Capoeira (pronounced /ˌkæpɵˈɛrə/ ) is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance. It was created in Brazil by slaves brought from Africa, especially from present day Angola some time after the 16th century. It was developed in the region of Quilombo dos Palmares, located in the actual Brazilian state of Alagoas and has great influence on the Afro-Brazilian generations, with strong presence at the actual states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro. Participants form a roda , or circle, and take turns either playing musical instruments (such as the Berimbau), singing, or ritually sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The sparring is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently used techniques include elbow strikes, slaps, punches, and body throws. Its origins and purpose are a matter of debate, with theories ranging from views of Capoeira as a uniquely Brazilian folk dance with improvised fighting movements to claims that it is a battle-ready fighting form directly descended from ancient African techniques. Historians are divided between those who believe it is a direct descendant of African fighting styles and those who believe it is a uniquely Brazilian dance form distilled from various African and Brazilian influences. One popular explanation holds that it is an African fighting style that was developed in Brazil, as expressed by a proponent named Salvano, who said, "Capoeira cannot exist without black men but its birthplace is Brazil".
Etymology
It is likely that the name originated as a derisive term used by slave owners to refer to the displays as chicken fights. Another claim is that the word "Capoeira" is derived from the native-American language Tupi-Guarani words kaá ("leaf", "plant") and puéra (past aspect marker), meaning "formerly a forest".
Afro-Brazilian art form
Some interpretations emphasize Capoeira as a fighting style designed for rebellion, but disguised by a façade of dance. Supporting the martial interpretation are renderings in the 1835 Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil ( Picturesque Voyage to Brazil ) ethnographic artist Johann Moritz Rugendas depicted Capoeira or the Dance of War, lending historical credence to the idea that Capoeira is a combative art-form with many dance elements.
Other Pan African-American, combative traditions parallel capoeira. According to Dr. Morton Marks, the island of Martinique is famous for danymé, also known as ladja. As with capoeira, "there is a ring of spectators into which each contestant enters, moving in a counter-clockwise direction and dancing toward drummers. This move, known as Kouwi Lawon (or ‘Circular Run’ in Creole), is an exact parallel to the capoeira interlude called dá volta ao mundo or ‘take a turn around the world.’" Marks stated that in Cuba, a mock-combat dance called Mani was performed to yuka drums. "A dancer (manisero) would stand in the middle of a ring of spectator-participants and, moving to the sound of the songs and drums, would pick someone from the circle and attempt to knock them down." Some of the manisero's moves and kicks were similar to those of Afro-Brazilian capoeira including its basic leg-sweep (rasteira).
In Capoeira : A History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art , Matthias Röhrig Assunção compared "three American combat traditions: knocking and kicking in the United States, ladija in Martinique, and capoeira in Brazil." African-derived combat games similar to wrestling and stick fighting were also witnessed and documented in seventeenth-century Barbados, eighteenth-century Jamaica, and nineteenth century Venezuela. Stick fighting was and still is practiced in Trinidad, Carriacou, Dominica, and Haiti.
Maya Talmon-Chvaicer suggested capoeira may have been influenced by a ritual fight-dance called N'golo (the zebra dance) from Southern Angola, which was performed during the "Efundula, a puberty rite for women of the Mucope, Muxilenge, and Muhumbe tribes of southern Angola." Since the 1960s, the N'golo theory has become popular amongst some practitioners of capoeira Angola, although it is not universally accepted.
While many of these games are combative, it is widely accepted that slaves in the New World would have sought both violent and jovial means of coping with their oppression.
Status in Brazil and Development as a Sport
For some time, Capoeira was criminalized and prohibited in Brazil. Assunção provided ample data from police records dating back to the 1800s demonstrating that capoeira was an "important reason" to detain slaves and "free coloured individuals". "From 288 slaves that entered the Calabouço jail during the year 1857-1858, 80 (31 per cent) were arrested for , and only 28 (10.7 per cent) for running away. Out of 4,303 arrests in Rio police jail in 1862, 404 detainess --nearly 10 per cent-- had been arrested for capoeira." In 1890, Brazilian president Deodoro da Fonseca signed an act that prohibited the practice of capoeira nationwide, with severe punishment for those caught. It was nevertheless practiced by the poorer population on public holidays, during work-free hours, and on other similar occasions. Riots, also caused by police interference, were common.
