Talk:Capoeira

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Limiting edition tool
As Capoeira is subject of very passionate views and even dogmas, I strongly suggest this article's edition should be limited to registered members only. Danilolabbate (talk) 03:04, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

Harry Potter?
One of the media representations for capoeira is listed as the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with reference to some of the students ... um, am I the only one who doesn't remember that scene? Unless someone can prove this, I think it should be removed.The Talking Toaster (talk) 11:38, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

That's funny - I hadn't heard "the 1300's when the Spaniards first invaded the Inca's tribal territory" a century before Columbus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.177.221.76 (talk) 00:21, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

This may seem a bit late, but I think the Harry Potter representation of Capoeira as mentioned above, is in the scene where the Durmstrang students enter. In the beginning of this scene there is a few boys performing. That is to what I believe they are referring to. I don't know if it has any bearing in Capoeira, especially as the wizarding population are very old school/ traditionalists who shun most muggle ideas and products. This particular school is likely in Bulgaria, and the time this takes place is in 1994 so the likelihood of them knowing Capoeira isn't very high. 117.120.18.133 (talk) 11:42, 24 January 2017 (UTC)Just a Simple Shrimp.


 * I'm in agreement that, in-universe, it was a display of impressive physical specimens (subtext of them training mind and body), although out-of-universe, it was members of a Capoeira school performing, although it's basically just acrobatics. -Fuzzy (talk) 13:36, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

Before you think about African origins, read this...
From time to time someone messes up the historical section and writes down that Capoeira comes from Africa. Normally theese people talk about n'golo when they do it. I'm not going to start talking about how disrespectful this is to Brazilian culture, so I'm just going to stick to the facts:

- No evidence WAS EVER FOUND of any martial art resembling Capoeira in Africa.

- To that extent, no evidence of any martial art resembling Capoeira was ever found in ANY country which also received African slaves.

- African religions and influences exist in every colony that has descendants of African slaves. Candomblé, Santeria, Voodoo, Quimbanda, Umbanda, Macumba and many others. Capoeira developed EXCLUSIVELY in Brazil.

- African religions maintained the original African languages in their cerimonies. On the other hand, capoeira has always been sung exclusively in Portuguese.

- Since the 1960's, when the first mention to n'golo was made, Brazilian expeditions of African enthusiasts have been going to Angola to find evidence about n'golo and it's so called simmilarity to Capoeira. Up to now absolutely no evidence has been found.

Feel free to disagree, but unless anyone can provide EVIDENCE stronger than the facts above, it will be very hard for anyone to believe that Capoeira might come from Africa.

Apparently, some also believe that Capoeira is derived ultimately from Chinese martial arts. Some actually believe that the Chinese taught Chinese martial arts to various African peoples in Central Africa and West Africa Chinese martial arts when Zheng He came over from China in the 1400s, and then those Africans brought it to Brazil. And that's why Capoeira is seemingly so similar to Chinese martial arts. Meia lua frente, queixada, armada, martelo do chao, negativa, arpao, chute na lua, mariposa, au sem mao, au, are similar to some Chinese longfist moves.

I'm quite skeptical of this myself. First off, there's not much evidence of the African origins of Capoeira, secondly, Mestre Bimba was most likely the one who introduced kung fu-like movements into Capoeira with the frente and quixada and armada, not in 1400s, and thirdly, Chinese longfist adopted acrobatic movements much later in its life to appeal to the public, just like Capoeira did, not in the 1400s. Also, nevermind the fact that there is no evidence of Chinese prescence in Angola or Central Africa. The closest he got was Mozambique, and Africa is a massive continent, so it's doubtful that somehow the Chinese made contact with Angolans or people of the Congo. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.98.177.232 (talk) 17:14, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Danilolabbate (talk) 15:34, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Is Capoeira a game?
Some users have been editing the article stating that Capoeira is a game, and putting some out-of-context references to prove their point. Problem is, this statement is absolutely wrong and lacks sense. Here are some facts regarding it:

- Capoeira was born as a martial-art, developed as a martial-art and is still used as an effective martial-art. Check in the historic section to see how it was used for was and why it was outlawed.

- You can see fighters in the UFC that use Capoeira techniques in their fights, one of them Marcus "Lelo" Aurelio. Look for his videos in Youtube.

- The game is nothing more than an extension of the martial-art. The game's purpose, since it's creation, is to PRACTICE the correct application of kicks, defenses, counter-attacks and everything related to Capoeira as a martial-art.

- The game of Capoeira is ONE aspect of Capoeira. Stating that Capoeira is a game is reducing everything that Capoeira is to a mere fraction of it.

Hope that clears the subject, if anyone still have doubts, or just wants to talk about it, please feel free to ask.

