the pure definition of capoeira

I also practiced it for over three years, but unfortunately I quit… it could be irrelevant…

But for me, it’s all true… Pure definition of capoeira.

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For more than three years now, I am doing the somewhat still exotic sport of capoeira. Ok, it is some kind of dancing, many might be thinking, and may I warn you that for these kind of thoughts every capoerista (a person doing capoeira) would punch you in the nose to prove that it is a martial art, not a dance. Unfortunately, capoeira is a subject of research mostly within cultural, ethnographic and educational studies and there is hardly anything written about it within the branch of sport psychology.

So what is capoeira? It is an Afro-Brazilian form of art with elements of combat, dance and music. It was born in Brazil where African slaves were forbidden to practice any kinds of self-defensive techniques and disguised their training as a dance. In capoeira, two people are playing in the middle of a circle of people, or a roda, according to the rhythm of the main instrument, a berimbau, with percussion and song verses. The play involves kicks, defensive moves a lot of acrobatics and the basic “bouncy” move called ginga. The play does not involve any contact most of the time. Capoeira has no winner and no loser as the main focus is on the demonstration of skills and the beauty of the movement.

What does capoeira have to teach us? What did it teach me? I will not focus on points like improvements in reaction, physical endurance and basic skills of singing and playing instruments; we are talking about the psychological lessons. Capoeira play is referred to as a “conversation” by the instructors; not as a fight or dance. That gives the whole sport a new frame: it can be seen as a metaphor of human communication (Young & Schlie, 2011).

In a conversation people talk, listen and react. If you do not listen well or speak clearly the interaction would be unsuccessful. The same applies in capoeira: if you do not “listen” (see and anticipate what your partner is doing) or “speak well” (show what you learned) the whole game is chaos and conflicts are inevitable. Young and Schlie (2011) suggest capoeira as a metaphor of negotiation within a definition of a dance, where there should be no winner and the whole process relies on enjoyment and improvisation.

Capoeira is not about victory but about respect which, in a perfect world, would be something of the utmost importance in all negotiations. By learning to respect your partner, to listen and speak using the knowledge acquired, and by seeking mutual benefit (enjoyment) in communication we can learn to produce win-win situations and avoid conflicts.

During our studies we have been talking a lot about transferrable skills, the ones that we can learn in sport but use outside of the sport venue as well. I know that there is a great deal of communication skills I learned from capoeira and was able to use them outside of the roda. I also know that it is and should be used as a method of education for young people above all (for example, see Downey, 2008).

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