About Capoeira

Monday, 15th January 2007 | Comment

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian slave ritual that has been developing in Brazil since the 1500's when African slaves were first brought to South America. Unable to train fighting and oppressed in their daily lives Africans used Capoeira as their outlet. Within the roda of Capoeira they could tone their bodies, train their fighting skills and liberate their spirits through song and dance. Capoeira developed in the cultural melting pot that is Brazil. Africans, Portuguese, native Indians and other cultures combined to create the unique ritual of Capoeira which combines the elements of dance, fighting, theatre, and music.

In the early 1930's, in Salvador, Bahia, a great fighter called Emmanuel dos Reis Machado, or Mestre Bimba, coalesced certain elements of Capoeira. He added kicks and moves from eastern martial arts and developed a series of training sequences, transforming Capoeira into a more overt fight, less of a dance, and removing certain traditional aspects of the art, which were not "effective" in a fight. He called this style the Regional Capoeira of Bahia. Mestre Bimba challenged all comers to fight him and test his method. Such was his fame and reputation that both he and Capoeira were recognized by the government and Capoeira was legalized. Capoeira that descends from Mestre Bimba is now known as Capoeira Regional.

Traditional Capoeira with its old customs and malandragem (cunning) is now known as Capoeira Angola. One of the great names within Capoeira de Angola is Mestre Pastinha who was of the same epoch as Mestre Bimba. Joao Pequeno was his most senior student and is the master of our master, Mestre Pintor.

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