In this issue:

• Bahia-Capoeira News: More coupons are still available!
• Capoeira takes a "rasteira" in Carnaval 2008
• 1885 - A remedy against the capoeiristas
• Why sing Paraná ê?
• Lyrics: Mestre Suassuna
• Capoeira and Mandingas: Part II

Bahia-Capoeira News

Please take a moment to fill out our survey and receive a $10 coupon - there are still about 70 coupons left!!!

We need your help in order to provide better service and products. It would be great if you could forward the survey to your capoeira friends as well :-)

The FULL version of "Berimbau Arames for Dummies" is now available as a PDF for download. Go here for a complete, illustrated step-by-step guide to getting arames out of the tires, cleaning them, making the loops, and measuring them to your berimbau.

Capoeira takes a "rasteira" in Carnaval 2008

The theme of "capoeira and its culture" got little exposure at Carnaval 2008, which sparked complaints from mestres and practitioners. Despite being elected by popular vote as the theme of Carnaval, the mixture of fight and dance did not receive much representation or support from public powers during the event. For many, the art created by Brazilian slaves ended up being excluded yet again.

The main complaints are the lack of capoeira-themed decorations, the small amount of representation during the event, and the ignoring of the most important mestres, who did not receive any type of recognition..

Read more...

1885 Article by Machado de Assis

I have here in my pocket a remedy against the capoeiristas. I have no doubt that it is a miraculous cure, perhaps even containing the secret to immortality. Now that the city guard has been disbanded, having turned in their rifles yesterday, some fear that there will be an explosion of capoeira, while others hope that the disbanding of the guard is enough to make the evil retreat. You'll have to excuse me: I am on the side of the fear rather than the hope, not so much because I believe there will be an explosion of capoeira, but mainly because I want to sell my remedy.

Let's talk about my remedy. We'll start by saying that I disagree with all my peers about the motive that leads the capoeirista to drive knives into our bellies. They say that the capoeiristas enjoy doing evil, showing agility and bravery. This is a unanimous opinion, and one that is respected as the truth. But no one sees that it is simply absurd.

Read more...

Why sing Paraná ê?

Much of capoeira's philosophy and history is recorded between the lines of its songs, not forgetting that part of this history is linked with that of Brazil. This is why it's important to research and question the meaning of some songs, since their main purpose is to pass on a message, whether immediately or for later reflection.

So we are going to talk a little bit about the historical content within one of capoeira's most popular songs: Parana ê. It refers to the War of Paraguay, but what was this war?

Read more...

Lyrics: Mestre Suassuna

I love these two songs by Mestre Suassuna. Not only do they have catchy melodies, but they reflect the progress in the worldwide spread of capoeira. The first song, "Capoeira pra estrangeiro" (Capoeira for foreigners) talks about how Brazilian capoeira is deadly, but foreigners' capoeira is undeveloped "underbrush." The second song, written a few years later, praises the skill of non-Brazilian capoeiristas and the mestres who have brought the art to distant lands.

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Antigamente capoeira pra estrangeiro, Eu dizia que era mato de cortar, Hoje em dia tudo isso ta mudado, Estrangeiro joga Angola, Miudinho e Regional Coro: Antigamente capoeira pra estrangeiro, Eu dizia que era mato de cortar, Hoje em dia tudo isso ta mudado, Estrangeiro joga Angola, Miudinho e Regional Na Europa já se joga capoeira, Americano dando armada pra matar, Tem japonês fazendo volta por cima, Batam palma minha gente, Pra estes mestres que estão lá Coro Na Terra Santa já tem muita capoeira, Já tem Angola e também Regional, Já vi aluno falando para seu Mestre, Vou largar o meu fuzil e pegar meu Berimbau Coro Aos capoeiras que viajam pelo mundo, Com berimbau muita coragem pra lutar, Levando a arte de lutar sorrindo, Deus proteja este povo, Que fica de pés pro ar Coro

In the old days, capoeira for foreigners I said that it was underbrush to cut But today, everything is changed Foreigners play Angola, Miudinho, and Regional Chorus: In the old days, capoeira for foreigners I said that it was underbrush to cut But today, everything is changed Foreigners play Angola, Miudinho, and Regional Capoeira is already being played in Europe Americans are giving deadly armadas The Japanese are doing volta por cima Clap your hands, my people For the mestres who are there Chorus In the Holy Land there is already lots of capoeira There is Angola and also Regional I've seen students say to their Mestre, "I'm going to put down my gun and pick up my berimbau." Chorus To the capoeiristas who travel throughout the world With their berimbau and lots of courage Taking with them the art of fighting while smiling, May God protect these people Who spend time upside down with their feet in the air Chorus

Check out these videos of Mestre Suassuna:

• Mestres Suassuna & Acordeon play in the 70s
• Suassuna plays with a facão (machete)
• Mestres Suassuna & Marcelo Caveirinha in 1987
• Mestre Suassuna in 2004

Capoeira and Mandingas: Part II

Check out the next installment from Mestre Cobrinha Verde's "Capoeira and Mandingas"

It was Besouro himself, my mestre, who gave me my nickname Cobrinha Verde (little green snake) because I was very quick. I was so fast that one day he put me in a room and threw knives at me, to see if I could defend myself. I caught the knives twice.

When Besouro had a student and he saw that the student was ready, he would lock himself in a room with the student, take one dagger and give the other to the student, and say: "Let's have a knife fight with a towel tied around our belts, so that we can't get away from each other."

Read more...

Bahia-Capoeira Newsletter - New Year's Issue  

Note from the editor:

As you may have noticed, it has been a LONG time since the last newsletter! I apologize for the delay, but there is a good reason... for the past few months I've been busy completely redesigning the Capoeira Connection. I think you'll like the new look, and the improved organization will make it much easier to update more frequently. 

But I have found time to do some translation work, and this newsletter contains a series of three historical articles that give an interesting overview of how capoeira's role in society has evolved over the course of the 20th century. I hope you enjoy them... and I promise I'll send this newsletter more frequently :-) 

Let me know what you think of the new Capoeira Connection site and the new designs at Bahia-Capoeira!

Um abraço,
Shayna

In this issue:

• Bahia-Capoeira News: Brand new designs and much more!
• 1914 - The Torpedeira Piauí Incident
• Capoeira and Mandingas: Mestre Cobrinha Verde, 1917-1983
• 1968 - Socio-ethnographic changes in capoeira
• Lyrics: Angoleiros do Sertão e do Recôncavo
• Top 10 Capoeira Sites

Bahia-Capoeira News

New stamps!

Thanks to Alvaro, we now have new designs for all our t-shirts!

Click on the picture on the right or simply explore our shirts to see the new stamps. We hope you like them!

New designs for pants will be arriving shortly.

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• Pandeiro Izzo Chorinho
• Amazônia earrings (3 models)
• Coconut necklaces (5 models)

Back in stock:

• DVD Os Melhores Momentos do Mestre Jogo de Dentro
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Bahia-Capoeira Blog

Check out this interview with Valmir das Beribas, a craftsman who has been working with berimbaus for over 20 years. Valmir is our source for the high-quality beriba we use in our berimbaus. In the interview, he talks about making the instrument and caring for it, giving tips on how to pick a good cabaça, how much to string your berimbau for the first time, and more.

If you have any questions for Valmir, please e-mail them to us so that we can ask him in the next interview!

1914 - The Torpedeira Piauí Incident

Have you ever wondered about the meaning of this ladainha?

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Torpedeira Piauí Coraçado na Bahia Marinheiro absoluto Chegou pintando arrelia Quando vê cobra assanhada Não mete o pé na rodia A cobra assanhada morde Se eu fosse cobra eu mordia Mataram Pedro Mineiro Dentro da Secretaria

The warship Piauí Christened in Bahia The independent sailor Arrived causing trouble When you see an agitated snake Don't step on it An agitated snake bites If I were a snake, I'd bite They killed Pedro Mineiro In the police station

Who was this capoeirista and what story was this? Legend? Myth? No. On December 28th, 1914, a man called Pedro Mineiro suffered an attempted assassination inside the Public Security Office of the State of Bahia. This incident allows us to delve into one of the dimensions of capoeiragem - its involvement with political issues.

Read the rest of the story...

Source: Mandinga, Manha, & Malícia by Adriana Albert Dias
Translation by Shayna McHugh

Capoeira and Mandingas: Mestre Cobrinha Verde, 1917-1983

Mestre Cobrinha Verde was a student of the famous Besouro Mangangá. Read about his training and travels in part 1 of his autobiography, "Capoeira and Mandingas." Many thanks to Contra-Mestre Pererê for making this text available for translation!

Besouro, my mestre, began to teach me capoeira when I was just 4 years old. Besouro's father was named João, nicknamed João Grosso, and his mother was Maria Haifa. Maria Haifa was my aunt, so Besouro was my cousin, and was raised as my brother. My mother raised him.

In those days, Besouro taught his students hidden from the police, because the police heavily persecuted capoeiristas. When the police showed up to attack, he would tell his students to flee, and deal with the police alone.

I was brought up in that environment. My true mestre was Besouro, but I learned from many mestres in Santo Amaro. I will give their names one by one: Maitá (who even had a samba song named after him), Licurí, Joité, Dendê, Gasolina, Siri de Mangue, Doze Homens, Esperidião, Juvêncio Grosso, Espinho Remoso, Neco Canário Pardo. Actually, Neco Canário Pardo was my machete teacher. The one who taught me razor technique was Tonha, nicknamed Tonha Rolo do Mar. A woman. She is still alive, and walks around with a machete in hand. She lives in Feira de Santana.

I grew... when I was about 17 years old, I had confrontations with the police. I had very nasty battles with them. I was strongly hated by the police because I didn't turn myself in.

There was a deputy in Santo Amaro named Veloso, the old Veloso. He was the toughest deputy in Santo Amaro. He was the grandfather of Caetano Veloso and Maria Betânia [two famous Bahian singers]. He always walked around with two soldiers, one on each side. He wore boots and was always armed. He would beat up anyone in the middle of the street for any little thing. He didn't know me, but he searched for me.

One day, I was coming home from a samba in Catolé. When I passed under a peanut tree on the edge of the river, I encountered him, colonel Veloso. I don't know if it was Barauna or Tamborete, his soldiers, who pointed me out. Then he whistled. "Hey, come here." I waited. "Aren't you Cobrinha Verde, the tough guy around here, who goes around beating up the police?"

Read more...

