Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Theatrical reproduction of the maculelé dance associated with capoeira. (Julie Lemberger/Corbis) 62 Capoeira the feet and head-butts, some argue, could be delivered by men in chains. Moreover, many oral traditions claim that the practice of capoeira allowed those slaves who escaped and survived to establish communities in the bush to defend themselves from the groups of armed men who sought to apprehend and return them to captivity. Written records alluding to the art date only to around the last century of the slave experience (beginning in 1770), and in them capoeira was identified, not with African Brazilians, but with a Portuguese bodyguard of the viceroy. Throughout the nineteenth century, references to capoeira identify it not with the rural settings of the folk histories but with urban centers such as Recife, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro. The art was generally associated with the street, petty crime, and social disorder into the early decades of the twentieth century. Contemporary traditions echo this earlier disreputability. For example, it has been traditional to receive a nickname at one’s batizada (“christening,” or acceptance into the art). This harks back to the necessity of a street name among earlier capoeiristas. As one might expect with an art of the street, the traditional way to learn capoeira was by observing play, by playing, or by using it in street defense. Any instruction was extremely informal. Brazilian author Jorge Amado in his novel Jubiabá gives several accounts of capoeira as it existed on the streets of his native Bahia. These vignettes reflect both the unstructured way of ac-
quiring knowledge of capoeira and the vicious quality of its use as a streetfighting system. The customary label for this art, Capoeira Angola, pays homage to its legendary African origins. In the late 1920s to early 1930s, however, a new way to study capoeira became available. During that period, Manoel dos Reis Machado—Mestre (Master) Bimba—opened his school and began attempts both to legitimize the art and to systematize its transmission. The difficulties he faced are suggested by the fact that it was not until 1937 that his school, Centro de Cultura Física e Capoeira Regional, was granted official state recognition. Mestre Bimba’s system came to be known as Capoeira Regional (after his school’s name) in order to distinguish it from the traditional style still played on the streets and taught by conservative mestres—Capoeira Angola. In contrast to the earlier trial-and-error learning acquired by entering the roda, Machado developed a structured curriculum in a training hall setting. He has been accused of appropriating elements of Asian arts, particularly karate and jûjutsu, into his style of capoeira. The best evidence suggests, however, that his system grew from traditional street capoeira with some influences from batuque (a rough game of kicking and tripping with obvious martial qualities) via his father. Nevertheless, the structure Machado set up is imbued with elements familiar to students of many Asian martial arts, such as formalized exercises containing series of basic movements (sequencias), uniforms consisting of white trousers and T-shirts, and colored belts indicating rank (cordãos). The cordão system is not uniform— different local clubs (grupos) use different colors to indicate rank or level of experience—nor has it been universally adopted—those organizations following the Angola tradition do not use belts, or white uniforms, at all. Capoeira is said to be “played”; therefore, a match is labeled a jôgo (a game). The jôgo takes place in a ring called a roda (wheel) formed by participants waiting their turns to play. Roda is also the label used for an occasion for capoeira play, for example, “next Sunday’s roda.” The jôgo is played to the musical accompaniment of percussion instruments derived in the New World from African archetypes: the berimbau (a large musical bow utilizing a gourd resonator that is played by striking its metal bowstring with a stick), the pandeiro (tambourine), the agogô (a pair of clapperless bells struck with a metal stick), the reco-reco (a notched scraper), and the atabaque (conga drum). The berimbau is the primary instrument and is venerated by players. For example, its placement provides spatial orientation for play, in that its location is called pé do berimbau (foot of the berimbau), and players enter the roda after kneeling facing one another and performing a private ritual (e.g., making the sign of the cross) in front of the berimbau. Thus, the instrument creates a “sacred space” in the roda. Capoeira 63
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<strong>The</strong>atrical reproduction of the maculelé dance associated with capoeira. (Julie Lemberger/Corbis)<br />
62 Capoeira<br />
the feet and head-butts, some argue, could be delivered by men in chains.<br />
Moreover, many oral traditions claim that the practice of capoeira allowed<br />
those slaves who escaped and survived to establish communities in the bush<br />
to defend themselves from the groups of armed men who sought to apprehend<br />
and return them to captivity.<br />
Written records alluding to the art date only to around the last century<br />
of the slave experience (beginning in 1770), and in them capoeira was<br />
identified, not with African Brazilians, but with a Portuguese bodyguard of<br />
the viceroy. Throughout the nineteenth century, references to capoeira<br />
identify it not with the rural settings of the folk histories but with urban<br />
centers such as Recife, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro. <strong>The</strong> art was generally<br />
associated with the street, petty crime, and social disorder into the early<br />
decades of the twentieth century. Contemporary traditions echo this earlier<br />
disreputability. For example, it has been traditional to receive a nickname<br />
at one’s batizada (“christening,” or acceptance into the art). This harks<br />
back to the necessity of a street name among earlier capoeiristas. As one<br />
might expect with an art of the street, the traditional way to learn capoeira<br />
was by observing play, by playing, or by using it in street defense. Any instruction<br />
was extremely informal. Brazilian author Jorge Amado in his<br />
novel Jubiabá gives several accounts of capoeira as it existed on the streets<br />
of his native Bahia. <strong>The</strong>se vignettes reflect both the unstructured way of ac-