BRIEF HISTORY
of Capoeira

Capoeira (Cap-o-ay-da) is an Afro-Brazilian art form that weaves acrobatic movements, fight, play, strategy, music and philosophy into a rhythmic game of real and ritualized competition resulting in an un-choreographed 'conversation' between players.

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It is incumbent upon all Capoeiristas, especially non-Brazilian ones, to know the history of the art we practice. What follows is a VERY brief overview of the history of the form.

 

Questions of Capoeira’s origins are unclear and at times controversial. With few written records, much of our current understanding comes from oral histories, legend and lore, and ideas about Capoeira’s genesis are often a matter of perspective and is, in some ways, a part of the game itself. Many mythologies and stories exist as to why Capoeira was created, but it was clearly a cultural expression created for the people, by the people, to create, express and play with one another.

 

Capoeira is a Brazilian-born art form derived from African ritualistic and martial traditions. The intermingling of people from groups such as the Yoruba, Ashanti, Mandinka and Imbangala in oppressive conditions gave rise to the game we call Capoeira, now played around the world.
 

The History of Capoeira spans over 500 years of Brazilian history, originating with the ma’afa or “great tragedy” between 1500 and the early 1900s with the enslavement of generations of West and Central African people into the slave trade operated by the Portuguese in Brazil. Taken from their homes and suffering months at sea with little or no food, those that survived arrived into the ports of Brazil and were sold into labor in the massive sugar cane, tobacco and coffee plantations operating there. 

Forced to live in 'Senzalas' or squalid slave quarters, punished should they practice traditional customs and dances and often separated from those that spoke the same languages; enslaved peoples found unique ways of retaining their diverse cultural identities and traditions through dance, music, storytelling and games.

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Between the late 1500's and late 1700's many villages and communities emerged in the interior of Northeastern Brazil made up of Indigenous populations and people that had escaped enslavement. These 'Quilombos' ranged in size from a few hundred people to many thousands. The largest of these communities,  'Palmares', was ruled most notably by a man named Zumbi who features prominently in Capoeira music. Throughout the 18th century these communities were systematically destroyed and dismantled, their leaders executed or imprisoned by the Portuguese. It is unclear if the warriors of the Quilombos practiced Capoeira as we understand it, but they were skilled fighters and renowned for their ferocity.

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Capoeira music and songs are an amalgamation of traditional song-structures from various African-born traditions, Indigenous Brazilian traditions, as well as song structures and musical instruments [such as the Pandeiro and Atabaque] already present within Portuguese and North African traditions. Spiritual practices, ritual and recreational 'party' music often blended and cross pollinated among people, and were the roots of not only Capoeira music, but also Samba, Batucada, Bossa Nova and other well known musical traditions.

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Outlawed after the abolition of slavery for its connection to Blackness and 'lawlessness', Capoeira became largely a street form for generations with practitioners using aliases to avoid arrest or harassment by the police or conscription into the military. Folkloric heroes who used capoeira emerged during this time, often celebrated as rebels and outlaws who defied capture by police.

Though born in the Northeast of Brazil, by the 1920's and 30's Capoeira had spread throughout Brazil, from Rio to Recife assuming a variety of regional styles and vocabularies. Capoeira practitioners or 'Mestres' [those recognized by their community as teachers of the art] often took it upon themselves to preserve or codify the form and traveled to teach throughout Brazil. During this time, multiple  'schools' or lineages of the form emerged, stewarded by these early teachers; each based on their beliefs and histories within the game. These early Mestres were fundamental in the creation of the Capoeira practiced today around the world.

In 1937 Capoeira was finally legalized and recognized as a national folkloric art by the Brazilian government due, in large part, to the efforts of Mestre Bimba, creator of the 'Regional' form of Capoeira: A codified version of the game taught in an academy through specific sequences and a standardized system of 'scarves' worn around the waist to signify ones 'level' in Capoeira.

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Just a few of of the Mestres active during this 'rebirth' of capoeira are listed below