The Cuaima Team

The Cuaima Team

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

May 20, 2012

The Cuaima Team is a recently initiated (April 20, 2011) organization to support, promote and represent female Fitness, Body Fitness and Bikini Fitness athletes, the only Latino Fitness Team, which was created by its Venezuelan President, Luis Bottini Herrera, Karate and Kobudo “Sensei,” the Japanese meaning for "person born before another,” or in other words, “master” or teacher.”

.” The word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA's and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority.

I first learned of this organization about two weeks ago when I read that Josefina Vazquez Mota, one of our Presidential Candidates who in addition to bringing new proposals to México, is undergoing a strict regimen to get in better shape because she considers being healthy (The word health comes from Germanic origin, meaning whole, complete) of very high importance because we can deliver better results with a combination of a healthy mind, soul and body.

Therefore, after reading about Mota’s regimen, I became more interested just like anything entailing health and fitness so I got into this topic into more depth. The first thing was to get to the origin of the word “Cuaimas.” Luis Bottini Herrera is Venezuelan born so he must’ve thought of a strong word which represents strength, freedom and beauty so he hit right on the dot.

 In Venezuela the word “Cuaima” is a type of serpent and it is used to define a strong, possessive and controlling woman who is very jealous of her partner, a manipulating woman who sets clear marks on her territory to avoid others from trespassing it, and a cunning woman who sometimes disguises herself as weak and vulnerable in order for her to “get rescued” by a warrior. Cuaimas are “Semper Fidelis” – always faithful to this motto, “It is better to be alone than in bad company,” because our happiness is determined by us not by our partner or anyone else. 

According to another source, “Cuaima” is a derogatory term used for a woman who learned to be controlling since childhood due to hardship and other circumstances in her surroundings so she hides behind a mask to protect herself but more so, to avoid getting hurt and being taken advantage of, with this, one of her main principles is to use men to her convenience before someone messes her up. But deep down a Cuaima is just like every woman in the world and whether or not they can be cunning and deceitful, they never lose hope to find that prince charming.

Two steadfast Cuaima warriors to represent the Cuaima Team are, EsmeraldaYesica García and Olga María Morales, both from México City.

What amazes me the most about Cuaimas from an athletic perspective, is their discipline but even more, that their bodies are able to give life to another being and they still push themselves to look beyond great so they should be praised not because of their outer beauty but for their mental and physical strength and will.