Capoeira History

Capoeira History by Piu-piuAs in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers.A estimated 2 to 4 million slaves were imported.The slaves, Africans( mainly coming from Angola, Congo

As in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers. An estimated 2 to 4 million slaves were imported.The slaves, Africans( mainly coming from Angola, Congo and Mozambique),were put to work on plantations. These slaves were distributed in three main ports: Salvador do Bahia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro.

In Recife a group of slaves(40) rebelled against their master. They killed there white employees and burned down the plantation house. The slaves were now free and decided to search for place where they could hide from the slave hunters. So the slaves headed for the mountains. A difficult journey that took several weeks to complete.

Had it not been for the help they received from the Indians, this journey would been impossible to accomplish.Finally they reached a place abundanced by palm trees, which they taught was suitable for a save haven. They named it Palmares.

Over the course of years, scattered settlements(Quilombos) were established in the mountains.Palmares was the largest (20,000 inh).The inhabitants were Africans of different tribes ,Indians and even some white people. A new community was born with a very rich cultural mix. The result of this rich cultural fusion: "Capoeira" .

The Bantu groups are believed to be the foundation of the birth of the capoeira.They brought with them a culture away of life and the berimbau (a musical instrument which now symbilizes the Capoeira ). Palmares was growin’ rapidly as more escapes occured and more refugees arrived in this little mixed nation.The Portuguese started to get worried.The people of Palmares would come down from the mountains to trade products, fruit and animal skins.They would often raid plantation houses to free more slaves.

Palmares began to effect the economical life of the plantations because of the diminishing labour force.To make things even worse for the Portuguese, Holland invaded Brazil in 1630.The slaves took advantage of this situation, and with the assistance of Palmares it became more easy to escape while the Portuguese army had to fight two enemies.The Dutch won the war, but the Africans never stopped fighting.

In 1644 the Dutch organized an expedition to go to Palmares, but nothing was accomplished.In the following years many expeditions followed.Teams of very experienced and well-armed soldiers were send to Palmares.But the africans developed a system of fighting called “jungle war” or “ambush”.Capoeira was the key element in this system.It also became their symbol of freedom, their unique weapon.

When finally an expedition was successful ,the slaves who returned to the plantations taught Capoeira to the others there.Sunday was their one day of rest, the day of the Lord.That was the time when they practised Capoeira. But the practise soon altered. Music, singing, dance and rituals where added to Capoeira, hiding the fact that the slaves were practicing a "deadly" martial art.

On May 13, 1888 Slavery was abolished in Brazil and some ex-slaves returned to their home in Africa, but the majority stayed in Brazil. After the abolition there was no employement any more for the ex-slaves so most slaves headed to the cities. Unfortunately for them there was no employement in the cities either so many ex-slaves organized into criminal gangs.Others, more fortunate, becauce of their knowledge of capoeira were hired by politicians as bodyguards. Unfortunately all were seen by the government as a plague.

The main activities of these capoeiristas(=one who practises Capoeira)was to disrupt the political life of the country. The government felt treatened an there was an special police force created to control the situation.This effort was ineffective and a law was made stating that any person who was a known capoeirista would be expatriated. In that time it was common for a capoeirista to have two or three nicknames.The police knew all the capoeiristas by their nickname but not by their real name so it was very hard for them to arrest the capoeiristas.(This tradition is continued today .When a capoeirista is “baptized” into the practice of Capoeira they are given a nickname or Apelido.)

He was the son of a well known man who was favored by many politicians. After this event, change was expected in the behavior of the capoeiristas. But the change was in their favor. The opposition created a black militia to disrupt the president.This militia was formed exclusively by capoeiristas and they spread fear in the capital.The police force was ineffective against the capoeiristas and just as the situation became desperate ,Brazil went to war with Paraguay. The black militia was sent to the front and suddenly the outlaws became national heroes.

The only place were Capoeira didn’t evolve to the creation of a rude fighting style, was Bahia.Capoeira developed itself as a ritual-dance-fight-game and the Berimbau became

the indispensable instrument that was used to command the “rodas”(sessions of the capoeira game). In Rio de Janeiro and Recife “the art of capoeira” slowly died.

