Capoeira is martial art, play and dance. Rhytmical instruments and a lead singer guides you into an acrobatic interplay combining both aggression and defence. This unique battle dance dates back to the slavery in Brasil where it was used as a remedy against slavery. Today Capoeira is an important part of the Brasilian cultur and one can find Capoeira all over the world!

The history of Capoeira: (partly out of the book "Nestor Capoeira")

In 1500's the Portuguese, led by explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral, arrived in Brazil. One of the first measures taken by the new arrivals was the subjugation of the local population, the Brazilian Indians, in order to furnish the Portuguese with slave labor (for sugarcane and cotton). The experience with the aborigines was a failure.

The Indians quickly died in captivity or fled to their nearby homes. The Portuguese then began to import slave labor from Africa. On the other side of the Atlantic, free men and women were captured, loaded onto ghastly slave ships and sent on nightmarish voyages that for most would end in perpetual bondage.

The Africans first arrived by the hundreds and later by the thousands (approximately four million in total).Three major African groups contributed in large numbers to the slave population in Brazil, the Sudanese group, composed largely of Yoruba and Dahomean peoples, the Mohammedanized Guinea-Sudanese groups of Malesian and Hausa peoples, and the "Bantu" groups (among them Kongos, Kimbundas, and Kasanjes) from Angola, Congo and Mozambique.

The Bantu groups are believed to have been the foundation for the birth of Capoeira. They brought with them their culture, a culture that was not stored away in books and museums but rather in the body, mind, heart and soul. A culture that was transmitted from father to son, throughout generations. There was candomble', a religion; the berimbau, a musical instrument; vatapa, a food; and so many other things. Basically a way of life.

The Dutch controlled parts of the northeast between 1624 and 1654. Slaves took steps towards reconquest of their freedom when the Dutch lashed out against the Portuguese colony, invading towns and plantations along the northeastern coast concentrating on Recife and Salvador. With each Dutch invasion the security of the plantations and towns were weakened. The slaves taking advantage of the opportunities, fled, plunging into the forests in search of places in which to hide and survive. Many after escaping founded independent villages called quilombos.

The quilombos were very important to evolution of Capoeira. There were at least ten major quilombos with internal socio-economic organizations and commercial relationships with neighboring cities. The quilombo dos Palmraes lasted sixty-seven years in the interior of the state of Alagoas, rebuffing almost all expeditions sent to extinguish it. Because of the consistency and type of threat present, Capoeira developed it's structure as a fight in the quilombos. The embryo of Capoeira as a rudimentary fighting style was created in the slaves' quarters and perhaps would not have developed further if left only to that environment.

Starting around 1814, Capoeira and other forms of African cultural expression suffered repression and were prohibited in some places by the slave masters and overseers. Up until that date, forms of African cultural expression were permitted and sometimes even encouraged, not only as a safety gauge against internal pressures created by slavery but also to bring out the differences between various African groups, in a spirit of "divide and conquer".
But with the arrival in Brazil in 1808 of the Portuguese king Dom Joao VI and his court, who were fleeing Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Portugal, things changed. The newcomers understood the necessity of destroying a people's culture in order to dominate them, and Capoeira began to be persecuted in a process, which would culminate with its being outlawed in 1892.

Why was Capoeira suppressed?
There were many motives. First of all it gave Africans a sense of nationality. It also developed self-confidence in individual Capoeira practitioners. Capoeira created small, cohesive groups. It also created dangerous and agile fighters. Sometimes the slaves would injure themselves during the Capoeira, which was not desirable from an economical point of view. The masters and overseers were probably not as conscious as the king and his intellectuals of his court of all of these motives, but intuitively knew something didn't "smell right."
It must be stressed that there are many other theories attempting to explain the origins of Capoeira. According to one prevalent theory, Capoeira was a fight that was disguised as a dance so that it could be practiced unbeknownst to the white slave owners. This seems unlikely because, around 1814, when African culture began to be repressed, other forms of African dancing suffered prohibition along with Capoeira, so there was no sense in disguising Capoeira as a dance.

With the signing of the Golden Law in 1888, which abolished slavery, the newly freed slaves did not find a place for themselves within the existing socio-economic order. The capoeirista (practitioner of Capoeira), with his fighting skills, self-confidence and individuality, quickly descended into criminality and Capoeira along with him
In Rio de Janiero, where Capoeira had developed exclusively as a form of fighting, criminal gangs were created that terrorized the population. Soon thereafter, during the transition from the Brazilian empire to the Brazilian republic in 1890, these gangs were used by both monarchists and republicans to exert pressure on and break up the rallies of their The club, the dagger and the switchblade were used to complement the damage done by various Capoeira moves.

