Capoeira First documented among African and Creole slaves in late colonial Brazil, the martial art capoeira spread, despite periodic clampdowns by the police, to the free underclasses of Brazilian cities throughout the nineteenth century. Capoeira is now a mainstream sport, taught in Brazilian fitness centres, schools and universities, and practised by a range of people of different age, class, gender and ethnicity around the world. Some practitioners now even seek Olympic recognition for capoeira. The change in meaning and purposes of capoeira has led to conflicts between traditionalists, for whom capoeira is part of an African cultural heritage, and reformers, who wish to see capoeira develop as an international sport. There is consensus, however, that capoeira is a weapon to be used against social injustice and racial exclusion. Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art explores capoeira as a field of confrontation where different struggles that divide Brazilian society are played out. It contains a first English language scholarly account of capoeira’s early history and development to the present day. Matthias Röhrig Assunção is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and the Centre for Latin American Studies, University of Essex, England. His previous publications deal with slavery in Maranhão (Northern Brazil), popular culture and the political history of the Brazilian Empire. Sport in the global society General Editor: J.A.Mangan The interest in sports studies around the world is growing and will continue to do so. This unique series combines aspects of the expanding study of sport in the global society, providing comprehensiveness and comparison under one editorial umbrella. It is particularly timely, with studies in the cultural, economic, ethnographic, geographical, political, social, anthropological, sociological and aesthetic elements of sport proliferating in institutions of higher education. Eric Hobsbawm once called sport one of the most significant practices of the late nineteenth century. Its significance was even more marked in the late twentieth century and will continue to grow in importance into the new millennium as the world develops into a ‘global village’ sharing the English language, technology and sport. Other Titles in the Series British Football and Social Exclusion Edited by Stephen Wagg Football, Europe and the Press Liz Crolley and David Hand The Future of Football Challenges for the twenty-first century Edited by Jon Garland, Dominic Malcolm and Michael Rowe Football Culture Local contests, global visions Edited by Gerry P.T.Finn and Richard Giulianotti France and the 1998 World Cup The national impact of a world sporting event Edited by Hugh Dauncey and Geoff Hare The First Black Footballer Arthur Wharton 1865–1930: An absence of memory Phil Vasili Scoring for Britain International football and international politics, 1900–1939 Peter J.Beck Women, Sport and Society in Modern China Holding up more than half the sky Dong Jinxia Sport in Latin American Society Past and present Edited by J.A.Mangan and Lamartine P.DaCosta iii Sport in Australasian Society Past and present Edited by J.A.Mangan and John Nauright Sporting Nationalisms Identity, Ethnicity, Immigration and Assimilation Edited by Mike Cronin and David Mayall The Commercialization of Sport Edited by Trevor Slack Shaping the Superman Fascist body as political icon: Aryan fascism Edited by J.A.Mangan Superman Supreme Fascist body as political icon: Global fascism Edited by J.A.Mangan Making the Rugby World Race, gender, commerce Edited by Timothy J.L.Chandler and John Nauright Rugby’s Great Split Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football Tony Collins The Race Game Sport and politics in South Africa Douglas Booth Cricket and England A cultural and social history of the inter-war years Jack Williams The Games Ethic and Imperialism Aspects of the diffusion of an ideal J.A.Mangan Capoeira The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art Matthias Röhrig Assunção LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Taylor & Francis Inc 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2005 Matthias Röhrig Assunção All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Every effort has been made to ensure that the advice and information in this book is true and accurate at the time of going to press. However, neither the publisher nor the authors can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. In the case of drug administration, any medical procedure or the use of technical equipment mentioned within this book, you are strongly advised to consult the manufacturer’s guidelines. