ABOUT CAPOEIRA
What is Capoeira?
Capoeira (pronounced ka-poo-eyh-rah) is an Afro-Brazilian martial and art self-defense form that brings together fighting techniques, acrobatics, dance, percussion, and songs, in a rhythmic dialogue of body, mind, and spirit. It is a communal game in which two opponents play each other inside a circle, formed by other players, who establish a rhythm for the game by clapping, singing and playing traditional instruments. The players face each other using Capoeira movements, mixing self-defense kicks and moves with playful acrobatics and dance-like swings, improvising strategies to fool their opponents and catch them off guard.
History
Capoeira was developed in Brazil by enslaved Africans. The exact history of the art is unclear, but most people believe that it emerged over three hundred years of slavery in Brazil. Since the 1500s, many Africans were taken from different areas of West Africa and brought to Brazil to be kept as slaves by the Portuguese. They were taken from their land, but their culture and desire for freedom could not be taken away. Out of their passion for freedom, Afro-Brazilians began developing techniques for defending themselves and for escaping bondage.
After the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, capoeira was illegal and its practitioners were socially ostracized for more than 40 years. Mestre Bimba, the legendary Capoeira Master, rescued the art form and proved its legitimacy, opening capoeira's first official school in Bahia, Brazil, in 1932. Mestre Bimba sought to make Capoeira “legitimate”. He developed a new style of Capoeira known as “Regional”. He ensured his students wore clean, white uniforms and performed well in school, and gave them colored scarves to show rank, a system adopted after the Eastern martial arts’ colored belts.
Mestre Bimba almost single-handedly changed public perception of capoeira from a lowly-regarded street fight of ruffians to a respected martial art form with new moves, an emphasis on athleticism, and – another important first for capoeira – a rigorous and planned teaching method.
The Roda
A “roda” (pronounced “ho-da”) refers to the circle that capoeira players form, inside of which the game is played. Those forming the roda are as important to the game as the two players inside—adding to the energy and rhythm of the game by clapping their hands, singing capoeira songs, and playing instruments. There are several instruments used to make music in the Capoeira roda. The “agogô” (double cowbell), “pandeiro” (tambourine), “atabaque” (conga type drum), and the “berimbau” which is the most important. Each instrument, when played correctly, contributes to the energy in the roda, but the berimbau is the commanding instrument. It tells the players inside the roda how to play, fast or slowly, aggressively or graciously, always with acrobatics. The berimbau starts and stops the Capoeira roda, and all the other instruments follow its rhythm and time. As a metaphor for the circle of life, the capoeira roda illustrates that all individuals are important in the creation of the whole and that cooperation is essential.