Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for leg sweeps.
The word capoeira probably comes from Tupi, referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior.
From the 16th century, Portugal began to send slaves to Brazil, coming primarily from west Africa. The most frequently sold peoples in Brazil were part of the ethnic groups: Yoruba, jeje and hauçá and the groupbanto (including the congos, quimbundos and Kasanjes), from the territories currently located in the countries of Angola and the Congo.
In the 17th century, it was the custom of the pastoral peoples of the south of the present Angola, in Africa, celebrate the initiation of young people to adulthood with a ceremony called n'golo (which means "zebra" in quimbundo).
During the ceremony, the men competed in a fight animated by the touch of atabaques in which whoever could put their foot on the opponent's head won. The winner had the right to choose, without having to pay the dowry, a bride among the young women who were being initiated into adulthood. With the arrival of the Portuguese and the enslavement of the African peoples, this struggle will have been introduced in Brazil.
It is proposed that capoeira emerged at the time of Colonial Brazil, by acculturation as a way out to express desires for the freedom of the black race and by the need to defend itself fromgentlemen enemies. These people were unarmed and used their own bodies as their method of combat, taking advantage of the dances, songs and movements manifested by African cultures.
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for leg sweeps.
The word capoeira probably comes from Tupi, referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior.
From the 16th century, Portugal began to send slaves to Brazil, coming primarily from west Africa. The most frequently sold peoples in Brazil were part of the ethnic groups: Yoruba, jeje and hauçá and the groupbanto (including the congos, quimbundos and Kasanjes), from the territories currently located in the countries of Angola and the Congo.
In the 17th century, it was the custom of the pastoral peoples of the south of the present Angola, in Africa, celebrate the initiation of young people to adulthood with a ceremony called n'golo (which means "zebra" in quimbundo).
During the ceremony, the men competed in a fight animated by the touch of atabaques in which whoever could put their foot on the opponent's head won. The winner had the right to choose, without having to pay the dowry, a bride among the young women who were being initiated into adulthood. With the arrival of the Portuguese and the enslavement of the African peoples, this struggle will have been introduced in Brazil.
It is proposed that capoeira emerged at the time of Colonial Brazil, by acculturation as a way out to express desires for the freedom of the black race and by the need to defend itself fromgentlemen enemies. These people were unarmed and used their own bodies as their method of combat, taking advantage of the dances, songs and movements manifested by African cultures.
