Le Provocateur

Issue date: 3/1/05 Section: News Stories

When I asked several students around campus if they knew what Capoeira was, the most frequent answer they gave me, with a look of confusion on their face, was "Capa-what-a?" No, my friends, it is not a type of bean as one student suggested, but rather a form of Brazilian martial arts that incorporates music and gymnastics.

On February 22nd, a Capoeira Demonstration at Charlie's fascinated dozens of onlookers who were not sure what to expect. The audience watched the smooth, elegant moves of the club's members in awe. Students even stepped away from waiting for their precious buffalo chicken wraps to be toasted to catch a glimpse of the acrobatics taking place.

Capoeira began in 15th century Brazil when slaves were brought from Africa to Brazil. It is believed that the slaves used Capoeira as a way to fight back against their owners; they disguised the deadly fighting style as more of a beautiful dance. What separates Capoeira from other forms of martial arts, however, is that it is more of a game than a fighting style. The name of the game is a Jogo, and is played by two capoeristas at a time. Encircling the two capoeristas is the Roda, which is comprised of other capoeristas and other onlookers. They are always in the stance of Capoeira, which is called the Ginga, a swaying, dance-like movement with the tempo of their movements correlating with the music and the clapping of the Rodo.

Also separating Capoeira from other martial arts is that they never actually come in contact with each other; they appear to play off of each other's attacks and counter attacks with fluid movements. These attacks are avoided by using escape movements which at times resembled moves from The Matrix. The most skilled of the capoeiristas that exhibited their talent on Tuesday night, including instructors Mike Landry and Justin Farnsworth, were able to twist their bodies in a variety of ways and use their acrobatic prowess by doing flips in mid-air to avoid the attacks of their partners.

While the duration of some Jogos approached one minute, it would be impossible for the capoeiristas to continue doing their remarkable stunts without becoming exhausted. As breathing grew heavy and the tempo slowed, one or two new capoeiristas would leave the Roda and take over. The new person entering the game seemed to just kick out the other player who had been gaming as if to say, "hey buddy, you are not doing the job, let me take this kid." However, Capoeira member Senior Adam Knight was quick to clear up this misconception.

Continued...

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