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ABOUT CAPOEIRA
Mestre Espirro Mirim's of Group Cordao de Ouro, 2006 Capoeira Showreel.
More Info: THE HISTORY OF CAPOEIRA
Capoeira is the African system of unarmed combat
that was thought to  have
been developed in the 1500's by African slaves who were taken to
Brazil and forced to work in the sugar cane fields. Because the
slaves hands were manacled most of the time punching is not prominent
in Capoeira but the art includes fighting while standing on ones
hands. Attacks rely heavily on kicking and sweeping leg techniques
and evasion is used for defense rather than blocking.
The slaves turned the tools they used in the fields
into the weapons of Capoeira. These included the sugar cane knife
and the 3/4 inch staff.
Obviously slaves were not permitted to practice this
or any form of martial art and therefore the slaves disguised the
art as dance. They practiced to the music of percussion
and non-percussion instruments, dancing in a circle called the "roda". These "dances" included
acrobatics, somersaults, headstands and back flips, and never allowed
the martial artist to remain in set stances, but had him moving
from one leg to the other over and over again, preventing the opponent
from getting too close.
Capoeira includes footwork called Ginga and basic
kicks which include roundhouse kicks, side kicks, a front stomping
kick, low and a high turning kicks, and outside and inside crescent
kicks.
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