Capitães de Areia

The history of CAPOEIRA

The art of Capoeira was started in Brazil by the black Africans, the Bantos Congos from Angola. They were shipped from Africa to Brazil as slaves by the Portuguese colonial masters in the 16th century.

There are many theories that exist about the origins of Capoeira. The most commonly accepted describes it as a blend of dance, fight routines and rituals from very different regions of Africa. But independent of its beginnings, Capoeira quickly became a form of resistance for African slaves, an instrument to free the blacks from a dominant and oppressive system.

Capoeira continued to develop as the slaves began to rebel against their ‘masters’ or ‘Senhores’ as they grew increasingly aware of their hopeless situation. It was practised in the Senzalas (housing areas where the slaves lived, worked and ate) during their work breaks to prepare themselves for battle. They incorporated the Ginga and music as additional elements in their battle dances so that their Senhores didn’t become suspicious and interpret their movements as militant. The slaves fled from the Senzalas and formed their own Quilombos (independent territories where the slaves fled to preserve their African traditions). The largest and most significant was Quilombo of Palmares, the social and free republic (in the state of Pernambuco) in 1670 it had approximately 50,000 inhabitants (blacks, whites, mestizos and mulattos). For a hundred years the Capoeiristas in Quilombo of Palmares, under the legendary leader Zumbi, were able to maintain unarmed resistance against the Portuguese, and later on against the Dutch who had canons built to smoke out Palmares. On 13 May 1888 slavery was prohibited in Brazil. Shortly after the proclamation of republic of Brazil (1889) Marechal Deodoro illegalized Capoeira. It wasn’t until 1937 that Mestre Bimba managed to get this passage deleted from the statute book. In 1930 Mestre Bimba was invited by the president Getulio Vargas to give a Capoeira performance in the Palacio da República. The performance was received enthusiastically and much applause, and the president legalised it as “a genuine art of the Brazilian folk”. Capoeira had won its fight for freedom. The first official Capoeira school was founded by Mestre Bimba in 1932: “Centro de Cultura Fisica e Capoeira Regional de Bahia” (Bahia’s centre for cultural physical education and Capoeira Regional). Instead of the traditional Capoeira Angola, Mestre Bimba called his form Capoeira Regional because he used different styles of martial art and incorporated acrobatic movements from the neighbourhood of Salvador. This led to him creating a more fierce and artistic style of Capoeira. Mestre Pastinha, who made some decisive changes to Capoeira Angola, founded his “Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola” (Sport centre for Capoeira Angola) in 1941. Capoeira Angola is the “capoeira mãe”, the mother of Capoeira, as Mestre Pastinha is famously quoted “Capoeira é tudo que a boca come” (Capoeira is everything that’s eaten in the mouth).

In the meantime Capoeira is recognised as being Brazilians national martial art and the culture of the folk. Capoeira is taught in schools and universities, presented on the streets, squares and beaches, it is seen in theatre and cinema (in the hollywood film “Only the Strong”), or can be admired at shows, folk festivals and on international stages. These days Capoeiristas can be found in all corners of the world. Capoeira is practiced by all age groups, and even used for pedagogical and therapeutical purposes. It gives us a positive attitude to life. Capoeira mobilizes everything.