1968 - Socio-ethnographic changes in capoeira

Source: Capoeira Angola, Ensaio Socio-Etnográfico by Waldeloir Rego
Translation into English by Shayna McHugh
Many thanks to Cantor for making this text available for translation!

In the old days, capoeira was a pastime that the Africans invented to pass their free time and entertain themselves and passers-by during festivals. They were also able to utilize it as a fight, in the right moment for self-defense. The popular festivals were a marvelous break in the daily lives of the capoeiristas, an opportunity to relax from torturous forced labor and forget that they were slaves. So the capoeiristas would celebrate the festival days with an unheard-of fervor – and it did not matter whether the festival was religious, secular, or secular-religious.

The processions with musical bands were like an invitation for the capoeiristas, and if they had any pretext to make trouble, they would make it without worrying in the least about disturbing a religious act. Gilberto Freyre remembers these moments:

Sometimes there was a guy who had been slashed with a razor; some kid with his intestines on the outside who would be picked up by a white stretcher (the red stretchers were for the injured; the white stretchers were for the dead). This would happen because the processions with music became the meeting point for the capoeiras, a curious type of urban black or mulatto, corresponding to the capangas [hired bodyguards] and cabras [mixed-bloods, children of a black and a mulatto] of the plantations.

So the capoeirista used to live completely independently of the social structure, without relying on anyone.

Read more...

Lyrics: Angoleiros do Sertão e do Recôncavo

Mestre Felipe is from Santo Amaro, the birthplace of many legendary figures such as Popó de Maculelê and Besouro Preto. In his lyrics, Mestre Felipe transmits a little of the purity of capoeira from a time when it was learned on the streets, before the tourism industry commercialized the art.

Mestre Cláudio of Feira de Santana is considered one of the people responsible for the revitalization of capoeira angola. His school "Angoleiros do Sertão" is located in Feira de Santana, and Mestre Cláudio frequently holds events to unite the old and the new generations of Capoeira and Samba de Roda.

Here are three ladainhas and three corridos from their CD.

Click for lyrics...

Top Capoeira Sites

Besides the Capoeira Connection, these are the other top capoeira sites on the 'net! 

Best Blog: The Capoeira Blog

Faisca updates this capoeira blog almost every day with some fantastic entries. Tune in for articles, videos, training tips, and more.  

Best Forum: Capoeira.com Forums

This is a virtually un-moderated free-for-all with over 30,000 registered users and a handful of very insightful folks. Discussion can get crazy at times, but there are also thousands of great threads. Warning: make sure you use the search function before you post!  

Best Mestres Database: Capoeira4all Database

This database has nearly 1500 mestres of the past and present. Some of the entries have detailed information on the mestres' lineage, location, and bio.

Best Schools Database: The Capoeira List (U.S., Canada, British Islands, South Oceana) and  Capoeirista.com (Worldwide)    

Both these sites contain user-submitted listings of schools. Warning: some of the information may be outdated. Before showing up for class, it's good to contact the instructor to verify the times and locations.  

Best Information: Capoeira Palmares France Timeline of Historical Documents and  Capoeira-Infos.org

Both of these sites are treasure troves of capoeira records stretching back two centuries. I've used them extensively as sources for my translations.  

Best Resources: The Capoeira List

Click on "Resources" on the left for a huge list of links - everything from cord systems to shopping to lyrics. Speaking of which...  

Best Lyrics: Capoeira4all (Regional/Contemporânea) and Pequeno Cancionero (Angola) and Ypiranga de Pastinha (Angola)   

Capoeira4all offers not only lyrics, but also English translations and sound clips for many of the songs. Since Capoeira4all's song list is geared more towards the Regional/Contemporary style, check out the Pequeno Cancionero or Ypiranga de Pastinha (enter the site and click on "corridos") for common songs of capoeira angola.  

Best Video: YouTube.com

YouTube still takes the cake... a simple search for "capoeira" turns up about 28000 results. Try searching for specific groups (i.e. "Capoeira Abada") or specific players (i.e. "Mestre Cobra Mansa") to get more focused results.  

Best Portuguese Site: Portal Capoeira

PortalCapoeira by Luciano Milani offers the latest news and has a pretty good downloads section with articles, manuscripts, and mp3s.                   

Find more links in the Capoeira-Connection's updated links database.

Bahia-Capoeira Newsletter Issue 14

In this issue:

• Bahia-Capoeira News: Check us out on myspace and get a birthday coupon!
• History: Capoeira in 1789
• Angola: Quotes from Mestre Pastinha in 1967
• Regional: Quotes from the film Mestre Bimba: A Capoeira Iluminada
• Opinion: What is the value of capoeira?
• Videos of the Month: Contra-mestra Susy
• Web Bonus: Join the Capoeira Espaço network

Bahia-Capoeira News (Top)

Check us out on Myspace!

Everyone who is a friend of Bahia-Capoeira on Myspace will get a store coupon for their birthday :-)

History: First Documented Record of Capoeira in 1789 (Top)

This is the first written evidence of capoeira that exists. It was discovered by the historian Nireu Cavalcanti in a judicial archive in Rio de Janeiro. It was republished in the newspaper Jornal do Brasil in 1999.

The capoeira

Adam, the mulatto boy that master Manoel Cardoso Fontes had bought a young lad, grew into a robust, hard-working and very obedient slave in household duties.

Manoel decided to rent him out as a mason assistant, a porter, or for any other hard labor. So Adam turned out to be a major source of income for his master.

With time, the shy slave who used to be fairly domesticated became more off-handed and independent and began to come back late, much later than the end of his working hours. Manoel asked repeatedly what was it that made Adam change so much -- but his answers were weak and inconsistent. Until one day, fulfilling Manoel's fears, Adam did not come home at all. He had certainly fled to one of the villages [quilombos] around the town.

To his surprise, Manoel found Adam behind the bars of the regional jail. He had been arrested with a gang of ruffians who practiced capoeira. A quarrel had broken out that day and one of them got killed in the action. These were extremely grave crimes under the laws of the time: practicing capoeira, and what's more, causing a death.

The trial found Adam not guilty of the homicide, but confirmed his guilt on the charge of capoeira, and condemned him to 500 lashes and two years hard labor in public service.

After Adam had suffered the lashes in public and labored some months in the public works, his master sent the king a plea in the name of the Passion of Christ, asking that his slave be released from the rest of his term, on the grounds that himself was a poor man and depended on the income that his slave brought him. He promised to take care that Adam would not join the capoeiras again. His plea was granted by the Regional Judge on April 25, 1789.

Source: Capoeira Palmares France website
Translation into English: Pol Briand.
Revised/edited by Shayna McHugh

Angola: Quotes from Mestre Pastinha in 1967 (Top)

From the article It's a fight, it's a dance, it's capoeira by Roberto Freire in Revista Liberdade – February 1967. Here are some quotes attributed to Mestre Pastinha:

"One day, I wrote everything that I think about capoeira on that plaque on the door of my Academy. On top, only three words: Angola, capoeira, mother. And underneath, the thought: 'Sorcery of slaves longing for liberty, its beginning has no method and its end is inconceivable to the wisest capoeirista.'"

"There are so many stories about the beginning of capoeira that no one knows what is true and what is not. The story of the 'zebra game' is one of them. It is said that long ago – centuries even – in Angola, they would have a yearly celebration to honor the girls who were entering adolescence. First they were operated on by the priests, thus becoming equal to the married women. Then, while the people sang, the men fought like zebras, giving kicks and headbutts. The winners were rewarded with being able to choose the most beautiful women."

"Well, there is one thing that no one doubts: it was the Africans from Angola who taught us capoeira. It's possible that it used to be very different from the capoeira of today. They tell me that there are written records proving this. I believe it. Everything changes. But that which we call Capoeira de Angola, that which I learned, I didn't allow it to change here in my Academy. This capoeira is at least 78 years old. And it will live past 100, because my students pull for me. Their eyes are now mine. They know that they must continue. They know that this art is good for self-defense."

"When I was ten years old – I was skinny and weak – another boy who was bigger than me became my rival. All I had to do was go out on the street – to go to the store, for example – and we would get caught up in a fight. I just know that I always got beaten up by him. So I would cry in secret from shame and sadness."

"One day, an old African watched our fight from the window of his house. 'Come here, my son,' he told me, seeing that I cried from rage after getting beaten up. 'You can't beat him, you know, because he's bigger and older. In your spare time, come to my house and I will teach you something of great value.' This is what he told me, and I went."

"He would always say: 'Don't provoke, boy, make him aware of what you know very slowly.' The last time the kid attacked me, I made him aware of the only blow that I could do. And he stopped being my rival, and even became my friend from admiration and respect."

"When I was 12 years old, I went to Sailors' School. There, I taught capoeira to my peers. Everyone called me 110. I left the Navy when I was 20 years old. It was a hard life. Because I was young and poor, I sometimes had the Police after me for street fights and whatnot. When they tried to catch me, I would remember Mestre Benedito and defend myself. They knew that I played capoeira, so they wanted to humiliate me in public. So there were times when I beat up rude policemen, but it was to defend my body and my morale. In that era, from 1910 to 1920, the game was free."

"I started to work at a gambling house. To maintain order. But even though I was a capoeirista, I was never without a 12-inch, double-bladed knife. Professional capoeira players in those days were always armed. Whoever was among them without any weapons was a damned fool. I saw a lot of commotion, some blood, but I don't like to tell about fights that I was involved in. Anyway, I only worked when I couldn't earn a living from my art. Besides the gambling house, I worked as a shoe shiner, I sold newspapers, I was a gold prospector, I helped build the port of Salvador. All temporary jobs; I always wanted to live from my art. My art was being a painter."

"There were only mestres in the roda. The most experienced of the mestres was Amorzinho, a civil guard. When he shook my hand, he offered to put me in charge of an academy. I declined, but all the mestres insisted. They said that I was the best one to lead the Academy and preserve Capoeira Angola over time."

"Leave from the Academy here knowing everything. Knowing that the martial art is very cunning and full of cleverness, that we have to be calm. Capoeira is not an attacking martial art, it waits. The good capoeirista is obligated to cry at the foot of his attacker. He is crying, but his eyes and spirit are active. Capoeiristas don't like hugs or handshakes; it's always better to distrust polite gestures. Capoeiristas don't turn a corner with their body open and unprotected. You have to take two or three steps to the right or the left to observe your enemy. Don't enter through the door of a house where the hallway is dark. Either have some way to light up the darkness or don't go in. If you are in the street and you see that you are being watched, disguise it, turn around quickly and look at the guy again. Well, if he's still looking, he is an enemy and the capoeirista prepares himself for whatever comes."