Manuel dos Reis Machado, better known as Mestre Bimba was born on November 23 1900 in Bahia, Brazil. Mestre Bimba began playing capoeira on the shipyard docks where he went to work with his father.His father was a famous batuque champion.(Batuque is an African dance/fight with the object of trying to take the opponents balance.His Capoeira teacher was mestre Bentinho .After teaching the traditional Capoeira (Angola style) Bimba created a new style of Capoeira : Capoeira Regional. His new style was a combination of Batuque , Savate, Capoeira Angola an other martial arts. At this time capoeira was not recognized as a sport and it was still illegal.

In 1932, Mestre Bimba founded the first Regional academy, in Engenho Velho de Brotas(Bahia), the poor neighbourhood where he grew up. His strategy was to convince

government officials that Capoeira was a valid form of self-defence that could be used to train police and the military. He and some of his students gave a demonstration at the Gouvernment Palace and impressed the officials and the president so much that they immediately gave him premission and a licence to open his acadamy, which he did officially in 1937. It was the first Capoeira school in the world.

In the years that followed, Mestre Bimba taught thousands of students the style of Capoeira Regional. Many of them opened academies in other parts of the world and later in America and Europe. In 1970 Bimba moved to the southern part of Brazil with the hope of creating a stronger school. Mestre Bimba died on January 4,1974 a poor and somewhat disillusioned Capoeira master whose fame and recognition unfortunaly came years after he died. Today Capoeiristas, off all styles and schools, are indebted to the work of this great master.

Mestre Pastinha was born on April 5th, 1889. He was undoubtely the most recognized capoeirista of his time. Pastinha was not only a Capoeirista but also a song-writer and phylosopher. He began learning Capoeira from Mestre Benedito, an old African from Angola. As a young boy (8 years) he was often beaten up by a bully, so Benedito taught him Capoeira. At the age of 13 Pastinha joined the navy where he remained until the age of 23. It was during these years of service that he created his own art of survival.

In 1941 Pastinha opened his own Capoeira academy. Pastinha published his own book concerning Capoeira Angola. Pastinha was also known as the great traditionalist who taught his students the philosophy and tradition of the Capoeira Angola. When mestre Bimba created the style “Regional” Pastinha named the traditional style Capoeira Angola because of the huge amount of slaves from Angola who practised it. Unlike Mestre Bimba he died a peaceful death at the age of 92. Even now there are a lot of schools who preserve the style and the vision of mestre Pastinha.

First of all “the Capoeira Regional” which was created by mestre Bimba. He used a combination of different Martial arts in combination of the traditional style used by the slaves. It is a more agressive style where flashing kicks, flips, hand-stands and spins happen in a quick succession.

It’s an art form. It can be descibed as a game (jogo) for two players within a circle(roda). With the encouragement of ideally eight musicians and the audiance of other capoeiristas who create the Roda while sitting down. It’s played very slowly and the players perform attacks, defences and escapes in combination with symbolic rituals. It is almost completely non-violent and is beautiful to behold. When you see two players perform a “Chamada” (a ritual) on the sound of music , it has taken the form of a theatrical play with all it’s exciting elements; tension, suspence, laughter all with a touch of "Malicia."

Maculèlè is a form of capoeira which is also played in the Roda but both players use wooden sticks and sometimes swords to dance with each other while hitting the sticks on a beat of 4. All of this is accompanied by the ritme of the drums who are vital in this style.

Last but not least there’s “the Samba de Roda”. This is the traditional samba dance which is danced in the roda. It is used mostly for parties, relaxing after an intense roda and demonstrations.


