dan Mukai telah mereka perhitungkan keberadaannya.

Peneliti Jepang ini memprediksikan sebuah obyek besar, yang massanya 30-70 % massa Bumi, mengorbit Matahari pada jarak 100-200 SA. Obyek ini mungkin juga dapat membantu menjelaskan mengapa sebagian obyek Sabuk Kuiper dan obyek Trans-Neptunian (TNO) memiliki beberapa karakteristik orbital yang aneh, contohnya Sedna.
Sejak ditemukannya Pluto pada tahun 1930, para astronom telah mencari obyek lain yang lebih masif, yang dapat menjelaskan gangguan orbital yang diamati pada orbit Neptunus dan Uranus. Pencarian ini dikenal sebagai “Pencarian Planet X”, yang diartikan secara harfiah sebagai “pencarian planet yang belum teridentifikasi”. Pada tahun 1980an gangguan orbital ini dianggap sebagai kesalahan (error) pengamatan. Oleh karena itu, pencarian ilmiah akan Planet X dewasa ini adalah pencarian untuk obyek Sabuk Kuiper yang besar atau pencarian planet minor. Meskipun Planet X mungkin tidak akan sebesar massa Bumi, para peneliti masih akan tetap tertarik untuk mencari obyek-obyek Kuiper lain, yang mungkin seukuran Plutoid, mungkin juga sedikit lebih besar, tetapi tidak terlalu besar.
“The interesting thing for me is the suggestion of the kinds of very interesting objects that may yet await discovery in the outer solar system. We are still scratching the edges of that region of the solar system, and I expect many surprises await us with the future deeper surveys.” - Mark Sykes, Direktur Planetary Science Institute (PSI) di Arizona.
Planet X tidaklah menakutkan
Jadi darimana Nibiru ini berasal? Pada tahun 1976 sebuah buku kontroversial berjudul “The Twelfth Planet” atau “Planet Keduabelas” ditulis oleh Zecharian Sitchin. Sitchin telah menerjemahkan tulisan-tulisan kuno Sumeria yang berbentuk baji (bentuk tulisan yang diketahui paling kuno). Tulisan berumur 6000 tahun ini mengungkapkan bahwa ras alien yang dikenal sebagai Anunnaki dari Planet yang disebut Nibiru, mendarat di Bumi. Ringkas cerita, Anunnaki memodifikasi gen primata di Bumi untuk menciptakan homo sapien sebagai budak mereka.

Ketika Anunnaki meninggalkan Bumi, mereka membiarkan kita memerintah Bumi ini hingga saatnya mereka kembali nanti. Semua ini mungkin tampak sedikit fantastis, dan mungkin juga sedikit terlalu detil jika mengingat semua ini merupakan terjemahan harfiah dari tulisan kuno berumur 6000 tahun. Pekerjaan Sitchin ini telah diabaikan oleh komunitas ilmiah sebagaimana metode interpretasinya dianggap imajinatif. Meskipun demikian, banyak juga yang mendengar Sitchin, dan meyakini bahwa Nibiru (dengan orbitnya yang sangat eksentrik dalam mengelilingi Matahari) akan kembali, mungkin pada tahun 2012 untuk menyebabkan semua kehancuran dan terror-teror di Bumi ini. Dari “penemuan” astronomis yang meragukan inilah hipotesa Kiamat 2012 Planet X didasarkan. Lalu, bagaimanakah Planet X dianggap sebagai perwujudan dari Nibiru?
Kemudian terdapat juga “penemuan katai coklat di luar Tata Surya kita” dari IRAS pada tahun 1984 dan “pengumuman NASA akan planet bermassa 4-8 massa Bumi yang sedang menuju Bumi” pada tahun 1933. Para pendukung hipotesa kiamat ini bergantung pada penemuan astronomis ini sebagai bukti bahwa Nibiru sebenarnya adalah Planet X yang telah lama dicari para astronom selama abad ini. Tidak hanya itu, dengan memanipulasi fakta-fakta tentang penelitian-penelitian ilmiah, mereka “membuktikan” bahwa Nibiru sedang menuju kita (Bumi), dan pada tahun 2012, benda masif ini akan memasuki bagian dalam Tata Surya kita, menyebabkan gangguan gravitasi.
Dalam pendefinisian yang paling murni, Planet X adalah planet yang belum diketahui, yang mungkin secara teoretis mengorbit Matahari jauh di balik Sabuk Kuiper. Jika penemuan beberapa hari lalu memang akhirnya mengarah pada pengamatan sebuah planet atau Plutoid, maka hal ini akan menjadi penemuan luar biasa yang membantu kita memahami evolusi dan karakteristik misterius bagian luar Tata Surya kita.