In Bahia on the other hand, Capoeira continued to develop into a ritual-dance-fight-game, and the berimbau began to be anindispensable instrument used to command the rodas (actual sessions of Capoeira games), which always took place hidden locales since the practice of Capoeira in this era had already been outlawed by the first constitution of the Brazilian Republic (1892).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in Rio the capoeirista was a rouge and a criminal. Whether the capoeirista was white, black or mulatto, he was an expert in the use of kicks (golpes), sweeps (rasteiras) and head-butts(cabecadas), as well as in the use of blade weapons.
In Recife, Capoeira became associated with the city's principal musicbands. During carnival time, tough Capoeira fighters would lead the bands through the streets of that city, and were ever two bands would meet, fighting and bloodshed would usually ensue. In Bahia, the capoeirista was also often seen as a criminal.

The persecution and the confrontations with the police continued. The art form was slowly extinguished in Rio and Recife, leaving Capoeira only in Bahia. It was during this period that legendary figures, feared players such as Besouro Cordao-de-Ouro in Bahia, Nascimento Grande in Recife and Manduca da Praia in Rio, who are celebrated to this day in Capoeira, made their ppearances It is said that Besouro lived in Santo Amaro da Purificacao in the state of Bahia, and was the teacher of another famous capoeirista by the name of Cobrinha Verde. Besouro did not like the police and was feared not only as a capoeirista but also for having his corpo fechado (a person who through specific magic rituals, supposedly attains almost complete invulnerability in the face of various weapons).
According to legend, an ambush was set up for him. It is said that he himself (who could not read) carried the written message identifying him as the person to be killed, thinking that it was a message that would bring him work. Legend says he was killed with a special wooden dagger prepared during magic rituals in order to overcome his corpo fechado.

Of all the rouges that led the carnival bands through the streets of Recife, Nascimiento Grande was one of the most feared. Some say he was killed during police persecution in the early 1900s, but others say he moved from Recife to Rio de Janiero and died of old age there. Manduca da Praia was of an earlier generation (1890s) and always dressed in an extremely elegant style. It is said that he owned a fish store and lived comfortably. He was also one of those who controlled elections in the area he lived in. It is said that he had twenty-seven criminal cases against himself (for assault, knifing etc.) but was always absolved due to his influence of the politicians he worked for.

The two central figures in Capoeira in the twentieth century were undoubtedly Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha.These two figures are so important in the history of Capoeira that they (and the mystery that surrounds them) are the mythical ancestors of all Capoeira players. Much of what a modern Capoeira player tries to be is due to what these men were or represented. In the 1932 in Salvador, Mestre Bimba (Manuel dos Reis Machado) opened the first Capoeira academy. He started teaching what he called "the regional fight from Bahia," eventually known as Capoeira Regional (faster more aggressive than traditional Capoeira Angola style).

Mestre Bimba

This feat was made possible by nationalistic policies of Getulio Vargas, who wanted to promote Capoeira as a Brazilian sport. Although Bimba opened his school in 1932, the official recognition only came about in 1937, when it was technically registered. It must be noted that the Getulio Vargas government permitted the practice of Capoeira, but only in enclosed areas that were registered with the police.
With the opening of Bimba's Academy, a new era in the history of Capoeira began, as the game was taught to the children of the upper classes of Salvador. Bimba was active in Capoeira his whole life. As a matter of fact he was planning to give a Capoeira demonstration on the day he died, February 5, 1974.
In 1941, Mestre Pastinha (Vincente Ferreira Pastinha) opened his Capoeira angola school. For the first time, Capoeira began to be taught and practiced openly in a formal setting. He became known as the "Philosopher of Capoeira" because of his many aphorisms. Unfortunately, government authorities, under the pretext of reforming the Largo do Pelourinho, where he had his academy confiscated. Although he was promised a new one, the government never came through. The final years of his life were sad. Blind and almost abandoned he lived in a small room until his death in 1981at the age of ninety-two. Capoeira has grown tremendously over the last fifty years. It has finally been excepted by the masses in Brazil.
Capoeira competitions and academies are surfacing everywhere. In 1974 it was recognized as the national sport of Brazil. This forced the creation of a national federation of Capoeira. In 1974 it was recognized as the national sport of Brazil. It was formed to govern, promote and coordinate Capoeira since no effort was made previously to unite the various emurgances of Capoeira throughout Brazil.