Danilolabbate (talk) 12:30, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * How is the reference "out of context"? 46.7.236.155 (talk) 13:02, 30 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Reference points out, as described above, that the game is ONE aspect of Capoeira. It NEVER states that Capoeira is a game. Using this reference to make such a statement leaves quite clear that it's "out of context".
 * Danilolabbate (talk) 15:31, 31 May 2013 (UTC)


 * From the reference: "The malicia which the capoeirista refers to is an indispensable trait in the game of capoeira." The reference refers to "the game of capoeira" and yet you insist that it never states that capoeira is a game? I have no idea where you're coming from with this. 46.7.236.155 (talk) 10:22, 2 June 2013 (UTC)


 * OK... I'm assuming good faith, I'm assuming you really got confused, so I'll explain it.
 * The master is simply talking about the game of Capoeira. As I have stated above, and I believe you missed it, the game is ONE aspect of Capoeira, and not the whole Capoeira. The master is clearly talking about this single aspect, not about the whole.
 * Saying "the game of Capoeira" is exactly the same as saying "the 100 meters of the decathlon". Would you correct the decathlon article, stating "Decathlon is a 100 meters race with aspects of olympics"?
 * Ironicaly, the game of Capoeira was created as means of practicing the martial art techniques of Capoeira in a simulated combat environment. That means the game is absolutely subject to the martial art, they are not disconnected at all.

Danilolabbate (talk) 09:12, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

In the context of "The malicia which the capoeirista refers to is an indispensable trait in the game of capoeira" the "game" is not really calling Capoeria a game, any more than those who say "The fine art of fencing" are making sword figting a fine art like painting, sculpture, singing, etc, or no more when boxers say "lets dance". It is a flourish term, or perhaps a philosophical way of looking at the martial art. (indeed in a game or in a real to the death battle, tricking your enemy into a weakened position is crucial). Capoeria is a martial art, and a sport. There are game like elements to it (just as Judo or Karate have tournaments with game-like scoring) but it is incorrect to say that it IS a game. Gaijin42 (talk) 15:29, 4 June 2013 (UTC) Gaijin42 (talk) 15:29, 4 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Absolutely agree with Gaijin42.
 * Unfortunately the unregistered user who keeps insisting on that wrong statement, using the IP 46.7.236.155, obviously don't know the Portuguese language and obviously knows very little about Capoeira itself.
 * Now the same user tried to add a second reference (writen by a non-Brazilian writer), which wrongly states not only that Capoeira is a game, but also states that Capoeira is a dance. That is a huge mistake, the most common mistake laymen do when they try to understand Capoeira.
 * Unregistered user 46.7.236.155 also fails to answer to this talk section, making it hard to even try to explain the issue to him.
 * Danilolabbate (talk) 19:41, 5 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Dance elements is certainly well supported, and I have added many refs to that point, as well as "referred to as a game" which I think is better than sport on second thought (again reffed). Impeaching sources via assertion is not really possible under wiki policy - you would need to find contradictory sources saying that Capoeria is NOT a dance and NOT a game. Do you have such? (Note, I still hold that game is used philosophically, but as the wording is very common and easy to source, and the philosophy bit is my personal WP:OR, that leaves it somewhat stuck. Gaijin42 (talk) 19:47, 5 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Actually, there's no dance at all, and references to any kind of dance is made by non practitioners. The game part is still not good, since the Capoeira game was created as a way to further practice the martial art, objective in the game is to take down your opponent or connect a kick, possibly without hurting him.
 * I understand your point, and I will look for sources with such statements, but it's not an easy task. There's tons of horrible books about Capoeira, some of them plain ridiculous and laughable, others even offensive to Brazilian heritage. Unfortunately, as Capoeira came from the poorest people in Brazil and it was ilegal for so long, not many of the masters are good writers, and this kind of thing often tend to happen.
 * I have changed the article before I reading this talk section. I'll try to find the sources before my next edition. I also want to improve the Martial Art section, it would surely improve comprehension of this issue. I'll try to do it when I have more time.

Danilolabbate (talk) 02:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I am reverting your change. While you may or may not be correct, your assertions are WP:ORIGINALRESEARCH and the statement that capoeria encorporates elements of dance is sourced by many reliable sources. You would need to find more authoritative sources that state the contrary. The fact that you think a book is horrible is irrelevant, unless you can find again reliable sources stating such. Gaijin42 (talk) 02:44, 16 June 2013 (UTC)


 * That's a lost battle for me. The number of books making this wrong statement is enormous. As I've said before, Capoeira was born in illiterate, marginalized environments. Old masters were never good writers, and that led to so many misunderstandings, and even worse, led to Capoeira being a subject where any curious bypasser can write any impression, and that will probably be accepted by the general public.


 * Just to exemplify, I can find reliable sources stating that the Pyramids of Egypt were built by aliens. I can find sources also stating that the drawings in the Nazca desert were used for flying sources as landing strips. You CAN disregard statements like that, since in both cases there's extensive documentation and studies, which leave clear how ridiculous and dissonant books like that are. That's not the case of Capoeira.


 * It's extremely frustrating. I've been practicing and studying it for the last 18 years, so I can assure you I'm pretty much qualified to make the statements I did. Sadly, that doesn't mean anything, since there's little to no documentation backing me up. Saying Capoeira is a dance is exactely like saying Mohamed Ali was dancing in the ring, and not boxing. And yet I won't be able to prove it academicaly.