"Capoeira de Angola can only be taught without forcing the person's natural expression. The important thing is to take advantage of the free and individual movements of each person. No one fights like me, but in my students' games is all the knowledge that I learned. Each one is an individual. The berimbau cannot be forgotten. Berimbau is the primitive mestre. It teaches by its sound. It gives vibration and swing to our bodies. The percussive orchestra with the berimbau isn't a modern thing; it's fundamental. The good capoeirista, besides playing capoeira, must know how to play berimbau and sing. And to play without dirtying his clothes, without touching your body to the ground. When I play, people think 'the old guy is drunk,' because I make my body all my body all floppy and rickety, looking like I'm going to fall. But no one has put me on the ground yet, and no one will."

Source: Capoeira-Infos.org

Regional: Quotes from the movie "Mestre Bimba: A Capoeira Iluminada" (Top)

Mestre Bimba had a street capoeira phase. It even reached the point that, having been imprisoned various times, the police chief called him over and wanted to make him the police inspector of the neighborhood where he lived, because that way he would behave and not fight since he was the inspector – he would calm down. But he refused the offer, saying that capoeira and the police were always against each other, so how could he join the side of the police?
- Mestre Itapoan

For me, only two mestres have a place on my altar: Jesus and Bimba. I am what I am thanks to him. If Bimba had not existed, I would be something else.
- Mestre Decânio

If you go to my house, in my bedroom where I sleep with my wife, there is a photograph: this photo here of the Mestre. It's there on the wall. I don't have a photo of my biological father, but I have one of Mestre Bimba.
- Escurinho

He would help the porters. What was his main job? Carrying knives for the dock workers. How? He would get them past the police stations for the dock workers, who were known as tough guys and troublemakers. He told me that he would buy a large loaf of bread, cut it in the middle, make a hole and put the knife in, then hide the opening. After passing the police station, he would deliver the bread to the dock workers and leave.
- Mestre Decânio

From what Mestre Bimba told me, black men who were street capoeiristas used to be tied to the tail of a horse that was let loose to run back to the military barracks. It was said to be better to fight close to the barracks, because then it was a shorter distance to be dragged by the horse.
- Americano (Muniz Sodré)

Mestre Bimba surprised society with a different type of behavior. He contradicted every stereotype that society had about capoeiristas. He seems like a straight, serious man.
- Fred Abreu, historian

Candomblé, capoeira, and certain types of food are all expressions of cultural resistance, against the suffocation of the dominating party – the white European slave master. So this is why capoeira was made officially illegal for a while. The names of the capoeiristas are there – Besouro, Bom Cabelo, and many others like this, who had their general gathering place in the Mercado de Ouro (Gold Market) because the great majority of them were manual laborers.
- Cid Teixeira, historian

More on Mestre Bimba: A Capoeira Iluminada

• Read an interview with the film's director
• Check out the film's website

Opinion: What is the value of capoeira? (Top)

By Shion

My readers are certainly imagining a more subjective answer, like talking about what the valorization of capoeira can offer in essence, in feeling and passion.

But I'm asking for an answer in the literal sense of the word "value." I ask that you define in numbers (whether in reais, dollars, Euros… whatever you want!) how much capoeira is worth.

The subject is controversial and often there is a stubborn streak of hypocrisy. Various perspectives both in support and in criticism flood internet forums and some capoeira rodas. After all, can capoeira unlink itself from the reality of globalized capitalism? Can the capoeirista make a living from capoeira?

Even with the unpleasantness and social injustices that the capitalist system sustains, I still think it the fullest way to live in a consumerist society. Ok, ok… I say this because I enjoy the benefits that this system offers, and I would be very hypocritical if I criticized the system while enjoying all the wonderful things that capitalism offers. And who does not enjoy things? What about the poor person with no chance to move up in the world?

Well… is the problem with the system, or the way the system is run? Wouldn't the human necessity to accumulate – present since our origins – have a relevant role in the face of this unjust and cruel reality?

Let's get back to the explanation…

Is it fair to criticize the capoeirista who charges money to teach what he knows about capoeira? And what about the commercialized market for selling capoeira-related instruments and articles (at times in an abusive way)? It seems like a simple answer, but it is one that still sets off fireworks of revolt and false absolutism in the capoeira universe.

Personally, I have nothing against it. But I strongly condemn people who abuse it!

The examples speak for themselves… now and again we come across Mestres who, "in the name of spreading our Brazilian art," shamelessly fill their pockets with Euros and dollars and even make fun of those who stay in Brazil doing voluntary social projects.

I think that the question is much more complex. It involves character, values, and principles. It goes beyond the cleverness and malandragem of a capoeirista. And this is up to each person. Someone with no shame or scruples can go to any length.

But there is one comforting fact: we know that these individuals who just take advantage of others will never be included in the great roll where only the true capoeira mestres will have their names immortalized.

It is only the dosage that distinguishes medicine from poison. And these false capoeiristas should be aware of the limits, because sooner or later, they will end up attacked.

"Whoever does not know capoeira, does not know its value!"

Source: PortalCapoeira
Translation into English: Shayna McHugh

Videos of the Month: Contra-mestra Susy (Top)

Check out some videos of Contra-mestra Susy and her group

Susanne Oesterreicher started attending classes in Capoeira in Munich in 1989. She has been studying Capoeira Angola with Mestre Rosalvo in Berlin since 1992. In 1993 she organized with Mestre Rosalvo the 1st Internationl Capoeria Angola Convention in Europe. On July 19, 1997 they founded Academia Jangada – school for Capoeira Angola and Afro-Brazilian dance. In 1999 they founded the Capoeira Group "Vadiacao". She has taught the children's Capoeira Group in Jangada since 1999.

In 2002 she was the first European female to become a Contramestra of Capoeira Angola. She is teaching Capoeira Angola and holding workshops in many European countries, as well as USA, and Brazil.

Source: Academia Jangada website

Web Bonus: Capoeira Espaço Network (Top)

Join Capoeira Espaço – create a profile and connect with other capoeiristas around the world!

In this issue:
- Bahia-Capoeira news: New CDs and a photo contest
- Capoeira-Connection news: New translation: History and use of the berimbau
- Interview: Mestre Preguiça
- Literature: Capoeira in 1929
- Curiosities: Origin of the word "capoeira"
- Quotes: Sport or fight?
- Web Bonus: FICA Archives

Bahia-Capoeira News:

Check out our new CDs! Cordão de Ouro, Grupo Ginga, Capoeira Topázio, and more.

Photo Contest
Send us your picture using our clothes and get Bahia-Capoeira Coupons! The first 10 people who send their pictures will automatically get a $10 coupon, and will still be considered for further prizes!

Prizes:
- 1st place: $50 coupon
- 2nd place: $35 coupon
- 3rd place: $20 coupon
- Every participant will get a nice capoeira postcard and 10 Senhor do Bonfim ribbons.

Capoeira-Connection News:

I've just translated Kay Shaffer's 1977 research on the history and use of the berimbau – lots of interesting info about the berimbau's use in Brazil and Africa, as well as musical notation for the toques of Bimba, Waldemar, Canjiquinha, and more!
Download it here (Adobe PDF file)

Interview: Mestre Preguiça

Waldenkolk Oliveira, known as mestre Preguiça, was born in Sítio do Mato in Bahia, Brazil. It was June of 1947. His mother died when he was only seven years old, and he was left alone to face the world about which he knew so little. Three years later he was in Salvador, living on the streets, sleeping under bridges along with other street kids. In the constant search for a direction that he could follow in life, he would spend time in the poor neighborhoods of the Bahian capital, like Calçadas and Ribeira. That was where he met Gilson Capoeira of the Periperí neighborhood in 1959, who taught him his first Capoeira moves and brought him to Mestre Bimba's academy. The powerful mestre then taught him the rules of discipline and respect that Waldenkolk longed for.

How was your first contact with Mestre Bimba? Do you remember much?

When we entered the building, the students were training in a small room on the second floor of the Academy. Mestre Bimba rested on a bed in a side room. He was seated in silence, and his eyes observed each detail. Since that moment when I saw him for the first time, I felt that that man was a great and powerful mentor who didn't need a weapon to defend himself. I was attracted by the power of the martial art and by the spirituality that I felt in the atmosphere. I knew then that Capoeira would be an important part of my life.

Were you soon accepted as a student?

When I told the mestre that I wanted to train, he mumbled and told me to do a 'queda de rins.' Although I fell over, he still invited me to join the class. I trained there until graduating from Mestre Bimba's Academy.

What was the graduation ceremony like?

The graduates gathered in Mestre Bimba's house for the ceremony. We all wore white pants and shirts and shoes, as was the tradition. That way, if our bodies touched the ground during the game, the dirt would show. Each graduate received a blue belt and a small silver metal with an engraved figure of a capoeirista. Afterwards there was a big party, with all the capoeiristas and their friends.

And why is your nickname Preguiça (lazy/sloth)?

The control, strength, and flexibility of Bimba's students scared me a lot and I used hide behind the bench, afraid to participate. I was always one of the last to enter the roda, because of a little bit of fear and also caution. This slowness led the mestre to give me the nickname Preguiça.

Did your participation in Bahia's folkloric performing groups help you go to Rio de Janeiro?

Yes. After I graduated around 1965, I went to Rio with the group Vem Camará.

Talk a little bit about your experience in Rio.

In 1968 and 1969 I was crowned national champion of the Golden Berimbau competition. Since I was champion in three consecutive years, I won the Golden Berimbau trophy, which was the biggest Capoeira prize at the time. The following year, I prepared two of my best students, Mosquito and Borracha, to go to the same event and I was entitled the Best Coach of Brazil, for my success as a teacher. To further develop my professional skills, I studied physical education at the university. This university was the first to offer a Capoeira course, and I was the professor.

And your experience in Europe?

I went to Europe as part of the Brazilian Ballet Show and I spread the practice of Capoeira in almost all the countries there. When I returned, I continued giving classes with Senzala, while I finished my degree. In 1976 I went to Austria to do a specialized Physical Education course, and I also taught Capoeira. Upon my return, besides my normal classes, I performed Capoeira in shows, theaters, nightclubs, and on TV. I ended up forming two groups: Mucuiu nu Zambi and Ganga Zumba. I also did a performance on Fantástico [a very famous Brazilian TV show], playing the role of Madame Satã.

How was your experience in the United States?

I didn't speak English, but I liked the challenge of teaching Capoeira in another language. I began by writing the words "right" and "left" on my hands, which helped me give instructions to the students. After a year, I had already developed a strong base of study.

