Capoeira
Capoeira (Portuguese pronunciation: [kapuˈe(j)ɾɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, music, and spirituality.
Capoeira has been practiced among Black Brazilians for centuries; scholars have identified roots in engolo, a traditional Bantu martial art practiced in Angola. Capoeira is first mentioned in an official document in 1789, as a criminal activity. In the 19th century, a street fighting style called capoeira carioca appeared; it was also criminalized. In the early 1930s, Mestre Bimba reformed traditional capoeira and developed the capoeira regional style, which established standardized teaching sequences. The government came to see capoeira as a socially acceptable sport, legalizing it in 1937 and promoting it as part of national culture. In 1941, Mestre Pastinha founded his school where he cultivated the traditional capoeira Angola, distinguishing it from reformed capoeira and the "national sport" approach. Both of these influential teachers came from the Bahia region of Brazil. Beginning in the 1960s, the Grupo Senzala became increasingly influential, practicing a particularly athleticized version of capoeira.
In the mid-20th century, capoeira became increasingly recognized outside Brazil. Women, who were previously marginalized in capoeira, began to participate much more often in the culture. In the late 1970s, trailblazers such as Jelon Vieira and Bira Almeida brought capoeira to the US and Europe, helping the art to become internationally recognized and practiced. In the 1980s, capoeira Angola received greater visibility, and capoeira culture began to place greater explicit emphasis on anti-racism. In 2014, capoeira was granted a special protected status as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. It is practiced all over the world, has appeared in commercial martial arts films, and has influenced the fighting styles of some practitioners of mixed martial arts.
Capoeira is played as a game in a roda, a ceremonial circle, along with musical accompaniment guided by a traditional bow called a berimbau. The fundamental movement of capoeira is the ginga, a rhythmic sidestep. Other moves include kicks, sweeps, handstrikes, and cartwheels (aú). It includes acrobatic and complex manoeuvres, often involving hands on the ground and inverted kicks. It emphasizes flowing movements rather than fixed stances.
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