The History of Capoeira

There were approximately four million African slaves in Brazil in total. 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. To anybody who watches Capoeira it looks like a dance. The slaves did this deliberately to avoid being punished for fighting. During a game, two players (Capoeiristas) compete against each other using a series of kicks, evasions, takedowns and acrobatic moves. There are two major styles, the Regional, developed by Mestre Bimba and Angola created by Mestre Pastinha.

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History

Nobody knows the exact origins of Capoeira. The most popular theory is that the African slaves developed their own fighting style to be able to defend themselves against their white owners.

An alternative theory is that it was and African rite of passage called the N’Gola, or the dance of the zebras, where the warriors would engage in a ceremonial fight-dance. Other theories mix Zumbi, the legendary leader of Quilombo dos Palmares with the origins of Capoeira but there is no reliable proof of this.

These Angolan slaves blended their call-and-response songs with the regional dialect to create songs to glorify their homeland, deities and their future freedom. They accompanied the songs with percussion instruments brought from Africa such as the pandeiro, a tambourine, agogo, bells and most importantly, the berimbau, a one-stringed instrument. The basic movement of Capoeira is the ginga, roughly translated as swing. Two people practicing Capoeira look like they are dancing together rather than fighting. The rhythms created by the berimbau enhance the notion of dance and teaches timing, which is a crucial element of Capoeira.

The avoidance of direct contact and threatening movements against an opponent also mask its purposes of defence. Slaves had to learn the art of trickiness or malandro as they couldn’t show direct aggression or opposition to their masters. Modern Capoeiristas still prize sneakiness and cunning over aggression and strength for this reason. The purpose of Capoeira is to redirect and avoid violence rather than to defend yourself through violence.

The Portuguese arrived in Brazil in the 1500s led by the explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral. The new arrivals subjugated the local population, the Brazilian Indians, to give themselves slave labour for their sugarcane and cotton plantations. This didn’t work, the Indians either died in captivity or fled back to their homes. So the Portuguese began importing African slave labour. Free men and women were captured in African and loaded onto appalling slave ships and set of on a voyage in horrendous conditions that ended in either death or perpetual bondage.

Between 1624 and 1654 the Dutch controlled parts of the northeast of Brazil. When the Dutch attacked the Portuguese colony and invaded towns and villages the slaves took advantage and liberated themselves. The security of the plantations and towns was weakened with each Dutch invasion and the slaves, taking advantage of this, fled into the forests in search of places to hide and survive. With many slaves escaping they founded independent villages called guilombos.

These guilombos were highly important for the future of Capoeira. There were at least ten major guilombos which has commercial relationships with neighbouring cities. In the interior state of Alagoas, the guilombo dos Palmraes lasted sixty-seven years despite the expeditions sent to destroy it. Capoeira developed in the guilombos as a response to these threats.

Around 1814, slave masters began to prohibit Capoeira and other African cultural expressions. Until then, cultural expression had been allowed and even encouraged as a kind of safety valve for the slaves and to “divide and conquer” the various African groups. In 1808, the Portuguese king Dom Joao VI and his court arrived in Brazil after escaping the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon Bonaparte. These people realised that to dominate the slaves they had to destroy their culture and Capoeira was banned until 1892.

Whatever its origins, Brazilian slaves practised the game until they were freed in 1888. Many of these former slaves took to crime and formed gangs as they had no jobs or social status. Capoeira then became the fighting style of these criminal street gangs in Rio de Janeiro. Capoeira gangs had their own turf where they controlled the criminal activities. They used less of the ritual and music than before but used weapons such as knives and clubs. The terror this caused led to it being outlawed in Brazil in 1890. Anyone found teaching, practicing or using Capoeira was dealt with severely. Punishment was slashed Achilles tendon, knee or even throat.

Capoeiristas moved further underground in response to the ban. To identify themselves to other capoeiristas adopted nicknames so that their true identities wouldn’t be revealed. They often had more than one. Nicknames are still used today, newly ‘baptised’ students are given a nickname descriptive of their style or body type. Rodas were held in concealed places or with convenient escape routes in case the cavalaria (police) turned up. A rhythm, called cavalaria, was created to be used as an alarm so they would be warned of the police’s arrival.

Capoeira was against the law for twenty years until 1918. In 1928, Mestre Bimba created ‘Luta Regional Baiana’, which is now called Capoeira Regional. The national president Getulio Vargas was so impressed with a performance in 1937 by Mestre Bimba did for him that he declared it Brazil’s national sport. Mestre Bimba was given permission to open the first Capoeira school.

Over the last fifty years, Capoeira has grown enormously. New Capoeira academies and competitions have appeared. In 1974 it was recognised as the national sport of Brazil which led to a national federation being formed to govern, promote and coordinate Capoeira since nothing had been done previously to unite the game in Brazil.

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