Source: Revista Capoeira

Literature: From "Criminal Magazine" in 1929 by Paulo Várzea

Madrid has the chulo, Buenos Aires the compadron, Lisboa the fadista, and Rio de Janeiro the capoeirista. The capoeirista supersedes his rivals in the various styles of quickness and physical skill. He is a talented acrobat. He jumps, he turns his body totally inside out to avoid falling, and gives a headbutt. And he does this quickly, calmly, and subtly, without being ostentatious. Two, three, four of his blows – which come continuously and simultaneously – embarrass, confuse, dizzy, and dominate his adversary.

He is a loyal enemy, never attacking when your back is turned. He is a brave guy. Also nicknamed capadócio (bum, tough guy) and malandro (street-smart guy, unsavory character), the capoeirista, as evidenced by the name, comes from the capoeiras of the colonial age. And it is not just the idle vagabonds, the runaway kids, the escaped slaves who are capoeiristas – it is also journalists, deputies, engineers, and generals. The famous capoeira played in the early morning hours in Rio at the old Café Londres involves scholars and military men.

In Rio de Janeiro of the old days, capoeira was an organization appropriately divided into teams: the guyamús, the nagôas, flor da gente, fransiscanos, luzitanos, conceição da marinha, conceição da glória, bocas-rasgadas, natividades, monduros, caxinguelês, etc. [All names of capoeira "gangs" in Rio around the turn of the 20th century]

These teams clashed daily in the streets in terrible conflicts, and because they were a serious threat to public security, they were energetically persecuted by a capoeirista himself: Dr. Sampaio Ferraz, the ex-chief of police. With their numbers lessened, today capoeiristas are rare and are no longer identified by their groups, but instead individually, by their own names. A capoeirista's birthplace, neighborhood, women, physical and/or moral characteristics all influence the name and fame of the modern malandro: "Cardosinho da Saúde" [Cardosinho from Saúde (a neighborhood)], "Hespanholito" [Little Spaniard], "Canella de Vidro" [Glass Shin], "Galleguinho" [From Galicia (in Spain)], "Cabelereira" [Hairstylist], "Mulatinho do Catete" [Mulatto from Catete (a neighborhood)], "Camisa Pretas" [Black Shirt], "Treme-Treme" [Shake-Shake], "Carvoeiro" [Coal-Seller], "Cabo-Verde" [Cape Verde], "Bonitinho do Castello" [Pretty Boy from Castello (a neighborhood)], and "Paulo da Zazá."

The modern capoeirista, like the capoeirista of the old days, is unemployed. With his abilities and dispositions, he does the same thing as the fencers of the seventeenth century. He puts his acrobatic talents at the service of magnates, of politicians, and especially of owners of gambling houses, from the elegant clubs to the sordid establishments, from the cabarets to the ranchos. When guarding one of these lairs he is a lion, a domestic lion. He risks his life carelessly and it ends, invariably, in an explosion of tragedy. "Either I'll go up or go down," he says, referring to going to prison (going up) or dying (going down).

The real malandros are hungry for fame. They consider the job of guarding a gambling house a matter of life and death. They don't want to damage their reputation or lose face. We erroneously labeled the malandro as a bandit. However, he is not so low. You have to get to know him to see how he is nice, polite, and generous… as an enemy, he is cruel; but when he goes to visit you he brings news and presents: cigars, tobacco, and newspaper, having taken the precaution of tricking the guard.

But with the same hand that he offers these generosities, he will kill a man. And, with the same ease, he plays the guitar, the cavaquinho, the berimbau. These little tunes that we sometimes hear from the bed, or sung in the sleeping and deserted streets are composed by him, as a poet.

Curiosities: Capoeira, origin and meaning of the word

By Raphael "Sagu" Moreno

José de Alencar, the first to analyze the word CAPOEIRA in 1865, proposed an etymological origin from the Tupi [a Brazilian Indian language] CAA-APUAM-ERA, translated as "underbrush that has been cut." The composition of the word was still not totally explained, as there were different possibilities for the term. Following the theory of a Tupi-Guarani origin, the options most widely accepted by researchers are CAÁPUÊRA and COÓPUERA.

Analyzing CAÁPUERA, an origin proposed in 1880 by Macedo Soares, in Portuguese words of Guarani origin the syllable CÁ (form the Guarani CAÁ) refers to underbrush, plants, virgin forest, or herbs. While the adjective PUÊRA is the expression of the past, meaning that was, that exists no longer. Thus, the word Capoeira would mean "extinct underbrush."

With the word COÓPUERA, the prefix COÓ means field, so Capoeira would mean "abandoned field." The word would then have naturally evolved from coópuera to Capoeira, as has happened with other words.

The word CAPOEIRA is also associated with the common name of a bird (Odontophorus Capueira), also known as URU or URU-OF-THE-NORTHEAST. It is a bird that lives on the ground, very similar to a pheasant. Those who hunted this bird were also called CAPOEIRAS. In another version, Macedo Soares tells us that the kids or shepherds who looked after the cattle, in order to call each other and also the cattle, would reproduce the call of the Capoeira (URU) bird. So these kids began to be called capoeiras.

Today there are more than 25 definitions for the word Capoeira, but the great majority of them have something to do with underbrush or birds.

We can also explore another interesting facet of this subject: the different written or spoken forms of referring to the art of Capoeira. In records from the beginning of the last century and even in some that are more recent (from the 60s) we find the forms CAPUEIRA, CAPUERA, CAPOERA, and CAPOEIREIRO to refer to the game or its practitioners. CAPOEIRAGEM is another commonly used form, especially in the records of old Rio de Janeiro.

With the origin and meaning of the word CAPOEIRA not completely resolved, but understood in part, we can begin to analyze the link between the Tupi-Guarani word and our art.

Some researchers have tried to relate the game of Capoeira to the jealous behavior of the bird defending its territory. But out of all the explanations proposed by scholars, I believe that two can really bring us close to knowing the origin of the name of our Afro-Brazilian fight-dance-sport-music.

The first theory says that the slaves, during their free hours (which were very few) would get together in an area of underbrush that had been cut, where they would practice their dances, relics of a free past in Africa – dances that were inoffensive to the eyes of the slave masters. Through this ritual, the slaves disguised the fight training, and not only this but also maintained a link between the process of acculturation to the horrors of the slave quarters and the native cultural traditions of their peoples.

The second theory says that the Africans, both slaves and free, would bring cages of birds to be sold at the ports and markets, and until the markets opened they would amuse themselves by playing Capoeira.

Now we hit a historical conflict that is widely debated by capoeiristas and historians. If we follow the first theory, where the slave in the senzala used the dance to camouflage his martial arts training, we define the origin of Capoeira as a rural phenomenon, which spread until it reached the cities. On the other hand, if we accept the theory of Capoeira at the markets, we arrive at an urban origin of Capoeira.

Quotes: Capoeira, sport or fight?

"I could never say that Capoeira is a sport to me. For me, Capoeira is a fight, it is self-defense. I have defended myself from many things with it. I have defended myself from knives, from machetes, from clubs, from scythes. I've even defended myself from bullets. I was shot at 18 times, but none of them hit me and I deflected two with the point of my machete. So I can never say that Capoeira is a sport to me, I can't treat it like a sport… I have defended myself from many things, and Capoeira, for the old angoleiros, had its own magic, which no one confused with the magic of candomblé."
– Mestre Cobrinha Verde

"I don't like, for example, those fighters, those tough guys… who say 'in my academy we give beatings and everything' – that just generates fights and chaos. If Capoeira is a dance… if you ask a girl to dance, are you going to hit her? (laughter) it's just like that in the roda… you ask your friend to play, not to beat each other up. Capoeira has to fully realize its goodness… it's not about hitting the adversary… so I teach Capoeira like that, and Mr. Pastinha did too… he would say that Capoeira is not for hitting… you give the attack, see that your adversary did not defend himself, but before touching him with your foot, you hold back the blow… he taught me this too."
– Mestre João Pequeno

Web Bonus

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Bahia-Capoeira News

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Manduca da Praia – by Melo Morais Filho, 1901

22 da Marajó – by Monteiro Lobato, 1921

The capoeirista nicknamed "22 da Marajó" [22 was likely his registry number, as sailors were often known by them. Marajó is an island in the mouth of the Amazon River] was an imperial sailor and a master troublemaker. He was a good-looking guy, and stories of his exceptional Capoeira abilities spread as legends. He annoyed the government so much that he was sent up north to serve in the Amazon. The change in climate refreshed him, and he became a calmer man. He began an affair with the wife of a ship chandler, who later died. 22 married the widow and inherited a bit of money. The couple went to Europe for two years, then returned to Brazil and settled in Rio de Janeiro.

He had changed so much! Transformed into a perfect gentleman, he amazed the whole neighborhood with his fancy clothes, gloves, and cream-colored top hat. Who is that? Who is that? – the people whispered. No one knew. Certainly someone of noble lineage, they said, just look at his refined fashion. And 22, impervious to the chatter, continued on, a monocle perched in front of one eye.

He always walked by the same route, and every day he passed by São Fransisco Street. That happened to be the hang-out spot for a bunch of "cool" guys who resented the elegance of the stranger, not to mention the competition he represented in terms of getting girls. After much plotting, they decided to teach the newcomer a lesson.

One day, while 22 passed by more elegantly than ever, a capoeirista approached the group of cool guys. He boasted that he was a master in soltas – cabeçadas perfomed without touching the opponent with one's hands. He asked for 5,000 réis. "Perfect," responded the cool guys, "but first you have to land a solta on that guy with the monocle."

"Got it!" exclaimed the capoeirista. He removed his hat and went to the sidewalk where 22 was walking in his London suit. When 22 arrived, the capoeirista advanced and unleashed an excellent and formidable cabeçada. But 22 dodged, and the attacker ran his head right into the wall, at the same time as a well-placed foot tripped him up with an extremely elegant rasteira. When the dizzy and confused attacker got up, he was taken down with another gorgeous rasteira. The attacker ran away, totally disoriented after having unexpectedly changed from attacker to victim.

22 calmly straightened his tie and mentioned to the astounded group of cool guys: "Only an idiot gives soltas without negaça [feints or dodges]." Twirling his cane between his fingers, he concluded with a bit of nostalgia: "I've had my fun, but today my social position no longer permits me to do this. But I'm sad to see that the art is deteriorating…"

And he walked off, murmuring, "Soltas without negaça… so stupid!"

