Abstract
The African combat arts have been central to the struggle of African people for self-determination. They have been critical as vehicles of resistance, while also serving a number of important social roles such as being a basis for group cohesion, expressing the kinesthetics of African culture, functioning as a venue for various African musical traditions, and—most notably—providing a means for self-protection. One additional and significant role that these arts have taken on is as a means for cultural reclamation for African people and also as healing modalities. This essay explores the latter theme, examining how such healing is enacted through the learning and practice of Capoeira.
Introduction
Healing is necessarily a central concern of African people, who, faced with the continued devastation of the Maafa—the interrelated processes of slavery, colonialism, and their legacies—must inevitably concern ourselves with our regeneration as a people (Ani, 2004). Healing then must be conceived as not only that which seeks to negate the suffering of individuals, but also, and necessarily, that which seeks to address our collective suffering. What then is the nature of this suffering? It is not only the psychic trauma or health crises that so beset the African world, and entails more than the structural oppression which so deftly marshals an array of institutional apparatuses against us. At its core, this suffering derives its basis from our lack of power over our lives. Thus, healing can be conceptualized as follows: The capacity of a group to maintain or restore its collective well-being on the basis of its own cultural paradigms and institutions. This conception therefore considers suffering as derivative from our lack of sovereignty, which has resulted in the twin outcomes of cultural misorientation (Kambon, 2003) and cultural suppression, contributing to suffering on a myriad of levels which are detrimental to our health and well-being as a people.
As such, I build upon Cabral’s thesis that culture is a central basis upon which a struggle for liberation must be maintained (Cabral, 1973). Further, I argue that the reclamation of the former (our culture) is a principal means by which we are capable of affecting our healing as a collective (Ani, 2004; Armah, 1978; Kambon, 1996). Therefore, this essay examines the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira as a manifestation of culture capable of enacting a paradigm of healing and restoration. Herein I will address the following queries: What is Capoeira? How does it relate to healing? What are the implications of this to African people?
What is Capoeira?
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian fighting art. Obi (2008) contends that it principally derives from the Ngolo fighting tradition of present-day Angola, an art whose technical repertoire greatly resembles the jogo de Capoeira, that is the game of Capoeira in its use of inverted kicks, sweeps, and evasive movements. As such, the enslavement of Africans from Angola facilitated both their physical dispersal, as well as the diffusion of their combat traditions in the Americas leading to the development of arts as diverse as Danmyé or Ladjia in Martinique, El Juego de Mani in Cuba, and Knocking and Kicking in the United States—all of which were based, in varying degrees, on Ngolo (Green, 2003b; Obi, 2008; Powe, 2003, 2011). In the context of Brazil, Capoeira took form in response to the social pressures exerted on the African community, as well as broader political and economic developments within various regional milieus. Furthermore, the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Rio de Janeiro are notable as key sites in the formation and ultimate expression of the art (Capoeira, 2002; D. Newsome, personal communication, April 29, 2022; Obi, 2008).
One critical aspect of this has been Capoeira’s role as a vital element of the Afro-Brazilian resistance tradition. This resistance has taken different forms, but central to it has been the use of Capoeira to reject, and in some instances to negate, white domination. Obi notes the connection between the Capoeira and the quilombos, or maroon societies in Brazil where he writes that “police records reveal that the martial art was used on the outskirts of the city to rescue captured quilombolas (quilombo members) being brought back to Rio from the surrounding areas” (Obi, 2008, p. 154). Further, he notes that Capoeiristas (Capoeira practitioners) would carry out acts of “communal justice” (p. 195), wherein vengeance would be enacted against those who violated members of the community. This especially included whites who would be targeted by anonymous agents of the Black community. For example, Obi offers an account of a captain of Rio de Janeiro’s municipal guard who had been targeted by a group of Capoeiristas for arresting some their members (pp. 196–197). In fact, confrontations with the military and police were two of the principle means by which Capoeiristas defied the authority of the state. Furthermore, the significance of the threat which Capoeira posed to the dominant order is evident in the legal prohibitions levied against it which culminated with the new penal code in 1890 that targeted capoeiragem, which Obi defines as “the fighting skills used by members of capoeira societies in street fights” (p. 154).
