Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

108 THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA
earth. Not to sully the other’s clothes was therefore conceivable because players would hardly touch each
other. Yet not every player would necessarily wear such elaborate dress during a festive roda on a square.
As in Rio de Janeiro the ‘professional’ Bahian practitioner also developed an idiosyncratic way of
dressing, which reflects to what extent he represented a social type and a whole subculture. Mestre
Pastinha, among others, described him:
In my time, when I was capoeirista…There were capoeirista who walked around twisted, but twisted
in a way that nature did not make him. Because he got a scarf, he would wear a big scarf, trousers
with a big hem, with 30cm of hem. There were some made of chagrin leather…The hat thrown to one
side…And there he walked, completely twisted, on the left side or on the right side…[…] And he
walked in the middle of the street with that sway (gingado)! The capoeirista had all this at the time. 50
Other sources mention the frequent use of golden earrings and pointed boots. Capoeiras also liked to
carry sticks. Viana explains that the Sunday tie was replaced by a red scarf with a showy pattern during
weekdays. 51
The game consisted in avoiding the other player’s attack through an acrobatic escape movement such as
the ‘negation’ (negativa) and riposting with a counterattack. The game became therefore a sort of dialogue,
where each movement replied to the previous one. Players could show off through particularly acrobatic
movements, but also through malice (malícia). Malice or deception—also a key concept in modern capoeira
—meant to lull the other player into a false sense of security, only to surprise him with a move he was not
expecting. However, respect for the other player usually meant not to carry out the attack, but only to show
him what one could have done. This was enough to score points in front of an initiated public. A carefully
executed rasteira or a soft head-butt that threw the other off balance was equally acceptable, although it
raised the stake of the game. Full contact was therefore unusual and almost proscribed and, when it
happened—due to inattention or provocation—could lead to retaliation and outbreak of violence. 52
The employment of malícia meant that the game did not just represent an athletic competition, were the
youngest could show off. Experience was paramount for a skilful game, and for that reason older mestres
were able to keep in control even when playing with younger capoeiras. Carlos Ott was surprised by the
many 40 year olds in the rodas he attended, and Jorge Amado admired Samuel ‘Beloved of God’ for still
catching out much younger players when he was already in his sixties. 53
The capoeira orchestra (bateria) played a range of rhythms (toques) during a roda. Each toque consists of
a basic rhythmic-melodic pattern and its variations. One berimbau (usually the one with the deepest sound,
called gunga and sometimes berra-boi) took the lead, and the others instruments followed, countermarking
or varying the basic pattern. The most common toques were: São Bento Grande, São Bento Pequeno,
Angola, Santa Maria, Angolinha, Jogo de Dentro, Cavalaria. 54 Again, no strict consistency existed regarding
both the names and the rhythmic pattern of each toque. Some mestres gave different names to the same
rhythmic pattern, or executed different rhythms to the same toque. Often a toque particular to only one
mestre consisted of a slight variation of a basic rhythm. Each mestre played his own range of toques,
consisting of a combination of the well known ones, performed by almost everybody, and others, sometimes
his own or his mestre’s creation, that expressed his particular style or personality. 55
Most testimonies agree that games in this period could be tough, but usually did not cross the borderline
into real fights. Capoeira players called each other ‘comrades’ (camará), not opponents or fighters. Old
mestres also insist that players were well aware of the different types of games, which varied according to
the toque played by the orchestra. Common characterizations differentiated between ‘high’ and ‘low’;
‘inside’ and ‘outside’; fast and slow, and acrobatic, playful or aggressive games. The particular toques and