After their amazement wore off, the cool guys decided to try again. They hired the famous capoeirista Dente de Ouro [Golden Tooth] and went to meet 22 on another day. "That's him over there!" they said as soon as they saw the cream-colored top hat. Dente de Ouro advanced, but when he got closer he stopped and opened a wide smile, recognizing his old acquaintance.

"Hey, 22… you're around here?"

"Shut up and go away, because today I'm an upper-class person and I don't hang out with bad company," responded 22, continuing calmly on his path.

Dente de Ouro returned to the group of cool guys. "Well?!" they asked him, surprised by the anticlimax.

"You guys are idiots!" – Dente de Ouro responded. "That guy is 22 da Marajó, his body is invincible – closed tighter than a can of sardines. To attack 22 – you guys are stupid."

Samuel Querido de Deus – by Jorge Amado, 1944

White hairs have begun to appear on the head of Samuel Querido de Deus. His hair appears eternally wet by the waters of the sea, and his color is impossible to define. Definitely mulatto. But a light mulatto or a dark mulatto, tanned by Native American blood or with Italian traces in his angular face? Who knows? The winds of the sea have given Querido de Deus' face that color that is like no other, that color that is new to all painters. He travels in his boat to the southern seas where the fishing is good. How old could he be? It's impossible to know, because he has made his journey across the seas for many years, returning days later to sell his fish at the Mercado Modelo. But the old sailors tell me that over sixty winters have passed since Samuel was born.

Over sixty, definitely. But still there is no better Capoeira player than Querido de Deus in the festivals of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, held during the first week of December. Whoever he plays – it could be a 20-year-old guy, it could be the most agile or most technical guy in the world – Samuel Querido de Deus shows that he is still the Capoeira king of Bahia. Even his students stare wide-eyed with amazement at his rabo-de-arraia, because no one has ever seen such elegance. There are many stories about Samuel Querido de Deus told around the docks. North Americans have come to watch him, and they pay lots of money to see an exhibition by the old fighter.

Once a friend of his, a writer, told him that two cinematographers wanted to film a Capoeira fight. Samuel had just returned from fishing, ten days on the sea, and carried in his eyes a bit of the southern wind. He prepared himself to fight in front of the cameras and microphones. The match began and was superb. The cinematographers filmed with their machines. When it was over – Samuel having won – the head cinematographer asked how much he wanted to charge. Samuel told him an impossible amount, the amount that the Americans had paid to watch him fight. Then his friend explained that these were Brazilian cinematographers, poor people. Samuel Querido de Deus smiled understandingly, said it was nothing, and invited everyone to eat lunch at the boutique.

You can see him at the docks from time to time, returning from the seas with his boat. But you'll definitely see him at the Conceição da Praia festival, taking down the capoeiristas, because he's the best of them all. His name is Samuel Querido de Deus.

The Mysterious Woman – by Mestre Bola Sete, 2006

Salvador, Bahia, 1910 – there was a mystical atmosphere in the city during those days, surrounding its mixed-race people, who were enchanted by Capoeira, batuque, samba rodas, and candomblé. The nights were tranquil and you could walk the streets even at very late hours without running the risk of being mugged.

But then news of various nighttime assaults swept the city. Everyone was talking about them. The most perplexing thing was that the crimes were said to be committed by a woman dressed in black who would wait on a dark street corner. When the victim approached, she would start a conversation, and then unleash a practiced blow that would incapacitate him while she ran off with his possessions. Of course, the subject was widely discussed in Capoeira rodas, and each person had their own opinion about who the woman was.

One day the subject came up while Mestre Pastinha was talking with his fellow capoeiristas, among them Doze Homens, Bigode de Seda, Eulâmpio, and Duquinha. The assaults were creating quite a stir among the people, especially because the attacker was a woman. One of the capoeiristas thought that the crimes were committed by one of the various women who played Capoeira at the time, and tried to guess which one, citing various names. The capoeirista known as Bigode de Seda countered the accusation and defended the female capoeiristas (most of whom were his friends), saying that none of them were capable of such acts. And the discussion went on for over an hour, and no one could make a guess that everyone agreed with.

The assaults continued and the police could not find the perpetrator. They arrested various suspects, but all of them managed to prove their innocence. So the mysterious woman continued her assaults unchallenged.

One day, Mestre Pastinha received news that Bigode de Seda was injured from a stab wound received in a street fight. Pastinha went to visit him almost every day, but he got worse and worse. One day, Pastinha was told that Bigode de Seda was doing very badly and wished to see him.

When Pastinha arrived, Bigode de Seda asked him to come closer. He asked if there was any news about the assaults by the mysterious woman, and Mestre Pastinha responded that there had been no assaults recently. Bigode de Seda asked Pastinha to come closer, and whispered: "And there will be no more, Pastinha!" He pointed to an old closet. The mestre went to it, opened the drawer and found a beautiful black dress, while Bigode de Seda breathed his last.

In this issue:

Bahia-Capoeira news: New books & CDs

Capoeira-Connection news: New articles & resources

Feature: Capoeira without limits

Profile: Mestre Pelé, the "Golden Throat" of Bahia

Story: Festival of Bomfim (from Histórias e Estórias de Capoeiragem by Mestre Bola Sete)

BAHIA-CAPOEIRA NEWS

Two new books:

 - Capoeira by Sonia Rosa

 - Proposta Metodológica do Ensino da Capoeira by Mestre Piauí

Two new CDs:

 - Canto na Areia by Carolina Soares 

 - Berimbau de Ouro by Mestre Cascavel

- We now have an atabaque keychain to go with your berimbau keychain and caxixi keychain!

CAPOEIRA-CONNECTION NEWS

Three new articles have been posted:

There's so much to learn in capoeira that the process can be overwhelming. Oftentimes, we get shortsighted and focus only on the here and now - on the cool move we're trying to master or the new song we're trying to learn. But in capoeira, the concept of lineage is very important. The art is passed from mestre to apprentice, as a precious inheritance is passed from father to son. Your lineage shapes your game, your philosophies, and your manner of learning and teaching capoeira. In other words, much of who you are in the capoeira world is defined by who passed the art down to you.

Capoeira, Ice Skating, and the power of the "Exotic"

For a long time I've puzzled at the fact that foreigners go wild over capoeira, practice and research it like crazy, and uproot their entire lives and careers and spend thousands of dollars in order to come to Brazil (not that I know of anyone who's done THAT...) whereas many Brazilians seem to be just kind of "eh" about it – their attendance at trainings is spotty, they don't put much effort into practice, etc...

Angola Keywords

While in Salvador, I made a list of the "key words" that Mestre Valmir and his students emphasized with frequency in the trainings. Here they are, as well as an explanation of more or less what they mean: awareness, smoothness, subtlety, expression, freedom of movement, rhythm, protection, naturalness, calmness, objectivity, respiration, looseness, tranquility, deception, lightness, feeling/soul, patience, visualization, cleverness, mobility, relaxation, control, 'from the heart,' balance within unbalance...

FEATURE: Capoeira without limits

By Fernando Cássio Orso Alvez – Monitor Atrazado

Translated into English by Shayna McHugh

Whoever knows Capoeira, knows what it is capable of. Capoeira is a game, a fight, a dance, a plaything, and philosophy. According to Mestre Paulo, "Capoeira is the only sport that has its own music. It's the only fight in which men battle women and adults battle children." In addition, as Mestre Mão Branca says, "Opposites attract: the rich and the poor, the white and the black."

I and many other capoeiristas believe that Capoeira is magic, and its greatest magic lies in its playfulness and especially in its process of social inclusion.

When we hear the word "social inclusion," the first image that comes to mind is that of a rich person proudly embracing a poor person, or a black person receiving thanks from a white person. But today there are some mestres and professors of Capoeira who are extending this inclusion even further. I was thrilled to see a photo in issue 31 of Praticando Capoeira magazine of a capoeirista doing a pião de cabeça (headspin) - who had both legs and his right arm amputated. I congratulate Mestre Alemão and mestrando Angola for their work.

There are many other capoeiristas doing this type of work, like the great Mestre Macha and also Monitor Cascavel, both in Florianópolis. I am currently a Monitor in Capoeira and I am developing a project like this. Just over a year ago, I voluntarily began giving a private physical education class to a student in a wheelchair. I became interested in special needs students after watching a lecture from Steven from the Athletic Association for the Handicapped. I used some traditional methods of physical fitness and also aimed to adapt capoeira to the wheelchair.

Today, this student (Bira) is one of the only capoeiristas in Santa Catarina to play Capoeira in a wheelchair - we are so proud of him! I have also been working with mentally handicapped students in my city. I have only a few students, but the results are impressive. In the future, I'd like to teach Capoeira to the visually impaired, as Mestre Mancha does.

But I'm not writing this to bring praises to myself. Much to the contrary, what I want to tell everyone is that I did not take any special course that taught me how to work with special needs students. The only thing needed is patience and careful observation of the movements. A paraplegic cannot use his legs, but he can move better with his arms, and even use the chair itself as his body. For example, I try to show my student that his crutches can represent his feet, and when they come in a circular motion to touch my leg, this symbolizes a rasteira, etc. I used Capoeira angola as a base, which I will also do in the future with the visually impaired.

I believe that many professors and mestres would like to try this type of thing, but they can't sit there with their arms crossed waiting for handicapped students to show up in their academies. In addition, some think that such students would be a good source of income. Whoever thinks like this is wrong - the majority of special needs students often have less financial capability. Another big problem is that many special needs people self-discriminate, therefore, we need people to guide these future students and show them that they are capable. This is a question of love and solidarity. Many special needs people do not want pity; instead they want the opportunity to have the same rights, to access the same places, and why not play Capoeira?

Now we have a different vision of Capoeira, because the art goes much further than we thought. Instead of worrying about being the best inside the roda, we must have the consciousness and serenity that we need to be better outside the roda. We have to be better in our attitudes, our teaching methods, our friendships, our way of living. In special needs people, we will find a great friend that doesn't pull you down, but even if all he can do is touch your arm, he will lift you up. Remember that you already lifted him up, when you took him from the cocoon in which he lived, depressed and abandoned.

This opportunity to create an adapted Capoeira will open up a great range of possibilities. Capoeira needs to be more human, we have to show Capoeira in its essence. The most important thing is not just to have special needs students, but instead to make it possible for special needs students to play in the same roda as men, women, children, and senior citizens.