In article 402 the new code prohibited ‘practicing, in the streets and public squares, the exercise of agility and corporal dexterity known by the term capoeiragem.’ This law acted not only against capoeira society members but also against the jogo de capoeira as part of a wider repression of all African customs. (Obi, 2008, p. 182)
Yet while not all Capoeira practitioners took violent action against the state and its agents, it is apparent from the historical accounts, especially the documented extent of state repression, that Capoeira signified and frequently embodied opposition to the system of oppression (Lingo, 1996; Obi, 2008; Powe, 2011).
In essence, Capoeira consists of multiple forms of combat techniques accompanied by music. Combat techniques include attacks utilizing the head, elbows, hands, knees, and feet; along with defenses based upon evasive movements. Capoeira movements can, at times, take on a rhythmical quality. This is synergistic with its musical accompaniment, which can determine the speed and intensity of this movement, while also utilizing songs for the transmission of stories and lessons intended for application within the roda—the circle in which Capoeiristas engage in combative play with one another—as well as in life. Songs are performed in a call-and-response manner, and the musicians, like the players themselves—that is those who engage in combat in the center of the roda—are all members of a complex community of Capoeiristas.
The implications of Capoeira, a fighting art, as a vehicle for healing and transformation must necessarily raise a host of queries given the seemingly contradictory nature of these two propositions. However, it is especially due to the multi-dimensionality of this art by which such seemingly disparate functions are realized.
Primary Functions Within Capoeira
Capoeira is a fighting art, thus its primary basis of functionality is the combative, that is the specialized tools, skills, and approaches which enable a practitioner to avoid or minimize harm when subject to attack, while augmenting their capacity to effect harm against an aggressor. Again, a Capoeirista may achieve this by avoiding an attacker’s blows while deploying strikes from any conceivable angle with any of the aforementioned weapons (i.e., feet, head, hands and so forth) or through the execution of sweeps, trips, or takedowns. Additionally, various contact weapons are employed such as the navalha or the straight razor via the Jogo de navalha (the game of the razor), the stick via a related art—a stick-fight dance called Maculelê, and the machete via yet another associated art called the Jogo de facão (the game of the machete). In short, such functionality as pertains to the combative is the primary expression of Capoeira.
Furthermore, there are various stylistic traditions within Capoeira. The most prominent expressions of Capoeira are those associated with the state of Bahia and include Capoeira Angola and Capoeira Regional. The former is generally regarded as the traditional form of the art, while the latter represents the attempt of Mestre Bimba to modernize it (Höfling, 2019). Today, many groups practice a more recent derivation from these traditions known as Capoeira Contemporânea.
However, while Bahia has been central to the preservation and globalization of Capoeira, this art has also existed in other parts of Brazil, such as in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco. Pernambuco’s capital Recife was the site of a combative style of Capoeira that was targeted for extermination by the police, yet nonetheless produced a record of notable practitioners who were noted as highly skilled fighters (Capoeira, 2002; Powe, 2011). Rio de Janeiro has been the site of some of the most notable expressions of Capoeira as a combative tradition, particularly in the 19th Century where it was the weapon of assassins, maltas (gangs), and others and was generally decried as a scourge upon Brazilian society (Capoeira, 2002; Obi, 2008; Powe, 2011; Taylor, 2005).
The author of this essay practices a style of Capoeira from Rio de Janeiro, which is known variously as Capoeira Angola de São Bento Grande, São Bento Grande, or Capoeira Carioca of which Mestre Touro of Rio de Janeiro is a leading exponent. Further, it should be noted that capoeira techniques referred to herein are named based on their designations within this particular style of Capoeira.
