Capoeira History

Capoeira....Who Am I?, Where Do I Come From?, Where are my roots? What is my heritage?

Long ago in the Mother Land known as Africa I was a game ...a rite of passage...of initiation and in my mother's womb I felt safe...practiced by young and old alike I kept my community Spirit strong and ALIVE...but ...then They came...took my family away from me.....separated mother from daughter...father from son.....they took them far, far away, they sought to divide community against community and in some places they succeeded and I was forgotten  almost altogether....I say almost for I am still found even today in the games that the children of my descendants play.

In other countries I grew into a rogue...a killer out of the need to survive...they caused me to taint my hands with human blood....once practiced as a celebration of life I had now become a taker of life....but this was the path that I then had to follow.  I was given no other choice.

When at last Freedom came  to my people,  it was joyous, however the social and economic conditions were scarcely better than they are now and many of my children used the skills I had taught them to fight against the oppressor, they now used them  to fight against and to hurt, maim and kill their own brothers and sisters.  Those were my Darkest days...now in this new- found freedom I had become an enemy onto my own people.

I sought ways in which I could once again regain the faith and trust of my people,....I spoke to many a man, woman and child, pleading with them to help me return to my former path and purpose, although many heard that call...few responded..

Hunted by the law...despised by the people, I was dying... but I was still strong enough to teach in secret  as was my way in this place....then  earlier this century  the world saw an emergence of me in a different guise....more technical was I, my attacks broad and circular....my fighting spirit proudly displayed for all to see...yet withheld and controlled  ..I regained my respectability and my African  roots were proudly proclaimed. I felt alive and vibrant once more!!.

Now....here I am 30,50, 70 years later and although I am enjoying popularity on the world scene I am empty and hollow inside....the conditions in the country where I became most mature have not truly improved....I have given birth to many children, they have the same mother....and yet some are widely discriminated against simply because of a difference of skin color.....even worse is this trend towards the erasing the name of my Mother Africa from my soul......what pains me most is to see that now this is not being done by strangers or oppressors  but by my own children and their children.

I....was born in Africa....transported to other lands....in some places forgotten.  In some places oppressed and sublimated and in some places I rose up to slay those who so wrongly took me from the arms of my Mother. I grew strong in Brazil.....I fought there....I killed men there.....I danced, loved and cried there....now that the world is seeing me and what I have to offer, they seek to embrace me  and make me their own....but know this.....I....the one called in Portuguese...."Capoeira" cannot be embraced by you if you will not accept the truth of my African Roots.......although you may have forgotten the MILLIONS of my  dark skinned children who DIED in this "New World"....I have not....and their children's children have not .....know this.... I would not exist in this world today...and in this form had it not been for their BLOOD, SACRIFICES and COURAGE...I WOULD NOT EXIST.....had it not been for MOTHER AFRICA!!!!

Those of you who seek to avoid this simple truth will never understand me....I am not a half breed.....not a dance or game or sport I encompass all these yet I am much, much more.....I am a Gift to this World, I am Life in itself containing everything..... yet, being nothing in particular.....my journey in this world has been a hard one ...stolen from my home.....I watched as my children died...watched as they fought against the enemy....my heart bled when they fought against each other...but even for all this I thank God.......because I realize that where I am right now is where I am to be and I would not trade the lessons I have learned....the good I have done or the Joy I now feel for anything in the World!!!!
- Capoeira-
 

 The History of Capoeira.

 Please note that the accounts that follow are colored by my own research and also by my own personal perceptions as it stand already there are conflicting accounts on Capoeira's History and Origins, I am presenting the information that I have for others to see and for them to take into account.
 
 

Firstly, we must ask ourselves "do we and can we accurately write on Capoeira's History?", if we truly understand this entity we call "Capoeira" then certainly we must realize that "Capoeira" is not simply a creation of man...no... Capoeira is his companion, his guide, his teacher along  the path of Life.

Note: The foregoing was one of those personal perceptions that I  warned you about, you may disagree with me of course...you have your rights...as do I....lets' continue....

I challenge you to accept this thought ....what we now call "Capoeira" has always existed... it is only now that we call it by this name. More than a "way of living", "Capoeira" is Life, for as helpful as" ways" of living are,  are each one of them has some flaw (that's why there are so many of them).
 
 

We start our journey  from around the 16th century, slaves were brought to Brazil from different regions of Western Africa and this practice continues to roughly around the middle of the 1700s. After that period, from around the 1800s the slaves imported to Brazil came mostly from Angola, Southern  Africa, the Congo ...mostly central and southern regions.