	Index home Updates \| Our History \| The calendar \| Capoeira History \| Song lyrics \| Pictures main page \| Filosofia \| Fun stuff \| Links \| Students page \| Mail me \| Event Capoeira History by Piu-piuAs in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers.A estimated 2 to 4 million slaves were imported.The slaves, Africans( mainly coming from Angola, Congo The history of capoeira goes back to the time of discovery and slavery. As in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers. An estimated 2 to 4 million slaves were imported.The slaves, Africans( mainly coming from Angola, Congo and Mozambique),were put to work on plantations. These slaves were distributed in three main ports: Salvador do Bahia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro. In Recife a group of slaves(40) rebelled against their master. They killed there white employees and burned down the plantation house. The slaves were now free and decided to search for place where they could hide from the slave hunters. So the slaves headed for the mountains. A difficult journey that took several weeks to complete. Had it not been for the help they received from the Indians, this journey would been impossible to accomplish.Finally they reached a place abundanced by palm trees, which they taught was suitable for a save haven. They named it Palmares. Palmaresgue Over the course of years, scattered settlements(Quilombos) were established in the mountains.Palmares was the largest (20,000 inh).The inhabitants were Africans of different tribes ,Indians and even some white people. A new community was born with a very rich cultural mix. The result of this rich cultural fusion: "Capoeira" . The Bantu groups are believed to be the foundation of the birth of the capoeira.They brought with them a culture away of life and the berimbau (a musical instrument which now symbilizes the Capoeira ). Palmares was growin’ rapidly as more escapes occured and more refugees arrived in this little mixed nation.The Portuguese started to get worried.The people of Palmares would come down from the mountains to trade products, fruit and animal skins.They would often raid plantation houses to free more slaves. Palmares began to effect the economical life of the plantations because of the diminishing labour force.To make things even worse for the Portuguese, Holland invaded Brazil in 1630.The slaves took advantage of this situation, and with the assistance of Palmares it became more easy to escape while the Portuguese army had to fight two enemies.The Dutch won the war, but the Africans never stopped fighting. In 1644 the Dutch organized an expedition to go to Palmares, but nothing was accomplished.In the following years many expeditions followed.Teams of very experienced and well-armed soldiers were send to Palmares.But the africans developed a system of fighting called “jungle war” or “ambush”.Capoeira was the key element in this system.It also became their symbol of freedom, their unique weapon. When finally an expedition was successful ,the slaves who returned to the plantations taught Capoeira to the others there.Sunday was their one day of rest, the day of the Lord.That was the time when they practised Capoeira. But the practise soon altered. Music, singing, dance and rituals where added to Capoeira, hiding the fact that the slaves were practicing a "deadly" martial art. After the Abolition On May 13, 1888 Slavery was abolished in Brazil and some ex-slaves returned to their home in Africa, but the majority stayed in Brazil. After the abolition there was no employement any more for the ex-slaves so most slaves headed to the cities. Unfortunately for them there was no employement in the cities either so many ex-slaves organized into criminal gangs.Others, more fortunate, becauce of their knowledge of capoeira were hired by politicians as bodyguards. Unfortunately all were seen by the government as a plague. The main activities of these capoeiristas(=one who practises Capoeira)was to disrupt the political life of the country. The government felt treatened an there was an special police force created to control the situation.This effort was ineffective and a law was made stating that any person who was a known capoeirista would be expatriated. In that time it was common for a capoeirista to have two or three nicknames.The police knew all the capoeiristas by their nickname but not by their real name so it was very hard for them to arrest the capoeiristas.