To close, I will use the words of Pastinha: "Knowledge [of capoeira] is a mystery even to the wisest of men." This is why we have to try to understand a little more about this other side of Capoeira, leaving behind our arguments, intolerance, and vanity. We have to think of Capoeira as a whole. Finally, a quote from Mestre Toni Vargas, who said this when my student received his first cord: "Capoeira has no limits, the teacher playing on foot and the student seated in the wheelchair."

Capoeira is for everyone…

Axé Camará!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3917694102496445020&q=capoeira+sem+fronteiras

PROFILE: Mestre Pelé, the "Golden Throat" of Bahia

By Lúcia Correia Lima

Translation into English by Shayna McHugh

"Iêêêêêêêê!" Whoever hears the call of Natalício Neves da Silva (Mestre Pelé) along with the first notes of the berimbau, never forgets it. His expressive voice is capable of taking us through 500 years of history and making us aware of the liberating power that the Capoeira roda represents. Mestre Pelé was born in 1934, in the days when Capoeira was played on weekends and holidays. He was part of a generation divided between the marginalized Capoeira of the street and the institutionalized Capoeira of the academies.

First roda – As a child, Pelé helped his father in the battle for survival. He made charcoal, he collected mandioca, and he worked the earth. Later, he would sell his wares in the Bahian capital. This was how he arrived at the ramp of the Mercado Modelo, next to the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, where he encountered Capoeira. "I saw Capoeira when I was 12 years old, when I would go to the popular festivals of the Bahian recôncavo. I went with my father to Muritiba, São Félix, and Cachoeira to sell charcoal. At the end of the day, the 'lords' of the whole region would arrive and start to play for fun. It was the people who gave the capoeirista the title of mestre, and the title would be disputed right there in the game, the hard game," he recalls. It was in one of these rodas that Pelé claims to have met the legendary Besouro Mangangá. He confirms the legend: "He could disappear when he wanted to."

Legends – For the mestre, it was between the church of ConceiçãoDel (brothers), Onça Preta, Sete Mola, Cabelo Bom and Bom Cabelo (twins), and Bugalho, who mesmerized him with his agility. "There were many important people in those days besides Bimba and Pastinha. Their students didn't play much in the street. They avoided it because of the fights that broke out, they didn't want to damage their reputations. Things would catch fire and the police on horseback would come 'escarreirando' the capoeiristas, ending the rodas. The capoeiristas, in turn, broke the police no cacete. Bimba and Pastinha wanted to evolve, to do away with this image of Capoeira. and the ramp of the Mercado that the best Capoeira rodas of the day took place. He remembers people such as Waldemar da Liberdade, Caiçara, Zacarias, Traíra, Angolinha, Avani, Bel and

Street Capoeira – The majority of the capoeiristas in that era learned right in the big rodas of the Mercado Model and in the street festivals, which began with the festival of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia – the heart of the lower city, next to the Elevador Lacerda – on the first day of December and went until the 8^th day of the same month. Then, there was the festival of Santa Luzia, attended by the dock workers, many of whom were capoeiristas. "It was the whole day: swimming in the sea, samba de roda, samba de viola – which was a tradition. All the rhythms coming from the Bahian recôncavo. In these festivals, came together the best mestres of Capoeira and the best berimbau players. It was at one of these that I began to play instruments and sing," he remembers.

It was Bugalho, a porter, who during his free hours and full-moon nights, taught the boy to ginga in the sands of Preguiça Beach. "I followed the tradition of my mestre, Bugalho, a great berimbau player. He was one of the best, he really played São Bento Grande well, especially on nights with a moon. We would sit in the sands of the beach, and when he played, you could hear him in the upper city."

In addition to the rodas in Liberdade on Sunday afternoons, which the civil guard Zacarias Boa Morte "took care of," Pelé showed his art in the rodas of Waldemar da Liberdade, in a shack made of straw and circled with a bamboo fence. "I was quick, I had good footwork. They didn't pay me to play in the roda. And when I would arrive in the rodas of the invasion of Corta Braço, in the Pero Vaz neighborhood, Mestre Waldemar would say, 'Here comes Satan!'"

Experience – Pelé taught Capoeira for 25 years, including in the Fifth Battalion of the Military Police. "In those days, it was common for the police to train Capoeira." In addition to these activities, Mestre Pelé participated, at the same time, in important folkloric groups of Bahia like Viva Bahia. He performed with Mestre Canjiquinha's group in the Belvedere da Praça da Sé, did shows for tourists where there was Capoeira, maculelê, puxada de rede, and samba de roda.

Smiling a lot, Pelé explains that "in Capoeira, everything comes out of the ginga. The ginga, the molejo and the flexibility are important for the capoeirista, for both defense and attack. Capoeira is also a dance: there is the meia-lua de compasso, a low movement that is different from the rabo de arraia (faster and higher); the ponteira, a blow with the tip of the foot that aims for the jaw; the martelo, hitting the shoulder, the ponta de costela, which is a lower martelo; the benção, which aims for the chest; the giratório – the capoeirista falls back and escapes while turning; the parafuso, a turn on the ground with the head; the crabwalk, a forward and backward movement with papo to the air and the feet open; canivete – with one of the hands on the ground, the whole body curles in the direction of the hands; relógio, in which you spin on a queda de rim; the mule kick, which is falling forward on your two hands and lifting up both feet, etc."

Return – Mestre Pelé stopped playing Capoeira for twenty years. He was brought back to the rodas by the project of rescue and valorization of the old mestres, created by the Brazilian Capoeira Angola Association. Today, he is part of the Council of Mestres of the association and participates in important events. Recently, he moved those present with his voice at the burials of the mestres Caiçara, Bom Cabrito, and Zacarias Boa Morte, and in the seventh day mass of Caiçara.

In the association, Pelé wants to make possible a retirement project for mestres who are over 65 years old and have over 35 years in Capoeira. "The minister of Previdência, Waldec Ornelas, has already voted for the retirement for mães and pais de santo that, like the capoeiristas, had their activities prohibited and persecuted. In addition, we will prove that Capoeira Angola is popular culture, and not a martial art," concludes the singer.

Story: Festival of Bomfim

From Histórias e Estórias de Capoeiragem by Mestre Bola Sete

Translated into English by Shayna McHugh

I don't remember well what year it was, whether 1970 or 1971, but I know it was in the month of January during the lavagem do Bonfim [a huge street festival in Salvador, second only to Carnaval in size], one of the most beautiful popular festivals of our land. I arrived a little late - the ceremony performed at the steps of Bonfim Church had already ended - and I climbed the hill and went straight to the street where I knew there would be various capoeira rodas. I hurried straight to what seemed to be the biggest one, and slipped through the crowd until I was right next to the capoeiristas overseeing the roda, led by the contramestres João Pequeno and João Grande.

The capoeira was animated, and then a tall and strong mulatto jumped into the roda. He challenged one of the capoeiristas present and knocked him down in a matter of seconds. Then he challenged other capoeiristas, and each time the same thing happened; he defeated them all. When there was no one left to fight with except the students of Mestre Pastinha, João Grande gave the berimbau he was playing to a friend and prepared to play with the tough guy. But suddenly a little old man with white hair appeared and crouched in front of the pé do berimbau, inviting the mulatto to join him. He said softly: "Boy, don't hit me, because I'm old and I can't take being beaten up." The mulatto responded with a mocking smile.

The game began and the old man did ginga lazily, when his adversary unleashed a blow to his face hoping to catch him unprepared. But the old man dodged quickly and counter-attacked with a cabeçada and a rasteira, knocking the overconfident mulatto disastrously to the ground. Applause rained from the audience. When the tough guy got up, the old man asked him: "Who was your mestre? You don't know how to play capoeira, boy!"

And each time the old man knocked him down, he repeated the same question and statement. Finally he blocked the guy's vision with his hat and gave him yet another cabeçada, while pretending to talk with one of the people watching the roda. The "tough guy," tired of being beaten up and booed by the people, disappeared quickly into the crowd, leaving the old man alone in the middle of the roda, where a great quantity of money had been thrown by the audience.

The old man crouched, picked up the bills spread on the ground, put them into his hat, looked around, and left, walking down the hill with a swinging gait. I went to João Grande and João Pequeno and asked them if they knew the old man who had just played, and even though the two of them knew almost all the great capoeiristas of Bahia, they didn't know who that was. No one present knew anything about the identity of the old man, who possessed an incredible malícia and a frightening agility, despite his advanced age. Branquinho, a student of Mestre Pastinha, when asked about the identity of the old man replied, "It could only be the devil himself!"

Considering the conviction of his response, there was no reason to doubt it.

BAHIA-CAPOEIRA NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 10

(Lea el mensaje en español mas abajo)

IN THIS ISSUE

- Bahia-Capoeira News: new products and new discounts!

- Lyrics: Mestre Toni Vargas

- History: The May 13^th That History Didn't Tell

- Interview: Mestre Squisito

BAHIA-CAPOEIRA NEWS

- We now offer discounts for large purchases. Just add items to your basket, and the discount will automatically be calculated. Note that with clothing, you don't have to order all the same model to get the discount – you can order pants, shirts, etc of different sizes and designs! http://www.bahia-capoeira.com/promotions/info_9.html

 - Check out this month's new products: Mestre Bimba's CD is back in stock! http://bahia-capoeira.com/cds/regional/cd-curso-capoeira-regional/prod_400.html

Atabaque bag: http://bahia-capoeira.com/instruments/bags/atabaque-bag-black-/prod_412.html

Capoeira drawstring bags: http://bahia-capoeira.com/accessories/bags/cat_16.html

 - Bahia-Capoeira now offers Gift Certificates in amounts from $10-$250

http://bahia-capoeira.com/gift-certificates/cat_112.html - buy one for your favorite capoeirista today!

Editor's note: As we approach May 13 (the date recorded as Brazil's "official abolition" of slavery in 1888), we take some time in this issue to reflect on the history of oppression and liberation in Brazil. As capoeiristas, it is important for us to understand the historical and social factors that shaped our beloved art.

LYRICS: Mestre Toni Vargas

Dona Isabel que história é essa?
De ter feito abolição
De ser princesa boazinha
Que acabou com escravidão

Estou cansado de conversa
Estou cansado de ilusão
Abolição se fez com sangue
Que inundava esse país

Que o negro transforma em luta
Cansado de ser infeliz
A abolição se fez bem antes
Ainda por se fazer agora

Com a verdade das favelas
Nao com as mentiras da escola
Ôh! isabel chegou a hora
De se acabar com essa maldade

E de ensinar pro nossos filhos
O quanto custa a liberdade
Viva Zumbi, nosso guerreiro
Que fez-se heroi la em Palmares

Viva a cultura desse povo
A liberdade verdadeira
Que ja corria nos quilombos
Que ja jogava capoeira

Translation:

Mrs. Isabel, what story is this?

