Capoeira Brazilian Dance Fighting
Capoeira moves, descriptions, history, videos, and more right here!
Quick Reference: History
Description Moves Benefits Videos
About Capoeira
The history Capoeira begins in the 16th century. Portugese settlers brought
African slaves to Brazil to work on sugar cane plantations. The main ethnicities
taken from Brazil were the Bantus, the Sudaneses, and the Maleses.
There are several different theories surrounding the origination of the Brazilian Dance Fighting Art.
Some claim that Capoeira was brought from Africa and developed from an earlier form
of dance fighting named N'golo. Others believe it was developed by Afro-Brazilians to fend
off attacks from enslavers.
The most widely accepted history is that the slaves developed the art during off work hours, which
of course were few and far between. The art was developed as a "dance fight" to disguise it
from captives because practicing any form of combat or self defense was forbidden.
The development of Capoeira suffered many set back in decades to come. Escaped slaves
would retreat to "Quilambos" which are best described as settlements. The most famous Quilambos is
Quilombo dos Palmares which was located in what is today's state of Alagoas, northeast Brazil. It's population
consisted of both escaped slaves and native people.
The "Quilombo dos Palmares" fought for its freedom and peace for many
years until it was destroyed in 1694 by Domingos
Jorge Velho and his troops. "Zumbi", a famous king of the Quilambo dos Palmares, managed to escape
and many believed that he was immortal. He was eventually captured on November 20th, 1695. Subsequently, he
was killed and beheaded. His head was brought
to a public Plaza at the "vila do Recife". However, "Zumbi" was considered
a national hero and warrior, a symbol of liberty and his name became
a Capoeira legend.
Capoeira remained banned until the 1930's, but citizens continued to practice and learn the art
despite it being illegal. Demonstrations, riots, and clashes with authorities were common.
The re-surgence of Capoeira came about when "the father of modern caopeira", Mestre Bimba, founded the first school.
Bimba taught capoeira to the army and at the police academy, and continued to develop the art. The art has grown from being
illegal to its fruition as a national sport of Brazil. Today, the art has spread world wide and continues to grow.
Capoeira Description
Founder: Morihei Ueshiba
He was named Manuel dos Reis Machado, but was better known as Mestre Bimba.
Mestre Bimba (pronounced been-bah) was born in the Bahian capital of
Salvador in 1900. He learned capoeira from Bentinho, a merchant marine
captain. He achieved the status of master by the age of 19. He went on to fight
boxers, jiu-jitsu fighters, judo fighters, and others in challenge fights. Doing very well,
he became feared as a great fighter. It is said that he never fought for money, and only fought
for pleasure.
Bimba was illiterate and earned his living as a stedore. He eventually began teaching the art
to wealthy men when his reputation became more widely known. By 1932, he had acquired enough students to
open an academy. Today, this same school exist in its original location.
Brazilians call Capoeira a game. Capoeira is "played", not fought.
Capoeira consists of a stylized dance that is practiced in a circle called the "roda".
Background sound is provided by percussion instruments, like the "agogo", and the
"atabaqui". It incorporates "maculele", done with blades, and "maracatu", done
with sticks. Highly acrobatic, energetic and difficult to master.
The roda is a circle of "players" dance fighting to music played by the participants in the surrounding circle.
Two "players" are brought to the middle and engage in a style of dance-like-fighting that includes, feints, flips,
sweeps, head butts, kicks and other strikes. However, the goal is not to beat your oppenent physically and win the fight. The
purpose is to find power and energy within yourself and flow with the music being played. However, Capoeira is still considered
a martial art, because one is practicing for combat that may be translated into "real-life" scenarios. Part of the etiquette of
the roda means that the people in it should try to keep the roda circular and fill in any "gaps" that may appear if someone
leaves the roda; in other words, the people should be evenly distributed in the circumference of the roda, especially if there's
not many people in it.
Caopeira Moves and Techniques
Ginga
From this dance like movement the capoeirista is in constant movement and can flow from attack to defense with little thought.
Negativa
Using the negativa the capoeirista learns to control his/her movements to the floor.
Learning the negativa also teaches the player to quickly recover from an attack, a fall, or even execute a takedown.
Aś
This move simply is a cartwheel. This technique helps the capoeirista becomes more aware of their surroundings
while peroforming moves and techniques upside-down or in motion. The Aś can be used as both an attack and a defense.
Cocorinha
This is a dodge used to avoid close quarter strikes such as kicks and horizontal attacks. The capoeirista ducks into a
squatting position, lifting an arm to protect the head.
Resistencia
The resistźncia teaches you to evade the attack without retreating.
Queda de Quatro
In Queda de Quatro the capoeirista dodges, keeping their feet in the same position but avoiding the strike by moving their body and head
out of danger.
Esquiva
This involves removing the head and torso from path of srikes and attacks.
Benefits of Caopeira
- Enhances strength and stamina
- Mental Health
- Discipline
- Increases awareness and reflexes
- Develops internal energy and power
Aikido Videos
Obviously this Capoeira fight video is not a real fight. However, it is a great display
of the fluidity and uniqeness associated with this style of fighting.
Awesome Capoeira deomonstration.
Retrun to Types of Martial Arts from Capoeira
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