(This tradition is continued today .When a capoeirista is “baptized” into the practice of Capoeira they are given a nickname or Apelido.) A few years after the law a man named Juca was arrested and expatriated. He was the son of a well known man who was favored by many politicians. After this event, change was expected in the behavior of the capoeiristas. But the change was in their favor. The opposition created a black militia to disrupt the president.This militia was formed exclusively by capoeiristas and they spread fear in the capital.The police force was ineffective against the capoeiristas and just as the situation became desperate ,Brazil went to war with Paraguay. The black militia was sent to the front and suddenly the outlaws became national heroes. The only place were Capoeira didn’t evolve to the creation of a rude fighting style, was Bahia.Capoeira developed itself as a ritual-dance-fight-game and the Berimbau became the indispensable instrument that was used to command the “rodas”(sessions of the capoeira game). In Rio de Janeiro and Recife “the art of capoeira” slowly died. The two Greatest mestres Of the 20st century Mestre Bimba: Manuel dos Reis Machado, better known as Mestre Bimba was born on November 23 1900 in Bahia, Brazil. Mestre Bimba began playing capoeira on the shipyard docks where he went to work with his father.His father was a famous batuque champion.(Batuque is an African dance/fight with the object of trying to take the opponents balance.His Capoeira teacher was mestre Bentinho .After teaching the traditional Capoeira (Angola style) Bimba created a new style of Capoeira : Capoeira Regional. His new style was a combination of Batuque , Savate, Capoeira Angola an other martial arts. At this time capoeira was not recognized as a sport and it was still illegal. In 1932, Mestre Bimba founded the first Regional academy, in Engenho Velho de Brotas(Bahia), the poor neighbourhood where he grew up. His strategy was to convince government officials that Capoeira was a valid form of self-defence that could be used to train police and the military. He and some of his students gave a demonstration at the Gouvernment Palace and impressed the officials and the president so much that they immediately gave him premission and a licence to open his acadamy, which he did officially in 1937. It was the first Capoeira school in the world. In the years that followed, Mestre Bimba taught thousands of students the style of Capoeira Regional. Many of them opened academies in other parts of the world and later in America and Europe. In 1970 Bimba moved to the southern part of Brazil with the hope of creating a stronger school. Mestre Bimba died on January 4,1974 a poor and somewhat disillusioned Capoeira master whose fame and recognition unfortunaly came years after he died. Today Capoeiristas, off all styles and schools, are indebted to the work of this great master. Mestre Pastinha: Mestre Pastinha was born on April 5th, 1889. He was undoubtely the most recognized capoeirista of his time. Pastinha was not only a Capoeirista but also a song-writer and phylosopher. He began learning Capoeira from Mestre Benedito, an old African from Angola. As a young boy (8 years) he was often beaten up by a bully, so Benedito taught him Capoeira. At the age of 13 Pastinha joined the navy where he remained until the age of 23. It was during these years of service that he created his own art of survival. In 1941 Pastinha opened his own Capoeira academy. Pastinha published his own book concerning Capoeira Angola. Pastinha was also known as the great traditionalist who taught his students the philosophy and tradition of the Capoeira Angola. When mestre Bimba created the style “Regional” Pastinha named the traditional style Capoeira Angola because of the huge amount of slaves from Angola who practised it. Unlike Mestre Bimba he died a peaceful death at the age of 92. Even now there are a lot of schools who preserve the style and the vision of mestre Pastinha. The different styles : Capoeira is often described as a Combination of Martial arts and Dance or and Afro/Brazilian Combat Dance... Actually the modern capoeira can be devided into four different styles. First of all “the Capoeira Regional” which was created by mestre Bimba. He used a combination of different Martial arts in combination of the traditional style used by the slaves. It is a more agressive style where flashing kicks, flips, hand-stands and spins happen in a quick succession. Angola is the most complexe from of capoeira. It’s more than an martial art form. It’s an art form. It can be descibed as a game (jogo) for two players within a circle(roda). With the encouragement of ideally eight musicians and the audiance of other capoeiristas who create the Roda while sitting down. It’s played very slowly and the players perform attacks, defences and escapes in combination with symbolic rituals. It is almost completely non-violent and is beautiful to behold. When you see two players perform a “Chamada” (a ritual) on the sound of music , it has taken the form of a theatrical play with all it’s exciting elements; tension, suspence, laughter all with a touch of "Malicia." Maculèlè is a form of capoeira which is also played in the Roda but both players use wooden sticks and sometimes swords to dance with each other while hitting the sticks on a beat of 4. All of this is accompanied by the ritme of the drums who are vital in this style. Last but not least there’s “the Samba de Roda”. This is the traditional samba dance which is danced in the roda. It is used mostly for parties, relaxing after an intense roda and demonstrations. The text writen above is based on the Works of Mestre Acordeon and Mestre Nestor Capoeira. @ Copyright , Piu-piu