Capoeira's roots lie in 15th century brazil, when slaves were brought to Brazil from countries in Africa. Most people believe it began as a way for the slaves to fight back against their owners, disguising a deadly fighting style as something that looked like a dance. Since then it has grown and spread all over the world, officially reaching the United States in the 1970's.

Capoeira, unlike most other martial arts, can be more accurately described as a game than a fighting style. The name of the capoeira game is the Jogo. The jogo is played by two capoeira practitioners (capoeiristas) at a time, inside a ring of people called the Roda, which is made up of other capoeiristas or onlookers. The capoeiristas engage in a series of attack and counter attack movements made up of mostly kicks, at times coming within inches of eachother.

There are no active blocks in capoeira, so the attacks are avoided with escape movements which most people so commonly think of when they hear the word "capoeira". The main "stance" of capoeira, the Ginga (swaying, dance-like movement) is another unique characteristic of the art, keeping the capoeirista always moving. Along with the different concept of the capoeira "game", capoeira is also widely identified with beautiful feats of acrobatic skill, called Floreio. Good capoeiristas can twist their bodies in many different ways, flipping this way and that, and throwing themselves many feet into the air.

The last characteristic of capoeira that separates it from most martial arts is the aspect of music. Music plays a huge role in the capoeira game, the main instrument called a Berimbau sets the pace for the jogo, and the capoeira players must follow accordingly. If the person playing the berimbau chooses a fast paced rhythm, the capoeiristas play fast, throwing rapid kicks and acrobatics; but if he plays a slow rhythm the capoeiristas slow down, focusing more on showing their kicks and escapes, and less on throwing themselves about. Two other instruments accompany the berimbau, and these are the Pandiero (tambourine) and the Atabaque (drum). Along with the music created by these instruments, participants in the capoeira roda sing songs in Portuguese, and clap their hands to the beat of the pandiero and atabaque.

Alone, each of these aspects are impressive in their own right, but combined they create the unique and beautiful art of capoeira.

Many Americans will recognize capoeira from its appearances in mainstream media.

Only The Strong: Capoeira was featured extensively in the 1993 movie, "Only The Strong". This movie starred Mark Dacascos, an actor/martial artist, and was about a former green beret who lived in Brazil for 4 years and trained in capoeira. When he came back to his old high school he found it in a miserable state, so he decided to start a program to teach students capoeira to give them a sense of pride and responsibility. The plot is lacking, and the only really great capoeira is in the first and last 5 minutes, but it is definately worth a rent.

Tekken 3: Capoeira is also featured in the Namco fighting game, Tekken 3 (also Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 4) in the form of Eddy Gordo. Not the first video game capoeirista, but definately the best and most famous, Eddy Gordo introduced capoeira to many Americans. Some of Eddy's moves are not capoeira (gymnastics flare and breakdancing windmill) but everything else is pure capoeira that was motion captured by Mestre Marcelo Pereria of Capoeira Mandiga in California.

Capoeira is gaining popularity right now, and it's popping up all over the place. It has also been featured in lots of other media such as commercials, music videos, movies, etc. But usually the capoeira people see in these types of things is not capoeira in its fullest form. Producers like capoeira because it can be so flashy, and have lots of cool movements, but they have a history of leaving out any part of the game, the roda, or the music. Keep your eyes open because you never know when the next cellphone commercial will come around featuring capoeira.

Home | What is Capoeira? | Members | Schedule | Movements | Frequently Asked Questions | Pictures | Videos | Links

Comments, questions? Contact Faisca at milandry@assumption.edu
Copyright © 2002-2004 - FaiscaTech