Capoeira

Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance fists kicks and music

卡波耶拉 · カポエイラ · 카포에이라

Country of origin

Brazil

Created

16th century

Type

combat sport, martial arts, war dance, type of fighting style, type of dance

Part of

Afro-Brazilian culture

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.

Styles and branches of Capoeira

• Capoeira Angola
• Capoeira regional

Capoeira techniques

• Armada
• Aú
• Bênção
• Cabeçada
• Chapa de costas
• Cintura desprezada
• Double Leg (trick)
• Ginga
• Jogo de dentro
• Martelo
• Meia lua de compasso
• Meia lua de frente
• Negativa
• Punch
• Queixada
• Rabo de arraia
• Rasteira
• Roundhouse kick
• Scorpion kick
• Unbalancing

Notable Capoeira athletes and practitioners

• Manuel dos Reis Machado Brazil
• Besouro Mangangá Brazil
• José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso Brazil
• Marcos "Barrão" DaSilva Brazil

External links

• Wikipedia
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q159452 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.