Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

64 THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC
derived from Central African practices. Yet there is not much evidence regarding the incorporation of
different techniques into modern ladjia styles to support his view, and none at all for the crucial formative
period of slavery. Furthermore, as crucial as the distinction between a mere combat game and a more
complex martial art might be, nothing allows us to establish a clean separation between West African sports
and Bantu martial arts. As I have tried to show, most combat forms practised by slaves and their
descendants could assume different meanings according to the context. The political and social context
ultimately shaped not only their formal aspects, but also their cultural meaning, from a planter-sponsored
match to a friendly game in a ritualized context. In other words, it is about time to abandon the strictly
‘monogenetic’ approach, which believes in ‘Bantu essence’ being transmitted through ages. An approach
that acknowledges the multiple influences upon Afro-American combat games and emphasizes the
creolization process is, I believe, ultimately far more convincing.
Combat games in Brazil
Even the most superficial overview of fighting techniques and combat games practised in different
historical contexts in Africa reveals their diversity in all the regions from which slaves were deported to the
Americas. Ritual combat was embedded in various ceremonial contexts and fulfilled a range of different
social functions, from puberty rites in a community to state ceremonials. Unfortunately we lack detailed
records for combat games practised at the time of the slave trade to understand fully their meaning in each
specific context. The information available on these aspects usually concerns relatively contemporary
manifestations, which have changed as much as their New World counterparts and can therefore not be
taken as their close ‘ancestors’, but should rather be seen as their distant ‘cousins’.
Nevertheless, the close association of combat movements with rhythm, music, pantomime, dance and
singing appears as one common denominator of most, if not all, known combat games practised by slaves
and their descendants. A number of important formal continuities regarding instruments, rhythms,
movements, rituals and the invocation of magic powers characterize slave combat games in Plantation
America. In that respect one certainly ought to speak of African-derived manifestations, which all explore
the synchronization between rhythms and movements. Yet their survival—and we have seen that many did
not manage to survive to the present day—also depended on their capacities of adaptation and change. As with
candomblé and batuque, the existence of related forms, reflecting structural similarities within major culture
areas—for instance West African wrestling—could contribute to the emergence of broader, creolized
manifestations that merged more specific traditions. In that respect the formation of Afro-American combat
games was akin to the development of Afro-American religions.
Although not much historical evidence exists, foot-fighting techniques seem to have been restricted to
West and East Central Africa and Madagascar. Yet in the case of almost universal combat techniques such
as stick fighting there was no necessity for such a specific culture-area provenance. In both cases creole
slaves unacquainted with specific African traditions could learn and practise them without necessarily
adhering to their original meanings.
The new social context of chattel slavery also resulted in fundamental changes that affected not only
fighting techniques or musical accompaniment, but also and above all, their cultural meaning. Combat
games were no longer held for the same reasons and lost many of their former functions. War dances might
have been used under the exceptional circumstances of slave rebellion, but did not constitute a continuous
tradition that entered popular culture in the Americas—at least not with that meaning. It is therefore
important to acknowledge not only the new social contexts, but also the new cultural meanings that
developed in plantation societies, even if the latter are often hard to specify for the period of slavery.