Secondary Functions Within Capoeira
As noted earlier, Capoeira consists of other seemingly non-combative elements such as music, history, and philosophy. A Capoeirista is expected to be knowledgeable of each of these aspects. With regards to music, this includes proficiency in playing the various instruments—the berimbau, the atabaque (a drum), the pandeiro (a tambourine), the agogô (a multi-bell instrument), and the reco-reco (a scraper). While there are several instruments, the berimbau occupies a central place in the art, and practitioners learn to play various toques or rhythms on it. These toques serve to determine the nature of the play within the roda, that is the speed, intensity, or objectives of the jogo, the game of Capoeira. In the group of which I am a member, Os Malandros de Mestre Touro, one first learns Toque de Angola, followed by São Bento Pequeno, Sao Bento Grande, and so forth.
Further, a Capoeirista is expected to possess knowledge of Capoeira’s various songs. These songs address various subjects and serve to reinforce key aspects of Capoeira’s history and philosophy. Edward L. Powe features a song that expresses Capoeira’s African origins.
“Capoeira veio da Africa; Foi Africano quem mandou.” “Capoeira came from Africa; It was the African who sent it here” (Powe, 2011, p. 59).
Other songs lament the perils of the War of the Triple Alliance, a war in which many Capoeiristas lost their lives.
“Minha mãe então falou: ‘Meu filho você não va[!] A batalha é perigosa Eles podem lhe matar.’ “ “My mother then spoke: ‘Don’t go, my son! War is dangerous And they can kill you’ “ (Powe, 2011, p. 61).
Still other songs explicate the intimate relationship between student and teacher in the art, as well as the transmission of philosophy therein.
Viva meu Mestre! Yê, viva meu mestre, camará Que me ensinou! Yê que me ensinou, camará A malandragem! Yê a malandragem, camará Da capoeira! Yê da capoeira, camará. Long live my Master! Long live my mestre, comrade, Who taught me! Who taught me, comrade The trickery! The trickery, comrade Of capoeira! Of capoeira, comrade. (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p. 140)
Here, the word malandragem, or trickery, is synonymous with malícia, that is the use of dissimulation and cunning that are a central part of Capoeira. In short, the songs of the art are key repositories of the philosophical and historical knowledge which undergirds Capoeira’s techniques.
Further, with respect to philosophy, these are those paradigms or values which reinforce the practice of the art. These include elements such as patience, strategy, the aforementioned malícia, and so on. Capoeiristas are expected to understand and to embody the philosophy of Capoeira. Malícia, for instance, is expressed in how one plays the art in the roda. One may fake an attack in order to prompt one’s opponent to react in a certain manner, only to strike them accordingly. Malícia is not only trickery but is conceived as a quality which potentially enables a less powerful individual to overcome a more powerful one, and requires, as my teacher Mestre Preto Velho (Dennis Newsome) teaches, “surprise and deception” (D. Newsome, personal communication, April 26, 2022). Lingo elaborates on malícia as an embodied practice of Capoeira’s philosophy.
Most of the mestres and teachers I know would describe malicia as mental cunning more than physical prowess. It is a process by which opponents set traps for each other, create illusions and try to catch each other by surprise. It is much like a chess game in its emphasis on mentally outwitting the opponent. (Lingo, 1996, p. 100)
As noted above, these principles are expressed in the songs of Capoeira and manifest in the practice of art itself. As such, the principles or philosophy of Capoeira cannot be disentangled from its expressed physical form. Lastly, these are all secondary aspects to Capoeira’s martial expression or combative form. They are things that are mediated by and rest upon its combative foundation—the art’s primary function.
Tertiary Functions Within Capoeira
Finally, Capoeira consists of various tertiary functions. These are aspects of the art that are neither explicitly martial in essence, nor are expressly constituted elements. These tertiary functions are largely derivative of the first two domains and can be conceived as those things which pertain to the mind, body, and spirit, a tri-partite model articulated by Powe in which he explores the potential benefits of Capoeira and other traditions (Powe, 2018).
