The Great Divide

Male or female? Democrat or Republican? Paper or plastic? Chocolate or Vanilla? Cup or cone? Manual or automatic? Angola or regional? The division between the two styles of capoeira seems to be one of those great dichotomies. Unfortunately, each camp holds a lot of misconceptions about the other. I don't claim to be an expert, but as someone who doesn't fall completely on either side of the fence, I have a few observations and opinions to share.

To clarify some definitions: when I say “capoeira angola” I refer to all capoeira lineages (both Pastinha and non-Pastinha) that date from before the creation of capoeira regional and do not trace their line to Mestre Bimba. “Capoeira regional” refers to both the original style created by Mestre Bimba and students thereof, and the Senzala-based/contemporânea/atual style that has come to be known generically today as capoeira regional. Very few groups practice the “original” regional, but that’s another story…

Angola and Regional Stereotypes

Things I've heard angoleiros say about regionalistas:

 - They are not learning the “real,” “original” capoeira

 - Their style is a bastard child of capoeira angola devoid of tradition and culturally, philosophically, and spiritually bankrupt

 - They are all about showing off their flashy moves, pretty colored cords, and oversized muscles probably gained by the use of steroids

 - They spend all their time flipping, so they are ineffective fighters.

Things I've heard regionalistas say about angoleiros:

 - Their style is the low, slow, boring, old, musty and antiquated version of capoeira

 - They are cultish snobs with a superiority complex based on practicing the “original” (and therefore more “legitimate”) form of the art

 - They are dirty, smelly hippies who do drugs far more often than they shower

 - Their style is a form of dance, so they are ineffective fighters.

Not every angoleiro or regionalista thinks this way, of course, but I’ve heard each of those thoughts voiced or hinted at by students and even masters of the respective styles… more times than I’d like. The stereotypes exist, even if they are not always openly expressed.

I'll start by trying to separate the truth from the myth in the above statements.

A Closer Look at Capoeira Regional

No one denies that Mestre Bimba created capoeira regional in the early 20^th century. However, the fact that it is not the “original” form of capoeira does not imply its inferiority. Capoeira angola has evolved as well; to believe that the capoeira angola played today is the same as the “original” form practiced by African slaves in the 17^th century, or even the form practiced after the abolition of slavery in the late 19^th century, is absurd. All arts change slowly over the centuries; the creation of regional was simply an unusually sudden – and deliberate – change in capoeira, done by Mestre Bimba for the express purpose of winning legitimacy for capoeira by promoting its acceptance among the middle and upper classes.

It’s true that Mestre Bimba sacrificed some traditions. Whereas capoeira angola was a jogo (game) that included play, fight and everything in between, Mestre Bimba emphasized the fighting aspect, marketing his style as the Luta Regional da Bahia (Regional Fight [or Martial Art] of Bahia) - the elimination of the word "capoeira" from the title was done to help separate his version from the negative stereotypes associated with that term. Bimba also shifted the primary focus from malícia to technique/efficiency. One result was the elimination of the chamadas, incorrectly seen by regionalistas as moments of rest from the game when in actuality they are sub-games designed to test the alertness and awaken the malícia of the capoeiristas. Another consequence was the de-emphasis of music: Bimba reduced the bateria from a gunga, medio, viola, two pandeiros, atabaque, agogo, and reco-reco to a single berimbau and two pandeiros. He replaced the ladainhas and chulas sung in capoeira angola with the quadras, four-liners that are not even used much anymore; most regional rodas use only corridos. Mestre Bimba also introduced a few traditions: the teaching of a capoeira “course” in an academy setting and the creation of a graduation system and ceremony.

The deliberate change of traditions in order to make capoeira appeal to a wider audience may be questionable, but it definitely succeeded in its aim of legitimizing the art: Mestre Bimba’s group worked its way to a performance for President Getulio Vargas, which eventually led to the legalization of capoeira's practice. It is impossible to say how capoeira would have evolved if Mestre Bimba had not created regional, but it was undeniably a key step in capoeira’s transformation from an undesirable pastime of society’s “lowlifes” to a celebrated national sport.

