Capoeira

Capoeira

Capoeira or the Dance of War by Johann Moritz Rugendas, 1825, published in 1835
Focus	Kicking
Country of origin	Brazil
Famous practitioners	Manuel dos Reis Machado Vicente Ferreira Pastinha Marcus Aurélio João Grande João Pereira dos Santos Wesley Snipes Lateef Crowder Vincent Cassel Joey Ansah Anthony Pettis Rafael Natal Cezar Ferreira Lady Gaga

Capoeira (Portuguese pronunciation: [kapuˈejɾɐ]) is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance,acrobatics and music. It was developed in Brazil mainly by Angolans, at the beginning of 16th century. It is known for the quick and complex moves, mainly using power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques.

The most widely accepted origin of the word capoeira comes from the Tupi words ka'a ("jungle") e pûer ("it was"), referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior where fugitive slaves would hide. A practitioner of the art is called a capoeirista (Portuguese pronunciation: [kapuejˈɾistɐ]).

On 26th November 2014 capoeira was granted a special protected status as "intangible cultural heritage" by UNESCO.

Capoeira's history begins with the beginning of African slavery in Brazil. Since the 16th century, Portuguese colonists began exporting slaves to their colonies, coming mainly from Angola. Brazil, with its vast territory, received most of the slaves, almost 40% of all slaves sent through the Atlantic Ocean. The early history of capoeira is still controversial, especially the period between the 16th century and the beginning of the 19th century, since historical documents were very scarce in Brazil at that time. But oral tradition, language and evidence leaves little doubt about its Afro-Brazilian roots.

In the 16th century, Portugal had claimed one of the largest territories of the colonial empires, but lacked people to colonize it, especially workers. In the Brazilian colony, the Portuguese, like many European colonists, chose to use slavery to build their economy off of African slaves . In its first century, the main economic activity in the colony was the production and processing of sugar cane. Portuguese colonists created large sugarcane farms called engenhos, which depended on the labor of slaves. Slaves, living in inhumane conditions, were forced to work hard and often suffered physical punishment for small misbehaviors, along with rape of their children as punishment, or homosexual rape of African males by white slave owners infront of other Africans of all ages to show dominance. Although slaves often outnumbered colonists, rebellions were rare because 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 usually discouraged the idea of a rebellion.