Slavery for the Africans was as much a psychological wound as it was a physical debasement, the desire of the African slaves was one for freedom (obviously) and many of them sought this freedom by keeping alive the rituals, games, songs and religions of their Mother Africa, this , however was not always allowed by their masters  and many of these slaves had to revert to physical escape.

Many of these slaves who did escape the plantations fled to the dense jungle where following them was difficult, in the relative safety and freedom of the jungles of Brazil the African slaves formed organized, free and independent communities these were called "quilombos"   the most famous of which was called "Palmares" (palm trees) this region still exists in the state of Alagoas, today we find remnants of over 1,000 former "quilombos" .

The region of Palmares was attacked by the Portuguese army, the Dutch army and the Portuguese & Dutch armies together however the Africans stood strong and Palmares stood for over 100 years, it is said that Capoeira was the weapon used by the African slaves in defense of their jungle homes.

Lets jet forward to the period of the  signing of the Golden Law in 1888. After the abolition of slavery the new "free-men" found no suitable place for themselves in the existing socio-economic structure, some of these "free-men" were of course, Capoeiristas, who, disgusted by the state of affairs descended into criminality.

In the region of Rio de Janeiro, criminal gangs terrorized the population...(Capoeira the scourge).

In the Bahia region the development of the game-fight-ritual-dance form of Capoeira continued its growth, these practices were done in secret however as the practice of the Capoeira had been outlawed in 1892.

Personal note: Capoeira is as a chameleon changing to fits its environment, changing to survive...had Capoeira developed in Southern China or Thailand we might have seen a very different form of her expression today...Capoeira will continue to develop...continue to as Bruce Lee put it "strip away the unessentials"....perhaps if he'd lived long enough Lee would have found everything that he was looking for in Capoeira!!!

Capoeira 1900

The Rogue, the criminal, in Rio de Janeiro and even Bahia this was the Capoeirista was seen, whether he be black , white or mulatto.
In Recife, during carnival times Capoeira fighters would lead music bands through the city's streets, bloodshed was usually the result of the meeting of two bands.

Due to confrontations with the Police, the Capoeira of Rio and Recife slowly died out, leaving the Bahia Capoeira. Many legendary players emerged at this time such as Besouro Corda-de-Ouro in Bahia, Nascimento Grande in Recife and Manduca da Praia in Rio de Janeiro.

Personal note: If Capoeira died out in the Rio de Janeiro region and this is where Capoeira developed mainly as a fight-form have we lost something from the Art? How similar or different would the Capoeirista from Rio play/fight as compared to one from Bahia? Which "form" of Capoeira has been passed down to us today?

Mestre Bimba

Born Manuel dos Reis Machado in 1900, he began his love affair with Capoeira at the tender age of twelve (12) he was taught by the AFRICAN Bentinho, at the age of eighteen Bimba opened his first school, however it was in the 1930s when he opened his first academy the "Centro de Cultura Fisica Regional Baiano" hence the name Capoeira Regional. This was due to the so-called "nationalistic" policies of Getulio Vargas, who wanted to promote Capoeira as a national sport...yeah...right!!

Mestre Pastinha

Vincente Ferreira Pastinha, Mestre Pastinha born in 1889,  he is said to have been taught Capoeira by an AFRICAN from ANGOLA named Benedito. Pastinha opened his first Academy in 1941 and it became a gathering point for artists, writers and intellectual who wanted to see and feel the aura of the "traditional " Capoeira Angola. Mestre Pastinha became known as the "Philosopher of Capoeira" because of his many aphorisms. The Largo do Pelourinho where his Academy was housed was confiscated by the government and although the BASTARDS promised new space they never came through on that promise. Blind and almost abandoned Mestre Pastinha lived the few remaining years of his life in a small room until he died in 1981 at the age of 92.

We know that you are where you need to be Mestres, thank you for the inspiration you left behind may your lights continue to shine as brightly in Heaven as they did in your incarnation here on earth!!

Macaco.

Please note the foregoing was a personal view of the history of Capoeira, I am sure that there is more I can add, more that some people would like to have seen mentioned here...I am constantly reviewing Capoeira's History...for any mistakes I have made.. I apologize.

I also realize that a Brazilian's view of Capoeira will be somewhat different from mine, I am of African descent and I have great pride I that heritage...My view of Capoeira , its purpose, its goals and its ends will evolve as I grow in the Art...I thank you for reading what I have to say...and I appreciate the fact that you don't have to agree with anything I have said here... I have a dream...that one Day all Capoeiristas whether black, white, chinese, barbadian, Angolieros ,Regional stylists or otherwise will stand united under one Cause and purpose.