Capoeira

Origin
The origin of Capoeira - Brazilian or African - is the reason for the controversy generated to date: the various and conflicting theories have been developed to explain how it all began. Unfortunately, the early days of Capoeira has been shrouded in mystery. Since there are several documents from that period, the search in this direction are still in early stages. Let us now take a journey similar to the journey of slave ships which carry their human cargo to life in captivity. Imagine a flying saucer landing coming from a distant planet. Crew members bring a terrible and unknown weapons. The vast number of people, including us, amidst the general chaos and bloodshed is captured. After traveling the full fight, we come to our new home. Here we are sold as slaves, and after the first days of tiring work, take us to rest the joint accommodation of slaves. We meet our companions of disaster: the American guitarist, English boxer, Brazilian samba drums, practicing tai - chi, Chinese, African player "matchmaker" and many others. Time passes and through the rare moments of free time we begin to accept each other's culture. Our children and our children are born and raised in this environment, different cultures, and slavery. Imagine a gradual, extending over several decades, the birth of a new culture - dance-fighting game that combines boxing, tai-chi, samba, American music and "matchmaker". Now we have a notion of how capoeira was born and what are its roots: the elements of dance, martial and musical instruments from different cultures from different regions of Africa. It is a synthesis created in Brazilian soil, probably in El Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, from the beginnings of slavery regime until the nineteenth century. Capoeira also matured in other parts of Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro and Racife, where strong traditions of capoeira can be found even in the nineteenth century. In cities such Capoeira sustained only original aspects of the fight and not ready for the synthesis of discriminating ritual and fight like in Bahia. Later, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the traditions of Capoeira in these two cities were destroyed by the local police.During slavery
 

Starting around 1814, Capoeira and other forms of African culture and suffered regressions were banned in some places by the "lords" and supervisors. Until that time, African cultural forms were allowed and even encouraged, not only as measured against the internal security of oppression caused by slavery, but also to reveal differences between different groups of Africans, in accordance with the aim of "divide and rule". But with the arrival in Brazil in 1808 the King of Portugal, Dom Joao VI and his court, fleeing from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, things have changed: Capoeira began to be persecuted in a process which culminated in 1892 to remove it from the law.


Why was Capoeira suppressed? 
Motives are many:
* Gave Africans a sense of nationality,* Gave confidence practicing Capoeira,* Created a small, ripped the group,* Sometimes slaves could be hurt during a game (jogo), which was not good from an economic point of view.
"Gentlemen" and the supervisor probably had not been so confident as the wise king and his court as to these motives, but intuitively - was innate intuition in the classroom of the parent - to know that something is wrong.
How then practiced Capoeira?* In the form of crime in Rio de Janeiro and Racife,* As a ritual - dance - fighting - game in Bahia, where Capoeira progressively accepted other African elements,* Sometimes in secret, and in other places openly in rebellion against the law aiming at the abolition of Capoeira.

Capoeira of that time had little in common with today's or with the last century. There are no footnotes Rugendas acrobatic jumps, elements on earth, beats down, and an instrument called the berimbau, which were not then incorporated into the game of Capoeira. Then there were the game of Capoeira instruments such as Atabaque, clapping hands and singing. Time passed, this early described by Rugendas Capoeira has evolved and changed, partly by mere passage of time - everything changes over time - and partly by the impact of other forms of struggle from Africa.Freedom for slaves
 


With the release of "Golden rights" in 1888 on the prohibition of slavery, the newly freed "blacks" could not find a place for themselves within the existing socio-economic order. "Capoeirista" with their combat skills, confidence, individuality, quickly headed for the crime - and capoeira along with it. In Rio de Janeiro, where Capoeira grew and matured only as a martial art, criminal gangs were created to terrorize society. Shortly thereafter, during the transition from empire to Brazil a republic in 1890, these gangs were used by monarchists to exert pressure and break the conventions of his enemies. Bludgeon, dagger, razor were used to inflict wounds such techniques as "Rabo re arraira" and "rasteira." In Bahia, on the other hand, the continued development of capoeira as a dance - the struggle - the ritual - the game, and the "berimbau" has become an indispensable instrument for conductive, "Wednesday", always in secret places, since Capoeira was outlawed in 1892 by the first constitution of the Republic of Brazil . Fast forward now to 1900. In Rio, capoeirista was "malandro" (bandit) and a criminal, matter - white, mulatto or black, was an expert in the use of kicks, sweeps and blows his head, as well as in the use of melee weapons. In Recife, Capoeira was connected with the major music groups in the city. During the carnival tough Capoeira fighters able to lead their groups through the streets, and when the two groups met frequently there have to blows and bloodshed. At the end of the century in Bahia, capoeira was also seen as a criminal, but the players and the game itself showed features characteristic of Capoeira today. Repression and confrontations with police were still continuing. This art was slowly extinguished in Rio and Recife - left it only in Bahia. It was a time of legendary figures - the terrible warriors, de corpo fechado (meaning closed body - the person who allegedly praktykli by magic and rituals became almost insensitive to the effects of weapons), Besouro Cordao-se-Ouro in Bahia, Nascimento Grande in Recife and Manduca da Praia in Rio, opiewanych for his actions in songs today. It was said that Besouro lived in Santo Amaro da Purificacao, Bahia, and that was the teacher of another famous capoeiristas Cobrinha Verde. Besouro did not like the police and feared him not only as a Capoeira fighter, but also as an expert on edged weapons, and the holder de corpo fechado (closed body). According to legend, he pledged to trap. Apparently he, who could not write, he brought a written message identifying him as a person to be killed, thinking that it is information about the work. Legend has it that he was killed a special wooden dagger prepared in magical rituals in order to raise its de corpo fechado.Spośród all the criminals running the streets of Recife during his carnival groups, the most terrible was Nascimento Grande, some say that he died in clashes with the police, and some that he moved to Rio and he died of old age. Manduca da Praia was an earlier generation (1890s) and always dressed elegantly for the exaggeration. reportedly owned a fish store and lived comfortably. He was also one of the people controlling influence in your area. He prosecuted 27 cases of court, but he always managed to redeem the matter, thanks to politicians who work for him. Later in the 30s of the twentieth century in El Salvador, Mestre Bimba (Manuel dos Reis Machado 1900-1974) opened the first Capoeira academy (1932). Is this enabled the nationalist politicians of Getulio Vargas, who wanted to promote Capoeira as a national sport of Brazil. Since then, Capoeira Mestre Bimba taught at the Centro de Cultura fisica Regional Baiano. In 1941, Mestre Pastine (Vincente Ferreira Pastinha 1889-1981) opened a school of Capoeira Angola.Bimba and Pastinha
 