Mind
The practice of Capoeira requires the internalization and expression of a kind of mindfulness, that is an awareness of the body’s movement in time and space. This is otherwise known as proprioception. Further, Capoeira negates a separation of mind and body in its practice. A practitioner cannot think and act sequentially while performing the movements of Capoeira. That is a player cannot see an oncoming blow and think, “Oh, I must avoid this blow,” and then proceed to execute an evasion, as this would separate sight from recognition from reaction. The effective practice of Capoeira collapses these three domains into one single expression of movement, adding a fourth component of counterattack. Thus, a second way that Capoeira expresses mindfulness is by creating a seamless connection between sense perception, mental interpretation, and physical response. Capoeira achieves the complete integration of these aspects of consciousness. Thus, one can say that Capoeira is necessarily a mindful practice, one that recalibrates the relationship or interaction of the different facets of consciousness. It is to the further implications of Capoeira practice for the body to which we now turn.
Body
My first Capoeira instructor informed me when I first began my studies with him in the Summer of 2006 that Capoeira, unlike many forms of physical activity, was a full-body workout. I found this to be true. Many years later, Powe would recount Mestre Pastinha’s statement that Capoeira exercised the whole body, including the pinkie finger, as the berimbau rests upon this, the smallest of fingers (E. L. Powe, personal communication, September 6, 2020). Based on the foregoing, Capoeira’s utility as a tool for physical conditioning became, for me as a practitioner, undeniable. Its movements stimulate various muscles throughout the body. One feels the muscles in one’s thighs when squatting down into cocorinha—a defensive crouch used to avoid a blow. One engages the thighs and calves when turning and dropping into resistência—a move used to drop below a lateral attack. The arms and shoulders are engaged when shifting into negativa—an evasion where one moves laterally to the ground, placing one’s weight on two feet and a supporting hand. Further, one engages one’s arms and chest—one’s entire upper body—in executing aú, a cartwheel. Herein the comportment of Capoeira necessitates a full engagement of the body.
Additionally, Capoeira requires a fuller range of motion than that demanded of one in ordinary life. One performs an armada by executing a semi-circular kick in the air or an armada inversa by reversing this motion. Armada girando necessitates that a Capoeirista fully rotate the waist in order to both see over one’s shoulder and to create tension in the body, culminating in a spinning kick where one’s foot travels 360°, toward its target and then back to its starting point. In each instance one’s arms move, both to counterbalance one’s momentum, and also to protect one’s face from attack. Such technique, as has been described here, emphasizes Capoeira’s utilization and cultivation of a comportment that is both flowing and expansive, engaging the feet, legs, hips, waists, shoulders, arms, and so on. Hence, Capoeira employs the body’s range of motion in dynamic ways.
Correspondingly, kicks like meia lua also entail 360° rotations of the foot, while inverting the body in the process. Another kick, martelo solta, begins from an upright position, only to invert the body upon execution of the blow. Inverted movements reorient a practitioner in three-dimensional space, naturalizing the act of inversion and operationalizing such positioning for attack and defense.
Lastly, there are various movements requiring agility, where both feet leave the ground and the body is supported by two, one, or no hands respectively. These movements, such as aú, facilitates the displacement of the body as well as attack with the feet while the body is supported by the hands. Other movements like compasso propels the body through the air, deriving its striking force both from the momentum of the initial leap and the subsequent rotation of the body along a horizontal axis in order to strike with the heel of the rear foot. Thus, by emphasizing agile and inverted movements, the Capoeirista embodies a different paradigm of balance. Balance ceases to mean the maintenance of equilibrium predicated upon the effective placement of one’s two feet on a horizontal plane (i.e., the ground). Instead it becomes the renegotiation of equilibrium, predicated upon the dynamic positioning of the body along axes which are horizontal, vertical, or diagonal where stability is determined by the momentary placement of the body upon the feet, hands, or head for support or is simply eschewed as the body moves dynamically in three-dimensional space, wherein the control of momentum, direction, and timing becomes the arbiters of a more indeterminate orientation to balance.
