Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 195
‘capoeira contemporânea’ is more widely used to designate all ‘hybrid’ styles. Since that expression can
lead to some confusion—there also exists a contemporary Angola and a contemporary Regional—I will
refer to it as mainstream capoeira.
Practitioners today still assess contemporary styles in terms of Angola and Regional, although many
recognize the inadequacy of such a bi-polar approach. To evaluate contemporary styles it is necessary to
look again at social context, formal aspects and cultural meanings. Contemporary capoeira happens in
several contexts and for different purposes, which can be summarized under four main headings, according
to the emphasis: fighting, sport, show and art. These distinctions are far from absolute, and the same
individuals eventually practise several kinds.
The capoeira modality that places the main—if not the only—emphasis on fighting occurs mainly in ring
contests and street rodas, even though graduation events in some groups are not exempt from games which
also turn into fights. ‘Rough capoeira’ (capoeira dura) in a contemporary roda means full contact, and not
sparing the adversary when one can place a kick. As one of its supporters, the boxer and capoeira teacher
Nanico, explains:
I think beating (pancadaria) is good. I learned capoeira being beaten up and I like a rough game,
heavy game. Sometimes, when I receive a kick that breaks my mouth, my nose, I even like it because
I am learning. Beating (pancadaria) is important in capoeira. Pancadaria is not violence […] 142
He is representative of a new generation of fighters in the tradition of the former valentões who, confident
in their combat skills, proudly challenge their peers: ‘In the capoeira roda I only fear God’. 143 Some of them
have a nationwide reputation, such as M.King Kong from Salvador, M.Maurão from São Paulo, or King
from Rio de Janeiro (formerly Abadá). For them, capoeiristas should be able to play rough games so that
the art does not lose its efftciency in combat. M.Maurão, among others, calls this the search for ‘objectivity’
in capoeira, and insists this is not to be confused with violence or aggression. 144
Rough games take place in street rodas, such as the Mercado Modelo, in Salvador or the Praça da
República in São Paulo, and can also be seen in academies, especially in those which train in full contact (this
does not mean that necessarily all games in those rodas are rough). Since they explore the boundaries
between games and fights, they sometimes turn into real fights, and often result in injuries. On a number of
occasions they have even resulted in the death of capoeiristas, for instance in Petrópolis in 1996. These
events are usually followed by a public outcry against ‘violence’ in the rodas. Since in general the mestre in
charge of the roda is held responsible for any incident, these comments are often accompanied by an appeal
for state intervention, the necessity of regulating capoeira teaching and eventually the appeal to boycott a
specific group. 145 Although accidents can never be totally avoided, these tragic events show that
capoeiristas often enter a roda with diametrically opposed expectations: some want a game and others a
fight. In other words, disagreements over the basic rules can explain why ‘objectivity’ for some players is
‘violence’ for others. 146
For that reason the ideal context for combat capoeira seems to be the ring, where fighting rules are clearly
established in advance. Continuing the tradition of Ciriaco, Sinhozinho, Bimba and Arthur Emídio,
contemporary capoeira fighters have been learning and training in all kinds of martial arts, in particular jujitsu,
boxing, and taekwondo. The cross-fertilization between martial arts is encouraged by free-style
competitions that are popular around the world. Brazil has champions in judo, ju-jitsu and other martial
arts, and no wonder some of them have turned to capoeira to complement their skills. Brazilian free style
champions such as Marcus Ruas have acknowledged the importance of capoeira in their training. 147 The use
of capoeira techniques in free style competitions shows to what extent the art still provides essential fighting