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-49476-8 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-58260-8 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-714-65031-5 (hbk) ISBN 0-714-68086-9 (pbk) Contents List of illustrations ix Series editor’s foreword xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 1 The competing master narratives of capoeira history 5 Myths, fakes and facts 5 ‘Extirpate the canker’: Eurocentric repression 9 In search of the ‘Brazilian race’: nationalism I 11 The search for a Brazilian gymnastics: nationalism II 14 The search for purity and survivals: ethnic perspectives 20 From ‘survivals’ to ‘extensions’: Afrocentric narratives 22 Regional, corporate and class discourses 27 2 Capoeira in the context of the Black Atlantic 31 African, slave and popular culture 31 Slave culture in Brazil 37 Combat games of the Black Atlantic 44 3 Capoeiragem in Rio de Janeiro, c.1800–1930 67 Rio, capital of a plantation empire 67 Slave capoeira, 1808–1850 71 The broadening of the social base, 1850–1890 79 Nagoas and Guaiamus: the capoeira gangs 83 The republican purge 89 4 Workers, vagrants and tough guys in Bahia, c.1860–1950 93 Imperial Bahia 93 viii ‘Vagrancy’ in Bahia, c.1890–1950 102 Capoeira as a weapon: troublemakers and tough guys 115 Conclusion 122 5 Mestre Bimba and the development of ‘Regional’ style 125 Martial arts and modernity 125 Mestre Bimba and capoeira in the ring 128 New movements and teaching methods 131 New rituals and a new constituency 134 The meaning of regional style 140 6 Mestre Pastinha and the codification of Angola style 147 The revaluation of Afro-Bahian culture 147 Vicente Ferreira Pastiña: his early life till 1941 149 The foundation of the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola—CECA, 1940s–1950s 151 The codification of Angola style: Pastinha’s teachings 152 The struggle to establish the Angola style 158 The last years 163 Conclusion 163 7 Contemporary capoeira, 1950–2004 167 From regional to national: the spread throughout Brazil, 1950s–1970s 167 The rebirth of Angola 182 ‘Go around the world!’ The globalization of capoeira, 1970s–1990s 185 Contemporary styles 192 Conclusion: the contemporary meanings of capoeira 205 Glossary 211 Notes 215 Bibliography 247 Index 259 Illustrations 1.1 A mulatto capoeira 17 2.1 African martial dance and instruments 40 2.2 An old African playing a berimbau 40 2.3 N’golo 48 2.4 Liveta, preliminary phase of n’golo 49 2.5 An Angolan berimbau player 50 2.6 Stick fighting in Dominica 58 2.7 Head-butt combat in Venezuela 61 3.1 ‘Jogar capoëra ou danse de la guerre’ 73 3.2 ‘Negros fighting, Brazil’ 74 3.3 ‘Negroes which will be flogged’ 74 3.4 Central section of Rio de Janeiro, c.1850 76 3.5 Capoeira ginga with sticks 82 3.6 Caricature of capoeiras recruited into the police force 82 3.7 Open-handed blow and a razor attack; kick to the chest; head butt 83 3.8 A Nagoa and a Guaiamú in typical outfits 85 3.9 Sweeping kick (‘Rasteira’) 88 4.1 Townships and parishes in the Bahian Recôncavo in the mid-nineteenth century 95 4.2 Old African porters at a canto, Bahia 97 4.3 Combat games in Salvador, Bahia 98 4.4 Jogo de dentro in the port area of Salvador 103 4.5 City centre of Salvador, 1894 105 4.6 Capoeira rodas in a neighbourhood, Salvador 105 4.7 Capoeira roda in the port area of Salvador 107 4.8 Mestre Juvenal defending against a knife attack from a student 109 4.9 Chamadas: Mestre Juvenal with students in the port area 112 4.10 Mestre Caiçara was one of the last capoeira ‘troublemakers’ in Bahia 121 5.1 Ginga as taught by Mestre Bimba 130 5.2 Acrobatic movements of capoeira Regional 132 5.3 Sequences of capoeira Regional movements 133 5.4 Mestre Bimba with two friends 137 5.5 M.Bimba teaching at the Forte do Barbalho, c.1938. 139 5.6 Mestre Bimba performing the ginga 145 6.1 Mestre Pastinha in 1965 147 6.2 Mestre Pastinha playing berimbau 149 6.3 Mestre Pastinha practising capoeira 151 6.4 Bateria de Capoeira in Pastinha’s academy 158