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Capoeira seen from the side looks impressive: two people are standing opposite each other, performing acrobatic movements, waving their arms and legs, it seems that they are dancing rather than fighting. Yet capoeira is undoubtedly a martial art. Read the history of capoeira, learn about its types and the effects achieved by people training it.

Capoeirahas become a very popular martial art in recent years. There are many schools where you can improve in this area. What's more, the elements of capoeira have passed into some styles of dance: break dance or hip-hop, with its help also the heroes of Hollywood films try to defeat their opponents. Capoeira, however, has a completely non-Hollywood origin.

Contents:

  1. What is capoeira and what does a duel look like?
  2. History of capoeira
  3. Capoeira techniques
  4. Gradation in capoeira
  5. Capoeira for kids
  6. Capoeira training effects

What is capoeira and what does a duel look like?

Capoeirais a duelcapoeiristas , that is players. However, it does not consist in delivering a blow to the opponent, but rather in throwing him off balance, undercutting him. The place of training isroda(from Portuguese circle). The participants form a circle: they clap, sing, beat the rhythm. The main element of the circle is the orchestra, with the harbor.battery . The created circle is then entered by two competitors who will fight.

Capoeira is a martial art in which cleverness and appropriate strategy are more important than dealing blows and attacks.

Fighting -jogo- however, is about marking and avoiding punches, not direct physical contact. Kicks are inhibited - if one person stops his blow against the head of the other, the other person loses the "point" because they did not concentrate enough and thus failed to dodge. Sometimes, however, a blow is delivered - we call this more aggressive form of yogajogo duro .

Capoeira show fights are often performed - during them the competitors cooperate with each other to make the show as spectacular as possible. A master watches over the course of the game, and the people who make up the circle accompany the capoeirists with their singing all the timeand music, creating energy -ax . The course of specific trainings depends on the type of technique used.

History of capoeira

The main idea of ​​capoeira is that cleverness (port.malicia ) should outweigh strength. It happened for a reason - capoeira arose during the time of slavery, almost 500 years ago in Brazil. African slaves working there (mainly from Angola) could not practice any martial arts, so they showed cleverness and created their own technique, mainly for self-defense purposes. As they used elements of traditional African dance, song and music in capoeira, it was harder for those who imprisoned them to see that they were actually practicing martial arts. Especially that apart from dancing, it is accompanied by elements of acrobatics and gymnastics.

With time, capoeira became more and more popular, which made it illegal in Brazil. After slavery was abolished, capoeira was practiced among gang members, which made it briefly infamous. However, it was removed by Manuel Reis Machado (Mestre Bimba), who did everything in his power to convince the Brazilian authorities that capoeira was in fact part of their cultural heritage. In 1932, he opened the world's first capoeira school and developed one of its styles - Capoeira Regional, introducing kicks and punches. Initially, this martial art was chosen by the poorest, but soon it became popular not only among Brazilians (it became a national sport in their homeland), but also in the United States and Europe.

As Bimba himself pointed out, capoeira is for everyone who wants to practice this martial art. It has become not only a form of physical activity, but also a philosophy of life, according to which avoiding it is more important than dealing a blow; building your strength through self-improvement, not through the weakness of the other person. Capoeira has its masters who are highly respected by other adepts of this martial art.

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Glossary of capoeira terms

Capoeira is a martial art where instruments, singing and dancing are very important. As a result, quite a large glossary of terms developed to describe the individual elements of the duel. They all come from Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, the home of Capoeira.

Here are the most important concepts related to this martial art:

  • berimbau- an instrument used during capoeira training, it is also called a musical bow;
  • ginga- basic movement in this martial art;
  • malicia- cleverness without which it is impossible to win in capoeira;
  • roda- the circle in which the game takes place - a duel of two players;
  • jogo- the players' game; the name, as opposed to "duel" or "fight", serves to emphasize the peace of capoeira.

Capoeira techniques

Capoeira has evolved over the years, so various techniques of this type of combat have been developed:

  • Capoeira Regional- created by Mestre Bimba, puts a lot of emphasis on the technique, it is distinguished by high dynamics and smooth movements, and the game itself is short - it takes about 2-3 minutes.
  • Capoeira Angola- it takes place at a different pace and the players are closer to each other than in other types of capoeira. The fights last longer, even up to 10 minutes. During the duel, more emphasis is placed on cunning and strategy, attempts to confuse the opponent than on the technique itself.
  • Capoeira Contemporânea- created in the 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, also known as modern capoeira. It influenced Capoeira Regional very strongly. Today, when using the latter term, one often means the "modernized" version of this martial art than the one formulated by Mestre Bimba. In this type of capoeira, the technique is very important, the fight is fast - it lasts about 1 minute.
  • Capoeira Carioca- a style that has already disappeared because it was characterized by great brutality of the blows. Capoeira Carioca was deprived of the elements accompanying the traditional techniques of this martial art: dance and music, the idea was to successfully defeat the opponent with blows, also in the stomach or in the face.

Gradation in capoeira

Like other martial arts, capoeira has its own gradation, i.e. a system of grades. Inbatizado , a ceremony of sorts, adepts of this martial art receive their first rope -corda- and enter into a game with their master. Students also receiveapelido , which is a Portuguese nickname. The tradition of giving nicknames goes back to the beginnings of capoeira, when slaves had to hide their training. However, when one of them was caught, he could not betray his companions because he did not know their official data.

Another important event istroca de cordas , i.e. the change of ropes - when the student passes the exam, authorizing him to go one step higher, duringweddings receives a string symbolizing his progress. Capoeira offers six different grades for students, nine instructional grades and five children's grades.

Worth knowing

Capoeira for kids

Capoeira can be easily trained by children - not only will it not hurt them, but also teach them how to act in a group, fair play, patience, self-discipline and respect for others. Sport strengthens self-confidence and shows how to deal with negative emotions, such as feeling angry after a loss. The variety of movements performed, the accompaniment of instruments and learning to play them, the accompaniment of music, learning songs and rhythms - this means that the child does not get bored quickly. Training capoeira for children will bring them other - he alth - benefits: it will allow you to burn calories, take care of the correct body posture and the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Capoeira training for children is available in almost every major city in Poland, and even 4-year-old children can participate in them. A monthly pass costs around PLN 100-150.

Capoeira training effects

What are the effects of capoeira training? They affect all motor skills, making the body more flexible during stretching and breathing exercises and improving muscle tone. Capoeira increases the mobility of joints, and thus - makes it easier to lose unnecessary kilograms and get rid of excess body fat. Exercise lowers cholesterol and triggers the production of endorphins, called happiness hormones. They also improve the functioning of the circulatory system and allow you to maintain a correct figure. They result in better condition and concentration.

Capoeira also has a different effect - it opens up to other cultures (in this case, the heritage of Brazil), teaches specific words and phrases in Portuguese, gives you the opportunity to learn about instruments, songs and dances completely unrelated to the Polish tradition.

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