Soaked in History and Draped in Dance: Brazil’s Martial Art of Capoeria

Embedded deep and far back in #Brazilian culture, Capoeira is a striking martial art that enriches a dark history. Its origins lie in the times of slavery, when West Africans were shipped to Brazil to work in intolerable conditions on the sugar cane farms. Originally practiced as a means of survival should the slaves escape, it later became a powerful and dangerous martial art against the threat of #Portuguese colonial troops. Nowadays, capoeira masters teach this traditional art all throughout the world to various #cultural backgrounds.

Seemingly dance-like to the untrained eye, capoeira is known for its speed, agility and power with the majority of attacks made using the legs in the form of precision-like kicks to the head or vital body parts. A fundamental move is the ginga that ensures the #Capoeirista is constantly moving, enabling them to avoid attacks through evasive moves rather than block threats.

Presentations are often made to the beat of hypnotic #music that sets the tempo and pace of the performance. These are usually #acrobatic rather than aggressive performances with the aim to showcase the complexity and skill of the Capoeiristas, and the Brazilian #heritage that it is so deeply associated to.