Mestre Bimba

Capoeira today:

Nowadays the high educational, cultural, creative and artistic value of Capoeira is generally recognized and firmly established. It is taught in schools, universities and sporting-clubs. Capoeira's probably least known characteristic is the excellent training in social behavior and collective work, which it provides.
Apart from only paying attention to the purely technical and physical development of the students, the master cares just as much for the development of the positive elements in them, which are to be learned from social behavior. Capoeira is a great tool for achieving suppleness, alertness, self-confidence and courage, in order to face everyday-life. Through fighting-techniques camouflaged as dance, accompanied by the sound of the berimbau (a musical arc), of percussion instruments like the pandeiro, atabaque and agogô, and songs repeated by the choir, Capoeira releases every participants' artistical creativity and sensibility.
The various rhythms of the berimbau, combined with the songs, produce the essential energy and experience of this game.

Capoeira is played following a certain ritual. The game is played inside a circle formed by musicians and players, who arrange themselves in a certain order, which is not always obvious to the spectator. The two players squat under the berimbau, exchange greetings and move to the center of the circle. Then they start the game with it's harmonized, flowing movements, acrobatics, feints and kicks. To the spectator it appears, as if an improvised choreography exists, prompting the players to follow, attack and escape each other.

"Roda de Capoeira":

Players and watchers come together in a circle (Roda). The leader of the Roda plays a Berimbau, to his left and right two people play the Pandeiros (Tambourines). The person who plays the Berimbau is often of a high rank in Capoeira, and is in charge of regulating the complex interactions within the Roda.
At first the Berimbau begins to play, then the Pandeiros join in and the crowd is expected to clap. Once everyone adjusted to the rhythm the Berimbau player shouts out "Ieeeehhh!!" and starts to sing a Chula (the introductory song; Chula, rather short; Ladainha (Angola) can be anything from very short to long and complex). Soon the lead voice changes to the call-respond pattern where the people of the Roda have to answer each of the calls (A: "Ieh volta du mundo" B: "Ieh volta du mundo camara").
Actual physical play can only happen along the lines of the Quadras and Corridos (the types of songs that follow next and last for the rest of the Roda). Ideally there's no break to the flow of the music from the first stroke of the Berimbau to the very end, just as there should always be continuous actionwithin the Roda (when two players leave there should be another pair ready to enter).

Once the energy is very high in the circle, the master lowers the top of his Berimbau (without stopping playing), signalling to the players that they may start the jogo (game). Two people from the crowd enter the Roda and circle it at the inner side, where they meet in front of the Berimbau.
They look into each others eyes and shake hands (some Capoeiristas touch the Berimbau if they want its blessing or cross themselves; this comes down to personal preference). The common way of entering a Regional Roda is the Au, although later on people try to make more spectacular entrances (flying Aus, Role-Macaco-backwards somersault and similar). Once in a while it happens that a player attempts to land a Capecada at his cartwheeling partner, but that's rather a punishment for being constantly inattentive than the rule.

Berimabu

In Regional kicks are executed mainly at chest/head level. If players go down to the ground, they try to get up again rather quickly. Negativa-rolê-rolê is ok, but sticking in headstand/Queda de Rins position and waiting there for your opponent's next action can prove fatal. Don't get me wrong, you can do it of course, but get up in handstand or Ginga after one or two seconds. The only body parts that should ever touch the floor are hands, feet and head; up to three of them at the same time (see Cocorinha, Negativa, Headstand etc). Kicks like the Martelo or Gancho are strictly Regional- they are very effective for means of self-defense and can be found in many other Martial Arts as well.
The many freeflight acrobatics such as somersaults and Aus se Mau (Au without hands) make Regional look so impressive to spectators but should be done with consideration (beyond critical distance).

If a Capoeirista wants to jump into the game and replace one of the players, he should walk along the inner side of the circle up to the Berimbau and ask theBerimbau-player via eye-contact whether he is allowed to buy or whether he has to wait. Once the Mestre gives a sign of approval, the new player carefully approaches the two Capoeiristas and makes sure that he is seen by both of them (else he could easily get hit by flying limbs).
The new jogador put his arm between the two and looks into the eyes of one of them, indicating that he wants to continue the game with him. The remaining Capoeirista quickly leaves the Roda back first (you never know what may come from behind). Alternatively a couple of two new players can walk up to the Berimbau during a fight and crouch down there, waiting for the current game to end.

Capoeira in Stuttgart:

ABADA - Capoeira with "Fidel"

Schedule:

Some pictures:

ABADA-Capoeira Stuttgart

"Cocinho" and "Cantiga", Workshop 2001

"Sardinha" and "Cantiga", Roda 2000

Mestrando Duende, Workshop 2001

Profesor Pacoca, Workshop 2002

If you are interested in Capoeira

do not hesitate to contact me

or just drop by at the training hours!