In spite of the ban, Manuel dos Reis Machado (Mestre Bimba) created a new style, the "Capoeira Regional." Reis Machado was finally successful in convincing the authorities of the cultural value of capoeira, thus ending the official ban in the 1930s. Reis Machado founded the first capoeira school in 1932, the Academia-escola de Capoeira Regional at the Engenho de Brotas in Salvador-Bahia. He was then considered "the father of modern capoeira". In 1937, he earned the state board of education certificate. In 1942, Reis Machado opened his second school at the Terreiro de Jesus - rua das Laranjeiras. The school is still open today and supervised by his pupil, known as "Vermelho-27".
According to Assunção, "during the 1930's the traditional Bahian capoeira became increasingly identified as ‘capoeira de Angola,’ in opposition to the ‘capoeira Regional’ developed by Bimba. There were several prominent Angola mestres at this time in Salvador and they held regular rodas together in an area called Gengibirra of Salvador. There were twenty-two mestres in all; among them were Mestre Amorzinh o—who commanded the rodas --, Daniel Coutinho--"Mestre Noronha"--, Onça Preta, Geraldo Chapeleiro, Juvenal, and Livino Diogo. Together they founded a center for capoeira Angola. Around the time of Amorzinho's death in 1941-1942 Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, best known as " Mestre Pastinha ", took over the center, called the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola . Pastinha worked almost up to his death in 1981 to codify the more traditional Angola style of capoeira and he wrote endlessly on the sport. Because he preserved much of the traditional style of capoeira, in his practice, teachings, and writings, he too is important to modern capoeira.
Outside Brazil
Capoeira is growing in popularity worldwide. There have been comparisons drawn between the Afro-North American art form of the blues and capoeira. Both were practiced and developed by African-American slaves, both retained distinctive African aesthetics and cultural qualities; both were shunned and looked-down upon by the majority societies within which they developed, and both fostered a deep sense of Afrocentric pride especially amongst poorer and darker-skinned Blacks.
“Artur Emídio was probably the first capoeirista ever to perform abroad;” in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s he went to Argentina, Mexico, the US, and Europe. Groups such as Brasil Tropical, headed by Domingos Campos and M. Camisa Roxa, toured Europe in the 1970’s. Jelon Vieira's Dance Brazil, founded in New York City in 1977, has been particularly influential in popularizing the capoeira among American audiences.
In the mid-1970s masters of the art form—mestre capoeiristas, began to emigrate and teach capoeira in the United States and other countries. At this time capoeira in Brazil was still primarily practiced among the poorest and blackest of Brazilians. With its immigration to the U.S., however, much of the stigma with which it was historically associated in Brazil was shed.
Today there are many capoeira schools all over the world (capoeira is gaining ground in Japan) and throughout the United States, and with its growing popularity in the U.S. it has attracted a broad spectrum of multicultural, multiracial students. Capoeira has gained popularity among non-Brazilian and non-African practitioners for the fluidity of its movements.
In United States, California, Rildo Cordeiro is one of the top masters of capoeira in the world and provides the most technical fighting style of capoeira. Cordeiro has trained in capoeira for 28 years. He has won the last three Brazilain Championship Capoeira contests. Cordeiro is part of "Cordao de Ouro", which is one of the largest groups of capoeira fighters in the world. Cordeiro has also fought MMA professionally. Lastly Cordeiro has a master's degree in physical education.
Music
Main article: Capoeira music...
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La capoeira est un art martial Afro-brésilien qui puise ses racines dans les méthodes de combat et les danses des peuples béninois du temps de l'esclavage au Brésil.
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