Capoeria

Typical Capoeira fight

Capoeira also known as Dance fighting, is a martial arts that combines Breakdancing with fighting, it is basically a form of dance fight, it originates from African Slaves who were forbidden to actually duel, so instead they create a fighting style that would resemble dancing as to not get caught by doing this it looked like they were challenging each other to a dance battle.

Origins

Capoeira originate from 16 century Brazil, when it was a Portugese colony, where slaves were bought to endure in harsh labor. Although slaves often outnumbered colonists, rebellions were rare because of the lack of weapons, harsh colonial law, disagreement between slaves coming from different African cultures, and lack of knowledge about the new land and its surroundings. Instead, they use their tribal dance skills applied as a method of survival that was known to slaves. It was a tool with which an escaped slave, completely unequipped, could survive in the wild and face the hunt of the armed and mounted colonial agents who were charged with finding and capturing escapees. Meaning they danced their way out of slavery.

Concept

There are 2 types of Capoeira:

• Regular street fighting, a kind of mix of Anything Goes+MMA of the past, which besides the traditional strokes with legs and feet, has numerous variations with hands, bare or using razor, knife, sticks, machetes, bottles, revolvers (strangely, there certain rejection by their more traditional practitioners, regarding automatic pistols) or anything that anyone can put on hands for "non-Christians" purposes; and
• Capoeira for tourists and bored middle class, which consists of dancing while pretending you are fighting or, inversely, fighting while pretending you are dancing. Yeah, this last version doesn't work much. So, Brazilians changed this one for BJJ for sports entertainment and let "capoeira" just as a tourist trap.

Place in Martial arts

Capoeria is seen as a show-off fighting style that is meant as a sports entertainment and shows of more of the user's dance skill that their combat skill. The only thing upholding it is it's upredictable moves, which get people pWned by someone flabbering their arms and legs around. Capoeria was defeated by Jiu-Jitsu on many occasion, reason is obvious. However Capoeira still represents Brazil in the martial arts world because it is much more interesting and popular that BJJ.

In Popular Culture

Every fighting game has a Capoeirasta, name one that doesn't have one that isn't weapon-based or a licensed game.

External Links

• Brazil
• Japanese man discovers Capoeira
• A demonstration