Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

54 THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC
executing steps on the point the feet; all this with much speed, shouting, whistling, making gestures
and contortions with his head, face and body, and assuming an air of ferocity. 113
Since most of the ceremonial occasions for holding cufuinha disappeared after the dismembering of the
Muatiânvua state, colonial subjugation was, once again, a key moment of rupture for combat game
practices. So how seriously can we think of cufuinha as an ancestor of capoeira? The fact that Carvalho
does not mention any kicks, but instead highlights the use of weapons (long knifes) suggests that most
techniques of attack in cufuinha were not that similar to capoeira. Yet the idea of a link convinced the
pioneer capoeira scholar Édison Carneiro, who wrote to his friend and colleague Artur Ramos that he
considered cufuinha the ‘remote origin of the capoeira’. 114 As it happens, Ramos’ suggestion has never been
discussed since; otherwise instead of zebra symbols we would now have cufuinha logos inspiring
contemporary capoeira groups.
Even though kicks seem not to have played a prominent role in the cufuinha, one can nevertheless
acknowledge a number of other formal similarities with capoeira. It was a mock combat, carried out to the
rhythm of drums and other percussion instruments. Their rhythm and the chants executed by lead singer and
chorus framed the combat game. Cufuinha performers also made widespread use of rhythmic steps,
gestures, and mimicry—features that also figure prominently in capoeira. What further forces us to consider
the impact of the cufuinha tradition on capoeira is the fact that subjects of the Muatiânvua state were
enslaved and sold into the Americas through the two slaving circuits of Benguela and Luanda long before
formal colonial rule was established over the Lunda. The slave trade lasted until the 1860s, and Henrique de
Carvalho could observe cufuinha practice only three decades later.
In summary then, Desch-Obi’s theory of a ‘monogenetic’ origin of capoeira presents a number of
problems. He suggests that an essentially unaltered n’golo and its cognates derived from Imbangala warrior
training (an assumption for which no documentary evidence exists), and that its formal aspects—such as the
use of kicks and head butts—were intrinsically related to the particular ritual context of puberty rites. He
furthermore links n’golo practice to a specific aspect of Bantu/Kongo philosophy, the ‘crossing of the
Kalunga’. 115 Many Afrocentric adepts of capoeira Angola in the United States refer to a ‘traditional’ Kongo
proverb that states: The hands are to build, the feet to destroy’. 116 This supposedly proves that inhabitants in
the Kongo/Angola region rather used kicks and head butts instead of punches, wrestling or stick fighting.
As I hope to have shown, this latter assumption is simply proven inaccurate by historical evidence, and we
need to come up with a more sophisticated explanation about the link between fighting techniques, combat
games and their wider context.
A brief look at n’golo’s likely cousins in the African Indian Ocean can help us better to understand the
relative autonomy between fighting techniques, rituals and social context, and, ultimately, their cultural
meaning. Edward L.Powe’s groundbreaking new research shows the range of techniques used in
‘traditional’ combat games in the islands of Comoros, Madagascar and Reunion. Although traditional
wrestling also exists in some areas of Madagascar, the most important combat games in this region are
mrengé (Comoros), morengy (Madagascar), and moringue (Réunion). As the similar names suggest, these
three combat games are closely related.
Mrengé—identified by Powe as the oldest form—is a furious fight using fists, kicks, grabbing and head
butts. Referees separate contestants when things get too rough. ‘This vicious fighting with intent to maim or
kill’ also makes use of deceit such as throwing sand into the opponent’s face. Oral history asserts it derives
from slaves’ pastimes. On Comoros it could also take the form of a mass fight between neighbourhoods.
Matches were often held after the rice harvest and recent changes have seen the introduction of blows from
other arts and the substitution of the orchestra of drums and flutes by electric bands. 117