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New to Capoeira? Then you probably don't know quite what it is, yet. That's what this thread is for! Here, I will tell you, in general, what "Capoeira" is.

In a nutshell: Capoeira is an ancient and unique martial art created by African slaves' resistance against slavery in Brazil. It combines aspects of music, rhythm, dancing, fighting and philosophy into one form of self defense.

To truly understand Capoeira, we must go far back, to the time of the colonization by Europeans in Brazil, some 300 to 500 years ago.

When the Europeans came to colonize Brazil, they brought with them slaves from Africa - Angola, to be specific.

The African slaves brought with them a form of dance-game, called "N'golo". In Angola, the objective of this game was to perform dance movements that were feats of balance and core strength, all the while attempting to knock each other off balance. Two young men would compete at a time, dancing, and trying to knock each other's balance off. The winner - the one left still standing - was rewarded with not having to pay the cost of a bride.

When they arrived in Brazil, the Africans were forced to work there as slaves.

But the Africans longed strongly for their freedom.

The African slaves ended up adapting their form of dance to become a form of self defence, which they would later use to escape.

The slaves, when not working, were kept in small huts called "Senzalas". In here, they would form a circle called a "roda" ("r" pronounced as "h"), and while the people in the roda sang and clapped, two at a time would enter the roda, and begin a form of "mock combat". The strategy was to work together to improve each other's combat skills, all the while not harming each other. After all, it was the keepers they were after. Not each other. When the keepers came to check on the commotion, the slaves would convert to a friendlier, more gentle "game". This made the keepers think that they were just dancing for fun.

Gradually, few by few, slaves would fight the keepers, using their new form of combat, and escape. They would make their ways into Brazil's forests. The colonizers sent hunters after them to try to recapture them. "Capoeira" is said to mean "brushwood", refering to the area - thick vegetation - that the refugees would hide, preparing to ambush the hunters. Most of the time, the hunters were either unsuccessful in finding any refugees... Or were defeated... Sometimes even killed... by refugees.

The refugees eventually started building hidden backland villages in the forests called "Quilombos", where refugees could come and live, free from slavery. A Quilombo's strongest fighter was made their King or Queen. The strongest of all Kings was said to be a refugee named "Zumbi". He was eventually defeated, captured, and executed, but only after a long, fierce and difficult battle. He would go down in Brazil's history as a National Hero!

Eventually, the colonizers decided it was becoming too dangerous and too expensive to continue hunting for the refugees. So they eventually called off all hunts, and abolished slavery all together.

Eventually, the younger refugees made their way into the cities of Brazil. However, higher society still descriminated against them. Thus, the Africans, though no longer slaves, had to resort to attacking and stealing from people as a means of survival.

One year, political voting time came, and some politicians decided to take advantage of the "Capoeiristas". They would hire and pay the Capoeiristas to be their body guards, and assault and threaten people to change their vote to the politician they were working for. Eventually, this got seriously out of hand, and the Brazilian Government decided to banish Capoeira. Anyone caught practicing or using Capoeira would be sentenced to exile on "Fernando de Noronha Island" off the North-East coast of Brazil.

Some people, however, wanted to continue practicing Capoeira for positive, constructive purposes, such as fun and fitness. So many people would continue practicing Capoeira on the streets, even though it was deemed illegal. At this time, many people practiced "Capoeira de Angola", a slower, lower and more folkloric form of Capoeira with no acrobatics.

In the 1920's, Manoel dos Reis Machado, a "Mestre" (Master) of Capoeira popularly named "Mestre Bimba", decided that Capoeira, the art he so loved, was becoming far too relaxed and folkloric to be considered a real martial art. So in the 1920's, he combined "Batuque", another extinct Brazilian form of martial art, of which his father was a Master, with Capoeira de Angola, to create a faster, more agressive, more practical form of Capoeira called "Luta Regional Baiana" or "Capoeira Regional".

In 1932, Mestre Bimba opened the first school of Capoeira.

In 1936, Mestre Bimba challenged fighters of several martial arts to test his "Capoeira Regional". He fought four matches, winning them all!

In 1937, Mestre Bimba demonstrated his art in front of the President, and impressed him enough to be rewarded with State Board of Education Certificate. The President then decided to lift the ban on Capoeira, and made Mestre Bimba's school the first official school of Capoeira in the world!

1937 thus heralded the freedom of Capoeira.

In 1942, Vincente Ferreira Pastinha (Mestre Pastinha), a popular Mestre of Capoeira de Angola, opened the first school of Capoeira de Angola.


So now you know what Capoeira is. I will leave this thread unlocked for more philosophical discussion of what Capoeira is, and for anyone who has further questions.