Capoeira Angola
"Capoeiristas must learn. The world is the school where we learn, and nature - who willingly give us joy and essential elements- is who teaches us the lessons for our benefit" Mestre Pastinha.
- Capoeira origins
- Origin of the name
- Capoeira Angola: a practical definition
- Capoeira Angola: philosophical definition
Capoeira origins
There are many different theories about Capoeira development, but its african root cannot be denied: its movements and its rythm do not allow any doubt.
Movements (corta-capim, rabo de arraia, aú, llamada, chapa de frente and chapa de costas) and rythm are inherited from african war dances. Afterwards, as they arrived the new continent, they transformed into what today is known as Capoeira.
First signs tell us that Capoeira was born in the Recóncavo Bahiano, where mestres will arrive later on from Santo Amaro da Purificação.
"Is Capoeira the second fight? Because the first one is that of caboclos, which africans joined with their dance and parts from batuque and candomble, giving it its own category"
"In every district there is an african with the responsability of teaching, to convert it in his weapon against his prosecutor"
(Mestre Pastinha)
Origin of the name
Capoeira is a word from the tupí language which references the vegetation that grows after tropical rainforest is pulled up.
Capoeira Angola: practical definition
Movements are traditional. Every capoeirista plays them according to his constitution.
There are some basic movements (blows) which grow into complex variations and combinations. Their application depends upon the creativity of every capoeirista, but always considering the movements of the partner. A dialogue with questions and answers is stablished, or, like Mestre João Grande says, a dialogue of "positive and negative".
Capoeirista ethics in the roda are also important. This was an important lesson that traditionally mestres transmitted and now it has been forgotten in Capoeira rodas.
"Every mestre has the duty to spread the point that using the hands against an adversary is a fault; if they do not carry out their duty, they prove that they are not mestres. Whoever has education proves his honesty playing with his comrade and not trying to beat his pal nor humiliate him: the time has come to understand it" Mestre Pastinha.
Capoeira Angola: philosophical definition
Capoeira Angola is a self-awareness process not limited to the physical activity, but also promoting everybody's progress through the living together in group.
In Capoeira, its afrobrazillian philosophy and aesthetics can be appreciated. They are holistic, without a distinction between sacred and ancestral, between job and joy, between fight and game.
Capoeira Angola is a combination of different cultural expressions: martial arts, dance, music and theatre, all together with philosophy, spirituality, jokes and play. It harmonizes emotion and action, putting together an immediate and superficial vision with a vision full of deep meanings.
The capoeirista uses both visions to communicate and participate in the roda, the game that integrates all these factors.