Capoeira History

As in the USA, there was also slavery in Brazil. The slaves were put to work in the plantations where sugar and tobacco were the main crops and the demand for slave labor was great. During the history of the slave trade, it is estimated that more than two million slaves were brought to Brazil from Africa.

These slaves came from different regions of Africa and thus had different cultures. They were distributed in three main ports: Bahia, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro. In Rio and Recife, the slaves were from different ethnic groups and sometimes from enemy tribes as well, which made it difficult for these slaves to organize a revolt. More slaves in Rio were from Bantu peoples, while in other areas, such as Bahia, slaves came primarily from West Africa.

While no one would deny the tremendous African influence on Capoeira, nothing is really known about a form of Capoeira originating in Africa. All that is written on this subject is based on speculation. The earliest known historical record of Capoeira as a martial art is approximately 1770, long after early years of slavery. No further accounts of Capoeira are found until the early 1800′s in the form of various police records from Rio de Janeiro.

After the abolition, some ex-slaves returned to Africa, but the majority stayed in Brazil. The planters being no longer interested in them as a work force, most headed to the cities to form slums and shanty towns. There was no employment in the cities either, and many organized into criminal gangs. Others, more fortunate because of their knowledge of capoeira, were hired by politicians as bodyguards. All were seen by the government as a “plague.”

The main activity of these “capoeiristas” (anyone who practices the art) was to disrupt the political life of the country. In the 1890′s some very influential people in high levels of society, were practitioners of capoeira. This was a threat to the government, and the president created a special police force to control the situation. When this effort was ineffective, a rigid penal code was initiated. In Chapter B of this code, ten articles were specifically related to the actions, practices, and crimes related to capoeira. A tougher law was later added stating that any person who was a known capoeirista would be expatriated. To enforce these laws, the president hired a man named Sampaio, who was reputed to be the most ruthless police chief in Brazil’s history. He was determined to extinguish capoeira. What is interesting about Sampaio was that he was an excellent capoeirista, and was a terror to the gangs.

The law that prohibited the practice of capoeira was still effect until 1920, and its practice disguised as a “folk dance.” In their hidden places, capoeiristas did their best to keep the tradition alive, and by presenting it as a folk art, they made the practice of capoeira more acceptable to the society.

In those years it was very common for a capoeirista to have two or three nicknames. The police knew all the capoeiristas by these names and not by their real identity, so it made it much more difficult to arrest them. (This tradition is continued today. When a person is “baptized” into the practice of capoeira, they are given a nickname.)

In 1937, Mestre Bimba, one of the most important masters of capoeira, received an invitation from the president to demonstrate his art in the capital. After a successful performance he went back to his home state and with the government’s permission, opened the first capoeira school in Brazil. It was the first step towards a more open development, and years later the senate passed a bill establishing capoeira as a national sport.

Today capoeira is all over the world. In Brazil, as part of the culture, there is capoeira everywhere – in elementary schools, universities, clubs, and in military academies.