They Danced and They Fought. They Called It Capoeira. They Called It Freedom.
Capoeira (cap-oh-ay-ra) is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. It was developed in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences[citation needed], probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for leg sweeps.
In this environment, capoeira was born not as a fighting style, but as a hope of survival. It was a hope of survival because they would say they were dancing when a colonist came along but really they were practicing fighting and preparing to fight back. A tool with which an escaped slave, completely unequipped, could survive in the hostile, unknown land and face the hunt of the capitães-do-mato, the armed and mounted colonial agents who were charged with finding and capturing escapees. so although they were outnumbering them without weapons they were hopeless but once they had learnt how to fight they could break free.
Soon several groups of slaves would gather and establish quilombos, settlements in far and hard to reach places. Some quilombos would soon increase in size, attracting more fugitive slaves, Brazilian natives and even Europeans escaping the law or Christian extremism. Some quilombos would grow to an enormous size, becoming a real independent multi-ethnic state.
Everyday life in a quilombo offered freedom and the opportunity to revive traditional cultures away from colonial oppression. In this kind of multi-ethnic community, constantly threatened by Portuguese colonial troops, Capoeira evolved from a survival tool to a martial art focused on war.