 * Will still try to find sources. But it's a lost battle.

Danilolabbate (talk) 07:53, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Capitalization
I would love to know which of the names of the capoeira moves are capitalized when written within a sentence and which are not. I'm making some flash cards to help my son, who has special needs. I couldn't find any consistency on the Internet about which terms are capitalized and which are not, so I'm capitalizing everything in the same way I would capitalize a headline. For instance, I assume that "do" means something like "of," so I didn't capitalize it in "Martelo do Chao," and I won't capitalize "de" either, but I'm capitalizing everything else I'm printing up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.118.207.164 (talk) 17:02, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Tarzan
The beginning credit sequence of one of the old Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films shows some tribal dance moves which look a lot like Capoeira to me, with somersaults and stuff. Of course, considering how these films were, that part was not necessarily even filmed in Africa (although I remember it looking different than the rest of the movie). Unfortunately I don't remember which of the movies it was... 62.78.251.108 (talk) 22:44, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Pop culture
Considering that there's already a separate article for capoeira in popular culture, shouldn't the badly written popular culture section of this article be removed? The same was done in articles like zuiquan and muay Thai. Morinae (talk) 15:32, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

I would be in favour of scrapping the section in place of a hyperlink, especially considering the total lack of organization in the section (Television makes the Anime and Manga Section half redundant - and there is no Anime listed under the section anyway) 207.161.128.68 (talk) 03:50, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

granted UNESCO protected status
Just quickly to mention that Capoeira has been granted UNESCO protected status http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-30219941 EdwardLane (talk) 07:34, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

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Article with several incongruities
This article makes claims as if they were truths, without proving, and enters several times in contradiction. For example, states that "The most widely accepted origin of the word capoeira comes from the Tupi words ka'a ("jungle") e pûer ("it was"), referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior where fugitive slaves would hide" Where is the proof?

Ahead, states that: "A vast majority of masters recognize the art form as purely Brazilian, while certain masters have been researching for over 40 years to try and find any Capoeira link in Africa." Again without proving and later in the chapter "Capoeira Angola" stated that the style is the oldest, being the name used since the origin of capoeira and is referred to as the closest style of their African origins (Angola is a former Portuguese colony, and the location where they were taken, the vast majority of slaves brought to Brazil).

I believe therefore that this article has no nexus, nor coherence, and need a thorough review and a greater cohesion context.

Lara Neto Jr. (talk) 12:15, 27 April 2016 (UTC)


 * It's been a long time since I contributed to the article (I've been away from Wikipedia for a long spell due to frustration with the VtD policies). I assume you're the person who put the neutrality notice on here? Honestly, yeah, the "historical" basis of Capoeira is a mess with much of it being more legend than anything else. Perhaps it would be best if we just indicate sources for the various tales? -Fuzzy (talk) 20:20, 25 October 2016 (UTC)

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Part that talk about "wrists close together" - remove?
Hello. I'm confused about the paragraph in the current article that starts with:

Having practiced capoeira and researched it, it seems like a strange assertion to me, given that 1. most movements in capoeira involve the wrists not being together, including for instance, the basic ginga position with one leg back and one forward (generally one arm is in front and one is on the side/back), and all ground movements, and 2. I've never heard or read this suggestion. No references are provided either.

I think this part should be removed, but thought I'd post here before I remove it, to see if someone has a reference for why it should be stated here as fact. --Guyoron (talk) 23:28, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

I noticed that this section was added recently by User:NoDramaLama - thought I'd mention you here in case you want to participate in this discussion. --Guyoron (talk) 04:28, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

FYI, I removed this section --Guyoron (talk) 23:56, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

Hi Guyoron, I did Capoeira for 7 years and trained under a Brazilian mestre, Mestre Bogado, who is recently deceased. This is simply what I learned from him. I have not added references as my information doesn't come from the internet but from my Capoeira master. I added it for interest sake. If you don't feel it belongs there, that is fine. --NoDramaLama (talk) 03:47, 9 October 2018‎

Pronunciation
I don't speak Portuguese, but I've done Capoeira for years with people who do. Most of them tap the "r" in the word so it sounds like a "d". It's usually a sign that someone doesn't know their stuff when they say "cap-O-WHERE-ruh instead of Cap-uh-WEY-duh. It seems to me like the phonetics on this page are wrong, but again, not a speaker of Portuguese, so I wanted to ask here of someone who does and also understand those phonetics. Thanks. DolyaIskrina (talk) 20:03, 16 June 2019 (UTC)

Capoeira 47.196.62.196 (talk) 00:37, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Spiritual elements?
The article mentions that it was accepted after some 'spiritual elements' were removed from the practice.

WHAT 'spiritual' elements were there in it which were removed?

"Shortly after the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, capoeira was declared illegal in 1890.[16] However, in the early 1930s, Mestre Bimba created a form of capoeira that held back on its spiritual elements and incorporated elements of jiu jitsu, gymnastics and sports.[17] In doing so, the government viewed capoeira as a socially acceptable sport." UnderEducatedGeezer (talk) 00:57, 24 May 2023 (UTC)