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WHAT IS CAPOEIRA?
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that incorporates elements of dance, acrobatics and music (sometimes being dubbed "Brazilain Dance Fighting" by the uninitiated).
African slaves in Brazil started developing it several hundred years ago as a way to practice combat without the slave owners knowledge. Masters largely forbade slaves from practicing martial arts, but dancing was permitted. So the slaves disguised the combat style as a dance, creating a unique art form.
Capoeira is known for its quick and complex maneuvers, predominantly using power, speed and leverage across a wide variety of kicks, spins and other techniques.
The origins of capoeira are a mystery. The practice was already well established by the time of the first known written referrence to it in the late 1700s. Some historians speculate the 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.
The first official capoeira school was built by Mestre Bimba of Salvador, in the Bahia province, which is typically regarded as the home and heart of capeoira. The art form was illegal at the time, so he called the school Luta Regional Baiana, meaning "regional fight from Bahia."
Capoeira was finally legalized in the 1970s, allowing schools to flourish throughout Brasil and beyond.On 26 November 2014, capoeira was granted a special protected status as "intangible cultural heritage" by UNESCO.