Capoeira
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that is rooted in the methods of combat and dances of African peoples from the times of slavery in Brazil. It differs from other martial arts by his playful side and often acrobatic (Capoeira is a mix of dance and fighting style, dancing and hiding the nature of combat, much used by the tribes under slavery to hide violence of the dance). The feet are very much in demand during the fight and the "players" are often armstand on the hands to perform movements of legs.
In various forms, capoeira is played at different levels more or less close to the ground and more or less rapidly, often accompanied by instruments, singing and clapping of hands. A form very similar, both in the actions in the rhythms, is known and practiced throughout the Indian Ocean under the name of Moringue for several centuries.
Etymology
We do not know unequivocally the origin of the word "capoeira", several theories claiming its origin. It comes from the Indian language Tupi-Guarani and means "clearing" or "short grass", runaway slaves often have been seen in the process of this type of train in place to protect teachers who want to recover.
Another version in Portuguese, "capoeira" means the barn and the wicker basket in which we carried this type of bird. The slaves going to market to sell the animals in their wicker basket took the opportunity to practice what stuttering control and it would thus would have been called capoeira by transposition with the merchandise carrying their practitioners.
History
It is very difficult to describe in detail the origins of this martial art since he was born underground and thus has left almost no paper to tell his story. Some see capoeira as fully as African all that is there, or would have existed in some form in Africa. Others think it is totally Brazilian born since the territory of Brazil although for creators of slaves from Africa. But the version most widely accepted is that it is inextricably Afro-Brazilian during slavery in Brazil in the sixteenth century the Portuguese were separated and mixed different African tribes to reduce the risk of revolt, different populations are found in contact and this heterogeneous grouping was born the first form of capoeira, an association of African traditions and struggles in a context of Portuguese colonial society in Brazil.
Capoeira express a form of rebellion against the slave society, the first capoeira were training to fight in concealing their martial art in the guise of a game, so when the teacher approached the martial character was disguised by the music and songs, the battle is transformed quickly into a kind of dance that deceived their distrust and could not see their warlike nature of capoeira. It was also practiced in the "Quilombo" secret refuges for runaway slaves escape their tormentors. The most famous "O Quilombos dos Palmares" held more than a century and has been the subject of many songs and most famous member, Zumbi dos Palmares is a leading figure of the resistance of enslaved Africans. Capoeira also result in a form of body language: the first slaves speaking different languages would have also created a kind vehicle for communication between different cultures. These are the explanations most frequently issued, many historians have sought to explain the circumstances of the birth of capoeira but it seems impossible to do so in a formal and tangible.
Becoming better known and defined in Brazil's history, it will survive until the independence of Brazil in 1822 and abolition (official) from slavery in 1888 but it remains nonetheless frowned upon by the authority considers it dangerous and prohibited in 1890 by creating an offense punishing those who commit to capoeiragem: the practice of capoeira. Practiced by such thieves and thugs of all kinds, together with rival gangs called maltas Capoeira, capoeira was practiced clandestinely in the streets and "capoeiristas" or "Capoeira" because they were causing disturbances regularly used it to settle scores in bloodshed.
In 1930, Manuel dos Reis Machado, better known as Mestre Bimba founded the first capoeira school he calls the "Centro de Cultura Fisica e Capoeira Regional" in Salvador de Bahia and created the style known as capoeira " Capoeira Regional. This is strange because at the time of capoeira can be learned only in the street and into the heart, to train in capoeira in a room with coded workouts (including the famous eight sequences of Mestre Bimba) was again and foreshadows the many academies that will be created thereafter. Capoeira Regional is distinguished from traditional Capoeira Mestre Bimba because it will incorporate elements of "Batuque", a struggle that was practicing his African father, and other elements from foreign martial arts into a fight different from traditional capoeira . One of his desire is also to clean the image of capoeira in the decoupling of banditry and crime problems of Brazilian society of the time. For this he does in his academy that individuals can certify an honest job: the first generation of students are found to be mainly young wealthy white family and good at what then was a form of respectability. In 1952 he succeeded in attracting the attention of the Brazilian president at the time, Getulio Vargas, and will demonstrate the result of which the president will say that capoeira is the "true national sport". This is one of the events that will allow capoeira out of hiding and assertive today as the second most practiced sport by the Brazilians after football.
Totally against the foot of Mestre Bimba, Vicente Ferreira Pastinha better known as Mestre Pastinha embody power wishing to retain a certain extent the traditional capoeira, it will be called "Capoeira Angola".
With the growth of capoeira, Brazil has emerged from many groups and around 1970, a group that wanted to practice capoeira has created a system of ropes to the image of colored belts martial arts. However, there is no consistency between different groups of capoeira in terms of color strings. Each group has a color grading of its own. Most of the time, the first string is white, representing virginity and to whom we must learn everything, but sometimes it can be a sign of light green fruit that has not yet reached maturity. In some groups the white cord is the "Masters" themselves. This demonstrates the differences among the groups.
The 1980s and the revival of black consciousness movements have encouraged the emergence of groups that sought to move closer to tradition. In the same year, teachers of capoeira are installed around the world.
Internationally, the discipline of capoeira is mostly organized in groups, themselves made up of academies and schools. Each group has its own aspirations, practices and customs, while preserving the common cultural basis of the discipline.
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