LEROY HENRY
TEL : 07869 294406 / email skiehightraining@yahoo.co.uk
| Capoeira |
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Capoeira |
Capoeira is a Brazilian fight-dance, game, and martial art created by enslaved Africans during the 19th Century. Participants form a roda (circle) and take turns playing instruments, singing, and sparring in pairs in the centre of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, subterfuge, and extensive use of groundwork, as well as sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Technique and strategy are the key elements to playing a good game. Capoeira has three main styles, known as "regional", "Angola", and the less-well defined "contemporânea". I teach Capoeira technique and strategy to clients both individually and within groups if requested. I have listed below some of the techniques I teach: Ginga The ginga (literally: rocking back and forth; to swing) is the fundamental movement in capoeira. Capoeira Angola and capoeira regional have distinctive forms of ginga. Both are accomplished by maintaining both feet approximately shoulder-width apart and then moving one foot backwards and then back to the base, describing a triangular 'step' on the ground. This movement is done to prepare the body for other movements.The rest of the body is also involved in the ginga: coordination of the arms (in such a way as to prevent the body from being kicked), torso (many core muscles may be engaged depending on the player's style), and the leaning of the body (forward and back in relation to the position of the feet; the body leans back to avoid kicks, and forward to create opportunities to show attacks). The overall movement should match the rhythm being played by the bateria. Attacks Capoeira primarily attacks with kicks, sweeps, and head strikes. Some schools teach punches and hand strikes, but they are not as common. Some scholarshave speculated that this is because the art was originally developed by handcuffed slaves fighting against their guards but this is highly unlikely as slaves were just as often restrained by the feet and/or neck. Another, more probable explanation for the primary use of feet is the common West African belief that hands are for creation and feet for destruction. Elbow strikes are commonly used in place of hand strikes. "Cabeçada" or Headbutts are common- as they are in many of the fighting arts of the African Diaspora. Knee strikes are sometimes seen. Capoeira also uses acrobatic and athletic movements to maneuver around the opponent. Cartwheels called "aú" (a very common acrobatic movement), handstands (bananeira), headspins (pião de cabeça), hand-spins (pião de mão), hand-springs (gato), sitting movements, turns, jumps, flips (Mortal), and large dodges are all very common in capoeira though vary greatly depending on the form and rhythm. Fakes and feints are also an extremely important element in capoeira games and the setting of "traps" or illusory movements are very common.Defenses Capoeira defenses consists of evasive moves and rolls. A series of ducks called esquivas, which literally means "escape", are also staple of a capoeiristas' defensive vocabulary. There are typically different esquivas for every step of the Ginga, depending on the direction of the kick and intention of the defender. A common defense is the rolê, which is a rolling move that combines a duck and a low movement. This move allows the defensive player to quickly evade an attack and position themselves around the aggressor in order to lay up for an attack. It is this combination of attacks and defense which gives a game of capoeira its perceived 'fluidity' and choreography. Other evasive moves such as rasteira, vingativa, tesoura de mão or queda allow the capoeirista to move away or dangerously close in an attempt to trip up the aggressor in the briefest moment of vulnerability (usually in a mid-kick.) Combinations There are also styles of moves that combine both elements of attack and defense. An example is the au batido. The move begins as an evasive cartwheel which then turns into a blocking/kick, either as a reflexive response to a blocking move from the opposing player or when an opportunity to do so presents itself, eg. at an opponent's drop of guard. Two kicks called meia lua de frente and armada are usually combined to create a double spinning kick. History of Capoeira From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Portugal shipped slaves into South America from western Africa. The South American country of Brazil was the most common destination for African captives with 42% of all enslaved peoples shipped across the Atlantic. Most commonly sold into Brazil were Akan, Igbo, Yoruba, Dahomean, Muslim Guineans, Hausa, and Bantu (among them Kongos, Kimbundas and Kasanjes) from Angola, Congo and Mozambique. These Africans brought their cultural traditions and religions with them to the New World. One theory suggests that capoeira originated from a courtship dance in Angola used by suitors of young women, however, capoeira's origins are often disputed. Originally, capoeira referred to a completely different game than today, wherein two competitors attempted to score against each other by means of headbutts to the chest. There is contention as to whether it arrived with enslaved Africans or whether Africans refined it once they reached Brazil. One catalyst for capoeira was the homogenization of African people under the oppression of slavery. Capoeira emerged as a way to resist oppression, secretly practice art, transmit culture, and lift spirits. One of the theories indicates that the slaves in order to be able to practice it without being spotted disguised it as a dance, therefore the dance likes movements and the singing. Some of the movements are designed to be performed when having the hands tied up or chained. This form of capoeira is best represented in capoeira Angola (which continues to uphold the roots of capoeira) today.Some historians believe that the indigenous peoples of Brazil also played an important role in the development of capoeira. Batuque and Maculelê are other fight-dances also developed by African-descended populations that are closely connected to capoeira. There are also engravings and writings that describe a now-lost fighting dance in Cuba, the baile del maní, with two Bantu men moving to the yuka drums.After slavery was abolished in 1888, the freed people moved to the cities of Brazil and with no employment to be found, many joined or formed criminal gangs. They continued to practice capoeira, and it became associated with anti-government and criminal activities. As a result, capoeira was outlawed in Brazil in 1890. The punishment for practicing it was extreme (practitioners would have the tendons on the backs of their feet cut), and the police were vicious in their attempt to stamp out the art. Capoeira continued to be practiced, but it moved further underground. Rodas were often held in areas with plenty of escape routes, and a special rhythm called cavalaria was added to the music to warn players that the police were coming. Capoeira practitioners (capoeiristas) also adopted apelidos or nicknames to make it more difficult for police to discover their true identities. To this day, when a person is baptized into capoeira at the batizado ceremony, they may be given an apelido. Legal persecution of the art faded eventually.
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