Even absent movements such as these, the Capoeirista develops a keen sense of balance predicated upon a constant rebalancing of the body, as one’s weight shifts with each kick, as one directs and controls the body’s momentum, or as one moves from supporting the body on the ground using one, two, or more bases of support. Capoeira represents a dynamic and complex engagement with the body, and consequently, stimulates the development of strength, balance, and proprioception in complex ways.
Spirit
Spirit is variously defined but can be conceived of as an intrinsic essence or quality. I contend that the spirit of Capoeira exists on several planes: the individual, the communal, and the ancestral. With respect of each of these, the practitioner exists in a complex web of interconnection that both animates and is animated by their participation.
The individual plane
For the Capoeirista, the practice of the art rests upon a foundation of principles which serve to articulate the inherent meaning and purposes of practice. Such principles might include persistence in the face of adversity. Capoeira is not always easy. In fact, mastery is quite demanding. Thus, to center persistence as a principle of practice means the negation of those conditions of mind and body (i.e., tiredness, fear, frustration, and so forth) that might otherwise compel one to quit or otherwise disengage from the art. The one who has internalized the principle of persistence is required to transmute supposedly aversive states of body and mind into determination, that is to repurpose such feelings to bolster one’s resolve.
The communal plane
Capoeira is inherently a social practice. Its mode of practice is within the Capoeira group and the roda and its methods of transmission are from teacher to student, mestre (master) to discíplo (disciple), all of which rests upon a foundation of community. While one can practice Capoeira movements alone, the development of certain capacities such as proper timing, requires the presence of another. While one can practice the music in isolation, the development of one’s sense of harmony and rhythm (especially polyrhythm) requires the presence of others.
Finally, while one can train Capoeira on their own and doubtlessly learn and discover many things, the epistemic horizon of one’s own awareness necessarily proscribes the expansiveness of one’s knowledge. That is to say, we all possess finite knowledge of Capoeira. The breadth of our knowledge may modulate our own awareness as to the limits of our knowledge. Thus, we may know enough to know that we have a great deal more to learn. Conversely, we may know so very little, that we mistake our paucity of knowledge for the totality of what is knowable, hence we presume to know far more than we actually do due to our misunderstanding of what is knowable. In short, for a practitioner to progress further, they will benefit from the guidance of one who can see further, beyond the finite horizon of their own knowledge.
The ancestral plane
Lastly, for African descendants, Capoeira represents the reification of ancestral resistance via the embodied practice of Capoeira as an art of war. Thus, it is not without significance that Capoeira groups adopt names consisting of words like liberdade, quilombo, Zumbi, Besouro as referents of the Afro-Brazilian resistance tradition. These terms express a conceptual alignment between Capoeira as a martial art and the resistance traditions of African people. As such, the art reflects an ancestral connection, acts as an anchor of historical memory, and serves to articulate the meaning of Capoeira practice as an act of resistance.
“You’ve Got to be the Medicine to Heal the Community”
While the foregoing has sought to explicate the significance of Capoeira as it pertains to its primary, secondary, and tertiary functions, and specifically the implications of mind, body, and spirit to the latter, in this penultimate section I will explore the specific implications of this to healing and African people. As stated, central to this essay is the idea that healing is fundamentally communal, predicated upon the integrity of a people’s cultural systems, and enacted on the basis of their structural capacity—that is their power over their lives. Herein the question becomes how Capoeira facilitates healing within this framework.
First is the aforementioned mindfulness of Capoeira, which can be important in enabling a practitioner to maintain their center—that is to retain a degree of clear-mindedness in the midst of adversity. An extension of this is the principle of adaptability, which is intrinsic to the art. The internalization of this principle facilitates its effective application both in the roda and in life. This is a critical value that is evident in the various and ongoing movements of African/Black people for self-determination.