Of having brought about abolition

Of being a nice princess

Who did away with slavery

I am tired of talk

I am tired of illusion

Abolition was done with blood

That inundated this country

That the black man transformed into battle

Tired of being unhappy

Abolition was done much earlier

And must still be done today

With the truth of the slums

Not with the lies told in schools

Oh! Isabel, the time has arrived

To do away with this evil

And teach our children

The cost of liberty

Long live Zumbi, our warrior

Who became a hero in Palmares

Long live the culture of this people

The true liberty

That already flowed freely in the quilombos

That already played capoeira

HISTORY: The May 13^th That History Didn't Tell

By Acúrsio Esteves

Translated by Shayna McHugh

May 13^th, 1888 went down in Brazilian history as the date on which slavery was abolished. It was the date on which the princess' pen signed the decree doing away with oppression, enabling the black population to become free, no longer having masters, and able to live with dignity and equality.

That is what I learned in school, and that is what I believed for many years of my life. Of course I never understood too well why Princess Isabel, "The Redeemer," decided to make a decision that went against the interests of those in power, aligning herself with the subjugated black population and with a few poets, intellectuals, and dreamers who called themselves abolitionists. I thought it was a true bloodless revolution, carried out by a courageous woman.

What I never learned in school was that at the time, the Brazilian sugarcane business (which was the main source of national wealth, created 90% by slave labor) was going from bad to worse. Central American sugar was cheaper and closer to the big markets, and it was higher quality than Brazilian sugar. It was impossible to compete with it. But unfortunately I only learned the "Convenient History," in which political and economic aspects "did not concern us."

The immense numbers of slaves thus became a burden for the masters of the mills. How could they sustain this "horde" of men, women, and children during the economic crisis, even under miserable conditions? It was the question that refused to be silenced, and it had only one response: mass dismissal. Yes my friends, mass dismissal was the solution for the forced laborers who built and sustained the national economy. And it was the cruelest thing done in the world, perhaps of all times.

It was a dismissal without any workers' rights. Millions of laborers had to leave the only shelter they knew, armed only with their meager belongings and the clothes on their back. And they didn't have the right to stay if they wanted to. Only those who were especially apt in their work or who possessed special skills were kept as employees, just for the interest of the capitalist masters. This dismissal had a beautiful name: the Golden Law.

Before this law, however, came others that were similarly convenient to the interests of the dominant class. The first was the 1850 law prohibiting the traffic of slaves. Since England, in practice, had already decided to intercept and apprehend slave ships and free the slaves, this was a useless law.

The second law, in 1871, declared children born to slaves after this date to be free. This law was only implemented to appease the abolitionists. It had no practical application, because how could the children be free when their parents were slaves? Would the children have an education, a decent place to live, and citizenship while their parents were in the slave quarters? Would these children – who would be educated until the age of 21 by their parents' masters – have the lives of citizens or slaves?

The third law, in 1885, was the most twisted of all. It freed slaves who were 60 and older, while paying a small compensation to their masters. But the life expectation of a free citizen at the time was 60-65 years, and that of a slave was 32-40 years. It was rare for a slave to reach the "liberation" age, and it was even difficult to know the slaves' exact ages. Even today there are many people who do not possess a legal birth certificate. So if the slave in question was still strong and healthy and able to work, it was easy to say that he had not yet reached the age required by the law. But if he was weak or sick and not useful to work, there was nothing easier than to say he was 60 years old and send him away.

After the 1888 "liberation," the immense "free" contingent, among which were the weak, the sick, the elderly, and children, was expelled to the streets in an instant. There was no land reform and no free public education for the newly liberated people. Have you ever thought about the future living conditions for those who were "liberated"?

Where would they live?

How would they survive?

Would they suddenly be respected as citizens, or not?

What kind of opportunities would the "society" that they had constructed offer them so that they could construct their lives?

One doesn't need to be a specialist in sociology to respond to these outrages. But whatever happened to these people exiled from the city streets for being "vagabonds," who had no work to sustain them or their families, nor a decent place to live? They ended up in the peripheries of the cities, living in miserable shacks without plumbing, electricity, clean water, leisure activities, employment, education, health, dignity… the majority remain there even today.

These slums, settlements, and invasions are examples of the social inequality existing side by side with progress, comfort, health, leisure, education, employment, a dignified life. These slums, settlements, and invasions are centers of poverty, violence, sloppiness, exclusion, hunger, living death, bitterness, social injustice... it is a national shame, and the new version of the old slave masters' oppression.

Source: Portal Capoeira

INTERVIEW: MESTRE SQUISITO

Mestre Squisito was born in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais on March 11, 1953. His first contact with capoeira occurred around 1968 in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, where he met a capoeirista at school. He really established himself in capoeira in Brasília in 1974, in the Academia Tabosa de Capoeira, the most famous academy of the time.

InfoCapoeira: How do you reconcile life as a capoeira mestre with life as the father of a family?

Mestre Squisito: It's a question of balancing the two things. The majority of people stop pursuing art or sports with the excuse of being too busy with their families. But the ideal is to balance both, so that in addition to family life, the person has an outlet for leisure and enjoyment. Of course this will help them be a better, more balanced and healthy father, because quitting any activity damages your overall personhood.

InfoCapoeira: What was your biggest challenge in capoeira?

Mestre Squisito: Continuity. The large majority of people who begin learning capoeira quit within a year. Of those that continue, many more quit in the second year, and so on. Even people with great ability and potential abandon capoeira for a variety of reasons: lacking time to train, moving far away from their home group and being reluctant to join another group, marriage, religion, laziness, taking up a different sport, studies, illnesses – all in all, there are infinite reasons that act as a "filter" for capoeiristas over the course of time. The only ones who become real capoeiristas are those who incorporate capoeira into their soul. That takes time.

InfoCapoeira: Why capoeira?

Mestre Squisito: Because it's Brazilian. Because it's revolutionary. Because it's fascinating. Because it's pure energy. Because it's history. Because it's philosophy. Because it fights for a dignified Brazilianness, for a political resistance against the cultural colonization of the American world. For love and liberty.

InfoCapoeira: Have you ever thought about quitting capoeira? Why?

Mestre Squisito: Yes, I've had a weak moment. When I saw that capoeiristas were going in a direction that would lead to a crisis of identity and values, losing the connection with their roots because of the rising of egos. Then I found an escape: to do as the old sailor who drives his boat very slowly during a storm…

InfoCapoeira: How can capoeira influence the minds of children and teenagers?

Mestre Squisito: Capoeira influences the minds of people of any age!! Teenagers are just more malleable because they are in the process of constructing their personalities; they receive many responsibilities and influences. In capoeira, this is very strong: because of capoeira's energy, they become part of the group, adopting its rules, ethics, values, and, unfortunately, all the negative things too. At this time in their lives, their parents should be counselors; they should be especially attentive because young people depend on this to avoid certain risks of adopting twisted values…

InfoCapoeira: Today, what capoeirista has the greatest expression?

Mestre Squisito: Mestre João Grande, without a doubt. He is the main person responsible for the rediscovery of capoeira angola as a legacy of inestimable value!

InfoCapoeira: Which capoeira is more efficient: Angola or Regional?

Mestre Squisito: No efficiency exists by itself. Mestre Bimba's Regional was undoubtedly efficient at a very important time: during the moment in History in which capoeira needed strength, combativeness, clear performance, decision! Mestre Bimba inserted these elements into capoeira Angola, rescuing the possibility of its expansion and recognition, because his capoeira clearly displayed its competence and efficiency to anyone who was looking. This is a historical fact, not an opinion. But Regional itself arose from Angola, therefore, we could say that it was a response given by capoeira angola when faced with a certain situation. Nowadays we see Angola come to have more importance, because the current problem is different: we have too much space occupied by capoeira and too few rules; too much violence and too little axé; too much competition and too little respect; too much inventiveness and too little tradition!

I think that God and the Orixás guide the path of capoeira so that the art always has a response for any adversary. That is what guarantees its efficiency, which is a continuous efficiency throughout History: a response for each moment and each problem, a weapon to fight each challenge, a path out of each crossroads. This takes its practitioners out of their routine and enables them to reconnect with their roots, eternal roots, where the tree of liberty always grows, bearing fruit of love, brotherhood, and constant improvement of the human self and spirituality!

Source: InfoCapoeira

http://www.jornalmundocapoeira.com/entrevistas/entrevistas_m_squisito.htm

NOTICIAS BAHIA-CAPOEIRA

BAHIA-CAPOEIRA NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 9

(Lea el mensaje en español mas abajo)

IN THIS ISSUE

- Bahia-Capoeira News: Birthday Presents and New Products
- Quote: Mestre Itapoãn
- Interview: Mestre Ananias
- Capoeira Quiz

BAHIA-CAPOEIRA NEWS

Feliz Páscoa! Happy Easter!

Birthday Presents!
Soon we'll be launching a birthday present program for our customers – but first we need your birthdays! So send us your name and your birthday, and we'll enter it into the system. When the time comes around, we'll send you a present!

Today's New Products
- Large caxixi
- Beriba bag PRO
- CD Grupo de Capoeira São Salvador vol. 3
- CD Grupo de Capoeira São Salvador vol. 4
- Plain dobrão
- Berimbau earrings
- Two new necklaces: Colar Coco and Colar Brasil

QUOTE: Mestre Itapoãn

"Mestre Bimba's ambush training, which took place in the forest, was a true battle, a true guerrilla training… if you found yourself alone, you had to fight as long as you could and then run, know to run in the right direction… it was like we were in a street fight, except much worse, because all our opponents were excellent capoeiristas… they knew how to hit, how to take you down, and they even brought clubs that Bimba made out of banana tree branches, which didn't hurt seriously but stung sharply when they hit…

I never saw the mestre explain this training… when I asked what its purpose was, he just laughed and said: 'Be patient, Itapoan; fruit only ripens with time…'"

From "O Perfil do Mestre" pg. 53; 1982 Bahia-Brasil

INTERVIEW: Mestre Ananias

Mestre Ananias is one of the icons of capoeira in São Paulo. At 81 years old, he embodies the fusion of African heritage with the Brazilian people. He lives capoeira, samba, and candomblé without separating them. Mestre Ananias was born in 1924 in São Felix, a region of the Bahian Recôncavo whose cultural richness merits in-depth study. After absorbing the culture in which he grew up, he moved to São Paulo in the middle of the 20^th century after being invited by theater producers. He worked with Plínio Marcos, Solano Trinidade, and other famous people in all the city's theaters. In 1953, he founded the most traditional capoeira roda of São Paulo, which takes place in the Praça da República. This roda grew with the arrival of his contemporaries, and during this time capoeira really exercises one of its main fundamentals: to integrate disadvantaged classes into society despite racial and social prejudice.