The two most important figures of the twentieth century were undoubtedly Capoeira Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha. In fact, these characters are so important in the history of capoeira (and the legend that surrounded them) because they are mythical ancestors of all Capoeira players, in addition we are or strive to be like them and what they represent. Mestre Bimba was born as Manoel dos Reis Machado in 1900. In Capoeira was engaged when he was 12 years in the area known today as the Liberdade, in Salvador. His master was African Bentinho - captain, a shipping company in Bahia. Bimba opened his school at the age of 18, which led to the opening of its first academy, where he taught "the regional fight from Bahia" - as he called it, and was also known as Capoeira Regional. Bibma was tchórzliwymwojownikiem, who earned the nickname "Tres Pancadas" (three strikes), which it said was the maximum number of moves that could get him to his opponent. Still, Bibma philosophy advocated malandro - "mind over force." He liked to say: "quem e rochedo aguenta Tempestad" (only the coasts will face the storm), which means that if it comes to grips with a much stronger person, a reasonable thing to do is escape, but when the striker will follow you, you can hunt down and win unexpectedly struggle - is a typical attitude malandro. With the opening of the academy Bimby began a new period in the history of Capoeira, science for kids Salvadoran upper class. Bimba introduced the undercutting of Batuque, martial arts, which was his father ran, and new golpes ligados or combined impact. He also created a new method of teaching based on the eight combinations of predetermined movements and kicks for two players and the Cintura desprezada - a combination of casting, at which capoeirista learns to always fall on the feet. He devoted a lot of aspects of the ritual and the "game" and the slower rhythms for greater aggressiveness and fighting spirit. All this should add to the important fact that most of the students belonging to other social classes (ie they were of various origins, had a different value system and way of thinking different from that of traditional capoeiristas who belong to disadvantaged social class, deeply rooted in African -Brazilian culture) has created a new style known as Capoeira Regional. In the years following the opening of the academy, Bimba was a great success, he and his students worked in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other major cities in Brazil. Unfortunately, the beginning of the seventies dissatisfied with the official institutions of the city of Bahia, which took him never to assist, he decided to move to Goian (near Brasilia - the capital of Brazil). A year later, February 5, 1974, died in this city. Retained full activity and presence of mind to the end of his days. Even planning to give the show the club that same afternoon when he died. Despite the fact that he asked for burial in Goian, several of his former disciples brought his body back to El Salvador, where he practiced and taught Capoeira for most of his other personalities życia.Wiele created and began to teach new forms of Capoeira, but they did not have such a wide knowledge as Mestre Bimba, nor his personality, because of their novelty disappeared as fast as formed.



 

With the advent of the Regional style, traditional style of Capoeira became popular under the name of Capoeira Angola. While styles and Senzala surpassed Regional, Capoeira Angola, Pastinha and his group as the only conservative still practiced the traditional form, although active were few other groups. Vincente Ferreira Pastinha was born in 1889. He said that he learned capoeira from African from Angola, called Benedito, who embraced Pastinha under his wing after he saw him beaten by an older boy. Despite its small stature, at the age of sixteen Pastinha was something of a bodyguard in the house of gambling in a dangerous neighborhood. His first school was opened a few years after Bimbi, thanks to his charisma and leadership abilities, and friendly relations with others, attracting the faithful disciples and capoeiristas, which glorified the academies as a point of assembly of artists and intellectuals who wanted to see the traditional style of Capoeira Angola. Pastinha became known as "the philosopher of capoeira," the use of many aphorisms. One of his favorites was "Capoeira e pair homen, Menino e mulher, so nao aprende quemnao quiser" (Capoeira is for men, women and children, the only ones who should not she learn those who do not want). Just as Bimba, knew well the philosophy malandragem and could tell about how he could wear a small sickle sharpened on both edges of the pocket. "If the crescent was the third edge, I tightened it for those who would like me to be hurt." - Said with affection. Unfortunately, the authoritarian government, under the pretext of rebuilding Largo Pelourinho, which housed the academy, confiscated space activities. Although he promised a new, this promise was never fulfilled. By the final years of his life was sad: blind and abandoned, he lived in a small room until his death in 1981 at the age of ninety two years. He left many disciples, among them the two most famous - Mestre João Grande (now teaches in New York) and Mestre Joao Pequeno.

The text was taken from a book entitled "The Little Capoeira Book"by Nestor Capoeira