Second is Capoeira’s capacity to enhance the body by improving strength, flexibility, balance, and reaction time. This is elaborated upon by Powe.
Capoeira (the body developer par excellence) is an African martial art that has over the years been preserved and further developed in Brazil. This martial art not only helps promote flexibility and strength of the body but also allows the mind to control even the slightest body movements because of the necessity of making the body (and mind) synchronize with the rhythm played by accompanying musical instruments. Indeed, not only is the mind and body brought into harmony, but the art also serves as an excellent way to defend one’s self from an aggressor. (Powe, 2018, p. 2)
Thus, not only does Capoeira enhance the body (and the mind), it also augments one’s capacity to engage in self-protection. The paradigm of holistic development reflected by Capoeira is important in countering the multifarious system of oppression and its deleterious impact on the minds and bodies of African people.
Third is the communal basis of Capoeira, which represents a key aspect of healing, that is the creation of community and its capacity to negate feelings isolation and alienation. Often the bonds within Capoeira groups transcends the transactional connections that dominate many other martial arts academies, providing an alternative basis of connection predicated upon values such as respect, mutual support, love and appreciation. Herein community becomes both a basis of support and also restoration.
Lastly, in its capacity to facilitate the restoration of cultural memory for African descendants, Capoeira represents a particularly compelling form of healing. It seeks to overcome what Kambon has termed cultural misorienation (2003), that is the estrangement of the African person from an African historical and cultural consciousness. The realization of this capacity, however, is most conceivable within a Capoeira group whose recognition of the art’s African origins is unambiguous (Obi, 2008; Powe, 2011, 2014) and who understand the import of this practice for people of African descent and our struggle for freedom.
Conclusion
This essay derives its main title from a statement shared by Mestre Preto Velho, who said, “You’ve got to be the medicine to heal the community” (D. Newsome, personal communication, March 22, 2021). Herein I have attempted to answer the challenge implicit in this remark via an exploration of how such an endeavor might be operationalized in practice through the art of Capoeira. Further, I have endeavored to explore the nature and meaning of Capoeira practice in relation to healing. I began by linking healing to the process of cultural reclamation and the necessary restoration of African sovereignty. I discussed Capoeira’s varied dimensions, and the implications of its tertiary functions to a more expansive conception of the art and its practice. Further, I examined how each of these relate to African people in explicit terms.
A number of pertinent questions remain for future research. First, what are the specific discursive and instructional methods that have informed the enacting of Capoeira as a healing modality? This is notable given Mestre Preto Velho’s insistence on re-Africanization as a process of healing and reorientation (Green, 2003a; Griffin, 2004; Honore, 2020). Thus, how is such a process enacted? What are its effects? Such questions necessitate further ethnographic and narrative inquiries.
Second, given the focus of this essay on Capoeira and its potential utilization among people of African descent, what is the history of Capoeira in the African American community? Further, what has been the orientation of African American practitioners with regards to the utility of Capoeira in regards as such areas as self-defense, healing, and so forth? What have been some of the key conceptual elements which characterize such formations?
Third, to what extent have other African Diasporan combat traditions, which have been the focus of preservation and/or revitalization efforts such as Kalenda in Trinidad, Danmyé in Martinique, and so on, been deployed to achieve healing as it is defined herein?
Finally, while this essay has endeavored to explore the conceptual underpinnings of Capoeira and its connections to our healing as a people, this is necessarily a finite endeavor. Capoeira is a martial art. It is something to be studied and practiced. Healing, similarly, is a collective vocation requiring intelligent and visionary action. Ultimately, the transformation of African people requires both conceptual institutional models. It is therefore incumbent on those of us who understand this to create the requisite structures that facilitate sankɔfa, or cultural reclamation (Ani, 2004) as a means of achieving abibifahodie, that is Black liberation. As Mwalimu Baruti states, “Genuine warriorhood and healing are inseparable because the true warrior’s only fight is for Ma’at and Ma’at is the state of being healed” (Baruti, 2021).
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
