• What is capoeira?
• Origin and history of capoeira
• Characteristics of capoeira
• capoeira styles
• music in capoeira

We explain what capoeira is, its origin, history and characteristics. In addition, we tell you what musical instruments he uses.

Capoeira is a form of Brazilian cultural expression with African roots.

What is capoeira?

Capoeira is a form of Brazilian cultural expression with African roots, in which different disciplines are combined, such as dance, martial arts, music and the stunts. It is usually practiced in groups, organized in Rhodes or circles, to the beat of the music of drums and other traditional instruments such as the berimbau, and accompanied with singing. Since 2014 the unesco consider capoeira circles as part of the Heritage Immaterial of Humanity.

The practice of capoeira is showy and is part of the heritage Afro-Brazilian culture, especially in the northeast region of the country. The capoeira session is called game (“game”) and consists, most of the time, of a “friendly fight” with little or no physical contact between the participants, who simulate blows or limit themselves to a choreography, thus demonstrating their talent or mandinka.

There can also be quite intense and violent actual wrestling sessions involving punches, kicks, pushes and jumps. In all cases, the tenor of the confrontation is always marked by the rhythm of the music and the song.

As with other martial arts, the teaching of capoeira is normally accompanied by the transmission of certain human values, how are they respect (I respect), the responsibility (responsibility), the confidence (security), sagacity (malice) and the freedom (freedom).In the same way, there are different variants of capoeira, some more modern and acrobatic, and others more traditional and with greater emphasis on body dialogue between the dancers.

Origin and history of capoeira

The exact origins of capoeira are uncertain. It is assumed that it was an invention of enslaved African settlers in 16th century Brazil, many of whom came from the ethnicities Bantu (Kongo, Kimbunda and Kasanje), Hausa, Akan, Igbo, Yoruba, Dahomey and Guinea, from Angola, Congo and Mozambique.

Disguised as a dance ritual, capoeira allowed the slaves to train for the fight and at the same time to bond with each other, strengthening the ties between settlers of ethnic groups and cultures different.

Once abolished the slavery, capoeira continued to be practiced among the descendants of African slaves, and due to considerations racists of the time, it was associated with the criminal world and the witchcraft, for which it was prohibited throughout the Brazilian territory in 1890. The systematic efforts to eradicate its practice reached extremes of cruelty such as torture and physical punishment, but even so it continued to be practiced clandestinely.

Finally, in the first decades of the 20th century, capoeira resurfaced thanks to the manifest interest of martial arts researchers, such as Mario Alexo and Aníbal "Zuma" Burlamaqui. The latter, in fact, published around 1920 the first manual for the practice of capoeira and the first rules formal of competition, many of which were inspired by boxing.

Another cultist of special importance was Agenor Moreira Sampaio, better known as Mestre Sinhozinho, who developed the extinct Carioca style of capoeira and is considered the third great teacher (“master”) of capoeira after Mestre Bimba (Manoel dos Reis Machado) and Mestre Pastinha (Vicente Ferreira Pastinha).These great masters were the first to open academies for the teaching of capoeira towards the middle of the 20th century.

Characteristics of capoeira

In general, the blows are not specified, but simply demonstrated.

Broadly speaking, capoeira is characterized by the following:

• It is a combination of martial arts, dance, music and acrobatics. Their movements, its musical rhythms and its instruments show a clear African heritage.
• It is practiced in circles or Rhodes, integrated by the capoeiristas, in the middle of which the duel between two dancers takes place. The rest accompany them with clapping, singing and the sound of traditional musical instruments, such as drums and the berimbau, a bow-shaped stringed instrument.
• The term capoeira It has an uncertain origin. Some affirm that it comes from Tupi-Guarani, while others attribute it to different African terms used by the slaves brought to America.
• Capoeira is not intended to hurt the opponent, but rather to compare skills and compare talents. For this reason, capoeiristas often do not perform the blows, but simply demonstrate them.

Capoeira movements are divided into three types:

• The ginga or rocking, continuous and basic step from which the rest of the movements are made.
• The attacks, which can consist of kicks, sweeps, blows from the open hand or the head.
• The defenses, which are evasive movements and blocks.

capoeira styles

Capoeira is not practiced in the same way everywhere, but has different styles, each one with particularities and preferences. Some, for example, do not use hand strikes, others focus on the acrobatic aspect, and others tend to be more traditional. The main known styles are the following:

• Angolan capoeira.Considered the "mother" style of capoeira, that is, the most traditional, it is characterized by a game of greater proximity between the campoeirantes, little acrobatic and many low movements, that is, at ground level. It is a style of capoeira that depends a lot on the malice of the dancer and whose music usually starts slowly and rises as the fight progresses. The father of the capoeira angola academies in Brazil was Mestre Pastinha, who institutionalized the yellow, black or white (ceremonial) uniform.
• regional capoeira. Innovative style, with greater commitment to acrobatics and games showier, it was originally called "regional fight of Bahia" (A regional luta from Bahia) and that's where its name comes from. Its creator and diffuser in Brazil was Mestre Bimba, who opted for a more athletic style, with quick and dry blows, that is, for a more competitive style. In fact, the regional capoeira uniform includes a belt or cord (rope) that reflects the degree of instruction of the capoeirista, in the manner of the colored belts of oriental martial arts.
• contemporary capoeira. Capoeiristas who practice both the traditional and the regional styles are identified with this name, that is, they mix their elements freely. These practitioners can take what they like from the style of Mestre Bimba or Mestre Pastinha without fully committing to either style, reinventing each to compensate for its weaknesses with the strengths of the other.

music in capoeira

In the berimbau, depending on the tension of the bow, the sound can be lower or higher.

Music is an important element in the practice of capoeira, since it marks the swing of combat and dance, and through its traditional instruments it recreates a very particular and striking ancestral atmosphere. The main instruments used in capoeira are:

• The berimbau.It is a bow-shaped string instrument, made with a flexible wooden rod and metal wire, together with a dry and empty gourd as a resonator. Depending on the voltage of the arc, the sound produced can be serious (gunga), medium (meio) or sharp (viola).
• the tambourine It is a percussion instrument very similar to the tambourine, but larger.
• The querequeté or querequexé. It is a scraping instrument, also called reco-reco or caracaxá, which can have different shapes or motifs, but is used by scraping it with a short wooden stick.
• The agogo. It is a percussion instrument similar to a bell or gong, made of metal and struck with a short wooden baton.
• The attack. It is a percussion instrument very similar to the hand drum, tall and made of wood, which is played with the hands.