What is capoeira, mestre?

For me, capoeira is health, it is a "sport for real men," as the expression goes! You have to have courage, behave yourself, accept a challenge. It's not just hitting, like the capoeiristas do today… we have an iron strength; there are people who say it's just a dance, but for me it is the dance of death. Capoeira kills while smiling; within a greeting comes an attack, dude!!! Capoeira is everything in my life. If it wasn't for capoeira, I would not have lived to the age I am now.

How and when did you begin practicing capoeira?

When I was 14 years old. That's the age when you start to feel capoeira in your blood; before this you're clueless about everything. That's the age where stories begin, and when I started to get smart. But I've been in the middle of this culture since I was really little. I'm from São Félix and Cachoeira.

What can you tell us about the people who taught you capoeira?

Juvêncio was the mestre. He was a dock worker who did capoeira on the docks of São Felix, during the festivals of Igreja de São Deus Menino and Senhor São Félix. The roda was formed with João de Zazá, the brothers Toy and Roxinho, Alvelino and Santos who were also two brothers, Caial, Estevão who was a ridiculously good capoeirista; he was a guard at the cigar factory, and so many others that… Traíra and Café from Cachoeira… no one gave classes, but the real master was Juvêncio, everyone got together and played, there wasn't this business of finding a mestre. Later, when I went to Salvador, there I went to Mestre Pastinha's roda around 1940. I lived in the Liberdade neighborhood, and on Sundays I would go to Mestre Waldemar's roda. There was training on Wednesdays and on Sundays there was the roda to perform for the people, the Americans who went there to watch us. There was Dorival (Mestre Waldemar's brother), Maré, Caiçara, Zacaria, Bom Cabelo, Nagé, Onça Preta, Bugalho, and Mucungê the berimbau player. In Salvador, I began to get better at berimbau and in the game with Waldemar, and with time he gave me the title of contra-mestre after a rigorous testing with the mestres. Canjiquinha was a great capoeirista, sambista, singer, percussionist; the guy was complete, I did a show with him here in São Paulo, I met him in Bahia and then here, I played capoeira with him in shows, but not in the academy. I got my diploma with him, but in the old days there wasn't this business of diplomas.

Who were your role models when you began to practice capoeira?

Nagé and Onça Preta were beautiful, a danced game, laughing, goofing off, very beautiful… while the others were tougher. Maré and Traíra also had very nice games, Bom Cabelo and Zacarias, and Waldemar of course was the Mestre, extremely good in everything. Caiçara was devilishly good and Dorival, when those two met each other, whew!! They were enemies inside the roda and the games were mean. Outside the roda, I have no idea what their relationship was…

What do you think is most important to be a good capoeirista?

You have to be dedicated in order to learn everything in capoeira, from the instruments to the game. You also have to know how to teach. There is much to learn. It's not just banging away on the instruments either, there is much to learn…

What is the difference between the capoeira of the old days and capoeira today?

Lots of difference… comparing the capoeira of the old days with the insolent capoeira of today… hmm! Today it's all slow… let's put a bit more wood in the fire, shall we? This is why no one respects capoeira angola. Capoeira angola should be low and high, a lively game. And there's more – they're making up all this stuff about how capoeira belongs to the world, it belongs to the world and has no owner – just wanting to make money from naïve people. In the old days, the rhythm was lively, the notes were perfectly clear. Today it's a shame, it's impossible to understand.

And samba, Mestre, who did you learn with?

With the old guys in Bahia, in the candomblé temples, in the samba rodas, we used to do capoeira and then samba afterwards. Mainly my father, who did everything – he was a man of samba together with his friends who were viola players, with pandeiro, and I was always hanging around them so I learned.

And your group "Garoa do Recôncavo," how did it start?

It's very good, I formed it with my students. First we did capoeira, then we started doing samba, and it just got better and better. The samba that we do is an old style that I learned when I was a boy, it's the hard samba of the Recôncavo. And now we're making a CD, which is going to be good.

What would you like to teach to your students?

Everything that is inside me. Now, this also depends on them, you know, and what they want to learn. Nowadays no one wants to learn anything and I just want my little space back. The house belongs to all of us, everyone visits and likes it, but until now… everyone is demanding our space back.

Where will capoeira be in 20 years?

That depends on the mestres. The way it's going now, this anarchy… especially in public, everyone just thinks about being tough. Let's think a little better, for the sake of the future…

Do you have a favorite capoeira song?

All of them, they're equal, all good.

What do you like to do besides capoeira?

Candomblé, I am a priest at the disposition of the orixás, but… it has also changed a lot, even the deities are changed, as well as the songs…

Perhaps you could tell us more about your group.

Our group is great. The only thing we're lacking is a space, you know? But I depend on all of you. There's too much jealousy in capoeira: one person says one thing, another says something else. We need to be more united.

Capoeira Quiz

1. Mestre Pastinha had his students wear yellow and black because:

a. They were the colors of his patron saint/orixá
b. They were the colors of the Angolan flag
c. They were the colors of Bahia's state flag
d. They were the colors of his favorite soccer team
e. They were the colors of bumblebees

2. What was Mestre Bimba's real name?

a.Washington Bruno da Silva
b. Antônio Conceição de Moraes
c. Manuel dos Reis Machado
d. João Oliveira dos Santos
e. Roberto José Carlos Pereira Cadeira Gomes da Silva Santos Smith

3. The series of cooperative throws in capoeira regional are known as the

a. Iúna mandingueira
b. Jogo de dentro
c. Chamadas
d. Macaco pulado
e. Cintura desprezada

4. What's the next line of this ladainha: "Iê maior é Deus, pequeno sou eu"

a. Um pouco com Deus é muito, e muito sem Deus é nada
b. Tudo que eu tenho foi Deus que me deu
c. Deus abencoe os jogadores
d. Vou louvar a Deus do céu
e. Marimbondo me mordeu

5. A handstand in capoeira is known as:

a. Bananeira
b. Baraúna
c. Beija-flor
d. Brincadeira
e. Batuque

6. Capoeira was illegal in Brazil until:

a. The 1850s
b. The 1880s
c. The 1930s
d. It was never illegal
e. It's still illegal

7. The bateria in Mestre Bimba's academy consisted of:

a. Two berimbaus and one pandeiro
b. One berimbau and two pandeiros
c. One berimbau, one pandeiro, and one atabaque
d. Three berimbaus, two pandeiros, atabaque, agogô and reco-reco
e. One acoustic guitar, two bongos, and a flute

8. Capoeira made its first appearances outside Brazil through:

a. Music videos
b. Organized tournaments
c. Academic classes
d. Folkloric shows
e. Only the Strong

9. Which of these is not an old term for capoeira?

a. Vadiação
b. Capoeiragem
c. Valentia
d. Brincadeira de Angola
e. Vadiagem

10. Capoeira's first cord system was invented by:

a. Mestre Carlos Senna
b. Mestre Yoji Senna
c. Mestre Bimba
d. Mestre Camisa
e. Mestre Bunda Grande

ANSWERS:

1 – d; 2 – c; 3 – e; 4 – b; 5 – a; 6 – c; 7 – b; 8 – d; 9 – c; 10 – a.

NOTICIAS BAHIA-CAPOEIRA

Regalos de Cumpleaños!
Luego comenzaremos un programa de regalos de cumpleaños! Informe-nos ahora el dia de tu nacimiento y te enviaremos un regalo especial.

Productos Novos
- Caxixi Grande
- Capa Biriba PRO
- CD Grupo de Capoeira São Salvador vol. 3
- CD Grupo de Capoeira São Salvador vol. 4
- Dobrão liso
- Aros berimbau
- Collares nuevos: Colar Coco y Colar Brasil

Concurso de Capoeira

1. Los estudiantes del Mestre Pastinha usaran amarillo y negro porque:

a. Eran los colores de su orixá
b. Eran los colores de la bandera angolana
c. Eran los colores de la bandera d del estado de Bahía.
d. Eran los colores de su equipo preferido del fútbol.
e. Eran los colores de abejorros

2. Cuál era nombre verdadero de Mestre Bimba?

a.Washington Bruno da Silva
b. Antônio Conceição de Moraes
c. Manuel dos Reis Machado
d. João Oliveira dos Santos
e. Roberto José Carlos Pereira Cadeira Gomes da Silva Santos Smith

3. Los movimientos cooperativos en el capoeira regional se conocen como

a. Iúna mandingueira
b. Jogo de dentro
c. Chamadas
d. Macaco pulado
e. Cintura desprezada

4. Cuál es la línea siguiente de este ladainha: "Iê maior é Deus, pequeno sou eu"

a. Um pouco com Deus é muito, e muito sem Deus é nada
b. Tudo que eu tenho foi Deus que me deu
c. Deus abencoe os jogadores
d. Vou louvar a Deus do céu
e. Marimbondo me mordeu

5. Estar parado en las manos en capoeira se conoce como:

a. Bananeira
b. Baraúna
c. Beija-flor
d. Brincadeira
e. Batuque

6. Capoeira era ilegal en el Brasil hasta:

a. Los 1850s
b. Los 1880s
c. Los 1930s
d. Nunca era ilegal
e. Sigue siendo ilegal

7. El bateria en la academia de Mestre Bimba consistió en:

a. Dos berimbaus y un pandeiro
b. Un berimbau e dos pandeiros
c. Un berimbau, un pandeiro, e un atabaque
d. Tres berimbaus, dos pandeiros, atabaque, agogô y reco-reco

8. Capoeira primero apareció fuera del Brasil exterior a través de:

a. Televisión
b. Torneos organizados
c. Clases académicas
d. Demostraciones de la cultura brasileña

9. Cuál de éstos no es una vieja palabra para el capoeira?

a. Vadiação
b. Capoeiragem
c. Valentia
d. Brincadeira de Angola
e. Vadiagem

10. El primer sistema de las cuerdas de Capoeira fue inventado por:

a. Mestre Carlos Senna
b. Mestre Yoji Senna
c. Mestre Bimba
d. Mestre Camisa
e. Mestre Bunda Grande

RESPUESTAS: