Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

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CAPOEIRAGEM IN RIO DE JANEIRO 75 birthplace of capoeira by some of the first scholars writing on capoeira, 33 and the Valongo quay, infamous for its slave market, however seem to have been rather irrelevant for its practice during the first half of the nineteenth century. 34 Some of the arrested capoeiras wore coloured ribbons, with a clear preference for yellow and red. The colours yellow and red have been related to religious traditions of the Kongo/Angola region. They—and slaves more generally—also liked to wear hats or caps, and in one instance, a feather. 35 The ribbons or some of the headgear may have served to mark ethnic belonging. To what extent these attributes already indicate affiliation to structured gangs is difficult to ascertain. Evidence regarding the social organization and the formation of capoeira gangs prior to the 1840s is unfortunately scarce. One indication of social organization among capoeiras at that stage is their use of whistling as reported by policemen. Capoeiras employed whistles to call each other in moments of need, eventually also to mark territories, just as they climbed on church towers to exhibit their acrobatic skills, ring the bells, attract the attention of the public and challenge authorities. 36 Two events with the likely participation of capoeiras provide further indications about their early forms of organization and involvement in local politics. In June 1828, the Irish and German mercenaries contracted by the emperor rebelled over their conditions of treatment. They had been complaining for some time about the lack of payment, bad food, forceful extension of their time of service and excessive physical punishments. When a German soldier failed to salute a sergeant and was punished with 250 lashes, the German mercenaries assembled, marched to the imperial palace and asked to see the emperor. Pedro I only accepted to receive a commission of two soldiers and a full-fledged mutiny broke out on 9 June. German and Irish soldiers started to loot pubs and shops; many got drunk and eventually started to fight against each other. The slave owners—without any protection provided by the state—decided to arm their slaves to resist the drunken German and Irish soldiers. Observers described the ferocity of the slaves in dealing with the mutineers, avenging humiliations slaves had often been subjected to by foreign mercenaries. Although never mentioned explicitly in the sources, it is likely that many slaves used capoeira techniques in this confrontation. After the crushing of the soldiers’ mutiny, many slaves and free blacks tried to keep their weapons, forcing the Police Intendant to take further measures to confiscate arms in the city. Repression was therefore soon directed against both groups, the European mercenaries and the capoeiras. The nationalist historiography on capoeira uses these events as evidence that capoeiras were defending Brazilian national interests. 37 Although the role of the capoeiras might have been important for the smashing of the mutiny, it has to remain clear that their prime motivation was to grasp the opportunity to retaliate harassment by European soldiers rather than to raise the Brazilian flag. 38 Anti-foreign, especially anti-Portuguese resentment was however important among the free lower classes and erupted in the street movements and rebellions of 1831, when the Portuguese-born emperor was forced to abdicate (7 April). Capoeiras certainly took advantage of these moments of breakdown of order. In July of that year a police patrol surprised over 200 ‘blacks and mulattoes’ engaged in a battle among themselves in the Catete suburb. The capoeiras immediately reacted, stopping their fight and starting to throw stones at the patrol, which lead to the wounding of its commander. When the patrol charged against the capoeiras, they divided into their respective factions and escaped into opposite directions. 39 This kind of episode suggests that some form of organization already existed among capoeiras at the time, but we have to be careful not to project our knowledge about gangs from later stages on this formative period. Police records do not seem to allow further conclusions regarding capoeira gangs. Since the practice in itself was considered ‘unacceptable’, requiring immediate ‘correction’ and subsequent punishments, officers did not need to write detailed reports about arrested capoeiras. The police files indicate, furthermore, that
76 CAPOEIRAGEM IN RIO DE JANEIRO Figure 3.4 Central Section of Rio de Janeiro, c.1850. From T.H.Holloway, Policing Rio de Janeiro: Repression and Resistance in a Nineteenth Century City. Copyright (c) 1993 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. With the permission of the Stanford University Press, www.sup.org.
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Capoeira First documented among Afr
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Sport in Australasian Society Past
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First published 2005 by Routledge,
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viii ‘Vagrancy’ in Bahia, c.189
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x 6.5 Performance by Mestre Pastinh
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xii If and when the possibly epheme
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xiv To a large extent the writing-u
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xvi
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2 INTRODUCTION ever since. 3 Capoei
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1 The competing master narratives o
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 7 that
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elaboration and the dissemination o
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popular classes—against capoeiras
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 13 mona
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 15 In t
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 17 Figu
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 19 Mari
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 21 Artu
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COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 23 In S
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Page 49 and 50: 32 THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK ATLANTI
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Page 112 and 113: THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 95 Figu
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Page 120 and 121: THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 103 Fig
Page 128 and 129: These three types of song and their
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Page 132 and 133: Uncle Pascoal rewarded him one day
Page 134 and 135: THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 117 ban
Page 136 and 137: THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 119 to
Page 140 and 141: THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 123 ful
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5 Mestre Bimba and the development
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BIMBA AND ‘REGIONAL’ STYLE 127
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ultimately meant adapting his style
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Figure 5.5 M.Bimba teaching soldier
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6 Mestre Pastinha and the codificat
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Vicente Ferreira Pastiña: his earl
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 151 Figur
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 153 gener
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 155 Pasti
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 157 dogma
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 159 Figur
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 161 Dress
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The last years Soon another kind of
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PASTINHA AND ANGOLA STYLE 165 exper
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7 Contemporary capoeira, 1950-2004
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 169 This navy
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 171 Figure 7.
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 173 Figure 7.
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 175 became th
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significantly during the 1980s. Pro
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 179 them are
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 181 Capoeira
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 183 indulge i
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e-invention of capoeira Angola. In
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state of the union. Many, if not mo
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grown to become another core capoei
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 191 States te
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 193 long run.
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 195 ‘capoei
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 197 technique
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 199 recognize
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 201 best tole
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CONTEMPORARY CAPOEIRA 203 leaders o
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Conclusion: the contemporary meanin
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CONCLUSION 207 lamented that Europe
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CONCLUSION 209 The impressive proli
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Glossary Abadá 1 Tunics used by Mu
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GLOSSARY 213 Maculelê Dance from S
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Notes Series editor’s foreword 1
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NOTES 217 29 Marta Abreu, O Impéri
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87 Desch-Obi, ‘Engolo’, pp. 212
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NOTES 221 27 J.J.Reis and E.Silva,
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NOTES 223 73 For the variety of com
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NOTES 225 128 R. and S.Price (eds),
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NOTES 227 28 A.P.D.G., Sketches of
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93 Abreu, Os capoeiras, p. 8. 94 Ab
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NOTES 231 31 Coutinho, O ABC, p. 25
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NOTES 233 79 Carneiro, Negros banto
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NOTES 235 14 It seems, however, tha
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NOTES 237 71 See Abreu (Bimba é ba
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NOTES 239 29 Estatuto do Centro Esp
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NOTES 241 7 Lopes, A volta do mundo
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NOTES 243 78 Praticando Capoeira, V
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152 Jornal Abadá-Capoeira, No. 30
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Bibliography References for archiva
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 249 Barthes, R., Mytho
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 251 Dossar, K., ‘Dan
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 253 Lesser, J., Negoti
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 255 Pastinha, V.Ferrei
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 Soares, C.E.Líban
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abadá 135, 172, 187, 209 Abadá Ga
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calinda 58, 209 Calmir, Mestre 183
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weapons 45; and withcraft 65; wrest
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Kongo 20, 22, 24 Kongo-Angola cultu
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and establishment of Angola style 1
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Training Centre for Army Officers i
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Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

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