Capoeira: The Story

There are many variations to how capoeira came about. Historical evidence regarding the origins of capoeira is unfortunately quite scarce. Though there is a gap in capoeira history is believed to have been developed by slaves in Brazil about 400 years ago. one theory believed by many suggests that Capoeira came from West-African slaves, who began developing it while living and working in the plantations of Brazil in the hopes that it would someday be their vehicle to freedom. By masking it as a dance and retaining many of the old West-African cultural elements -- a call-and-response singing style, a strong precussion rhythm, a dance surrounded by a circle -- slaves were able to disguise their practice of Capoeira as a ritual from their homeland.

Many legends say that Capoeira was somewhat sucessful in the fight for freedom, and that it enabled some of the slaves to fight off Portuguese landowners and escape into the jungle to form renegade villages, known as "quilombos." These quilombos, ex-slave villages in the jungle, developed their own social structures, and some were thought to have lasted as long as 70-80 years before finally being defeated by the Portuguese. Capoeira is thought to have evolved tremendously within the quilombo, where villagers fended off intruders with the use of Capoeira.

With the abolition of Slavery in 1888 and the publication of the first constitution of the Brazilian Republic in 1892, Capoeira was outlawed. Practicioners of Capoeira were considered thugs and outlaws, as many formed some of the most formidable gangs in Rio and Bahia. This was slowly changed, beginning in 1932, with the debut of Mestre Bimba's Capoeira academy, believed to be the first of its kind in Brazil. Bimba, who helped to legalize Capoeira, is thought of by many as the founder of the "Regional" style of Capoeira, the Capoeira that is practiced by Volta Ao Mundo school as well as countless others.

Capoeira is gaining even more popularity today. It is still not known to many, but people are learning more and more about it and it is being spread. Today, it is called a game, some people mistake it as a dance, but it is much more. It is a martial art, it is a way of life, and in those days, it was freedom--liberation. Capoeira has been through a lot, and it has triumph to this day. I think it is something we all could learn to apprechiate.

There are many other theories that tell other stories as to the founding of Capoeira, and if you are interested in finding out much more about these, here are a couple of sites that may be able to help other than good old fashion searching....perferably by yahoo's search engine:

http://www.capoeiraarts.com/articles/history.html

http://capoeira.clanpages.com/history.htm