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Mungkin sebagaian dari kita pernah menyaksikan film Back To The Future, di mana Marty berkelana kembali ke masa silam atau malah ke masa depan dengan bantuan Doc yang menciptakan mesin waktu yang dipasang pada sebuah mobil. Mungkin juga kita pernah menyaksikan film The Terminator, di mana cyborg yang diberi nama TheTerminator dikirim dari masa depan untuk membunuh seorang wanita bernama Sarah J. Connor karena John Connor, anaknya di masa depan akan menjadi penentang sebuah sistem komputer bernama Skynet yang ingin menghancurkan kehidupan manusia di bumi ini. Kedua film ini pada intinya menceritakan perjalanan mengarungi waktu atau time travelling. Dalam film apa saja bisa terlihat nyata. Tapi jika dalam kehidupan yang sebenarnya apakah mungkin?

Terlepas dari perdebatan mungkin dan tidak mungkin, adalah seorang bernama John Titor yang mengaku sebagai seorang pengelana waktu. Orang aneh ini mengaku dirinya seorang tentara Amerika di tahun 2036. John ditugaskan kembali ke tahun 1975 untuk memperbaiki sebuah komputer IBM 5100 yang menurutnya diperlukan untuk men"debug" sebagian besar progam komputer di tahun 2036 mengacu pada "UNIX 2038 timeout error". ( Ini mungkin sebuah istilah yang membingungkan dan harus menunggu 28 tahun lagi untuk dimengerti ---pen). John Titor sengaja dipilih karena kakeknya terlibat langsung dalam pembuatan dan pemrograman komputer IBM 5100 ini. Mirip dengan kisah Back To The Future, John juga memasang mesin waktunya dalam sebuah mobil.

Paling tidak itulah yang dia posting dalam sebuah forum yaitu Time Travel Institute. Pada mulanya tokoh kita ini tidak menggunakan nama John Titor untuk postingnya, namun cuma nama TimeTravel_0. Nama John Titor baru dipakai setelah John diharuskan memasukkan nama untuk sign up untuk mendapatkan account di Art Bell BBS di mana kemudian ia melanjutkan menulis beberapa pengalamannya sebagai seorang pengelana waktu sampai di akhir Maret 2001 postingnya berakhir begitu saja. Walau demikian sampai saat ini banyak situs yang memperoduksi ulang posting John Titor yang tentunya ditambahi narasi dan hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan tokoh kita ini. Salah satunya adalah http://www.johntitor.com/ yang masih online sampai saat ini.

Ada hal yang menarik dari John Titor selain pengakuan yang membuat dahi kita mengernyit ini, yaitu prediksi-prediksinya akan peristiwa-peristiwa penting yang akan terjadi beberapa tahun setelah posting-postingnya itu. Beberapa di antaranya adalah :

Perang saudara di Amerika yang dimulai ketika pemilihan presiden di tahun 2004 dan berakhir tahun 2008.

Olimpiade Musim Panas 2004 adalah Olimpiade terakhir yang akan dilaksanakan.

Perang Dunia III tahun terjadi di tahun 2015 yang ditandai dengan serangan nuklir Rusia ke Amerika, China dan Eropa.

Seperti kita ketahui dua prediksi di atas ternyata tidak terbukti karena tidak ada perang saudara empat tahun terakhir ini di Amerika dan Olimpiade Musim Panas 2006 justru telah sukses dilaksanakan. Kita tinggal menunggu tahun 2015. Mudah-mudahan salah juga. Bukan untuk mengatakan bahwa cerita John Titor hanya bohong belaka tapi Perang Dunia III? Nggak deehh!!

Perdebatan John Titor masih tetap menarik di kalangan peminat kisah pengelana waktu, baik yang tertarik dengan fiksi ilmiahnya maupun pemerhati fisika modern ala Stephen Hawking. Terlepas dari kebenaran dan kebohongan yang diungkapkan John Titor, sebuah buku diterbitkan dengan judul John Titor A Time Traveler's TaleolehThe John Titor Foundation Inc. Cobalah simak pengakuan ibu dari John Titor berikut ini:

"John began posting online with my husband's computer and email address. After about a week, he started using alternate names and Internet routes for his activity. We expressed concern about our security but he assured us we were safe. He said that not only would no one believe him but also the technology to locate him would not be used or could be defeated for a short period. He also had an unusual amount of trust with the people he spoke with online." 

Percaya atau tidak, semuanya di tangan rekan-rekan.

www.johntitor.com

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