True capoeira regional is not all style and no substance. Good regional groups emphasize the functionality and purpose of movements, not just how pretty they look. The seqüências of Mestre Bimba were designed to teach players how to interact with each other and use smart attacks, escapes, and counterattacks. During the classes of Mestre Bamba (student of Mestre Vermelho 27, who was a student of Bimba) that I played in and observed in Salvador, a big emphasis was put on doing movements with purpose. I have never met a capoeira regional instructor who believes acrobatics are equally or more important than having a good game; instead, they encourage their students to use floreios sparingly, wisely, and only in certain moments: “the only time for acrobatics is when you enter the roda, maybe if you have space you do a mortal or whatever, but after you land, that’s it for the flips” (Professor Ubaldo, Grupo Esporão).

I think some angoleiros’ perception of regional as devoid of substance comes from seeing regional performance rodas in which “one guy kicks up in the sky and his opponent, ten feet away, hastily dives to the floor to avoid the attack. Please! ...Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a lot of fun as well, however, it does little to develop your nervous system and finer reflexes for playing against someone who will not agree with you beforehand to keep there distance just to make you look good and feel safe” (Contra-Mestre Perere, “Gringos in the Ring”). However, most regional groups have a very different character in their performance rodas, which are geared towards creating a beautiful, non-combative spectacle for the audience, versus their training/academy rodas, in which the focus is interacting with one’s partner and playing smart. The most extreme example of this contrast I’ve seen was Capoeira Topázio in Salvador: the capoeira they do as part of a folkloric performance in the Solar de Unhão restaurant is pretty, playful, full of flips and fancy movements, with less interaction between the players; whereas their academy rodas are extremely intense and competitives, with kicks, dodges and takedowns executed with ruthless efficiency.

Sadly, I have seen some regional/contemporânea groups that play with little or no meaningful interaction all the time. I remember seeing one angoleiro visit a regional group and play in their roda. The two were not interacting well, and later on the regionalista told the angoleiro, “you’re supposed to kick over me, not right at me.” It brought to mind the words of Mestre Valmir (angoleiro), who said, “if you do your kick over the other player’s head, why should they dodge? All your movements must have purpose.” Even in a playful game, one should aim to hit… there is no meaningful interaction if you aim to miss! But with the exceptions of these unfortunate groups, many regionalistas do follow the principle “nunca dê um golpe em vão” (never give a hit in vain) in their academies.

A Closer Look at Capoeira Angola

I hate responding to this: “oh, capoeira angola, that’s the slow, boring version without the flips, right?” There’s so much ignorance in that question I don’t know where to begin!

First of all, capoeira angola is not “slow”; it is only seen as such because it is played at a much wider variety of speeds than regional. Capoeira regional is always played at medium to fast paces, and the pace within each game remains pretty constant. Angola rodas, on the other hand, can range from snail’s pace to so-fast-your-mind-can-barely-process-it. Not only that, but within each game slow and cautious movements are alternated with extremely quick attacks and dodges. It makes it that much more unpredictable, and that much more interesting to watch.

Speaking of being interesting to watch, capoeira angola is far from “boring.” Watching four-hour rodas on Saturday mornings at Mestre Valmir’s academy was one of the most entertaining experiences I’ve ever had. I was absolutely captivated by every moment of every game; they all contained moments of laughter, joy, seriousness, tension, playfulness, shame, aggression, revenge, anticipation, and surprise. Capoeira angola may not catch one’s eye as quickly as capoeira regional, but it is profoundly interesting on a more complex level. Since the games are longer (about ten minutes each as opposed to the sixty seconds of a regional game), the players have time to really develop the interaction between them, and it is mesmerizing.

Capoeira angola can be an acquired taste. It can take some time to learn to appreciate the style, especially for people who are used to regional. Mestre Bola Sete put it well: “Modern capoeira is similar to a young and beautiful woman that naturally rivets whoever sees her, although she is completely empty in her essence. Whereas the traditional capoeira of the past was more similar to a simple woman of the people, who does not stand out at first sight, but however possesses a truer beauty, interior, that only the people with a more acute sensitivity could immediately perceive.”

There is a very persistent myth among regionalistas that capoeira angola is ineffective in a fight. First of all, just because an angoleiro looks open and vulnerable doesn’t mean he is! I’ve seen plenty of angoleiros who don’t appear particularly intimidating, or who play with their bodies seemingly unprotected; yet they are extremely capable of effective self-defense and vicious, accurate attacks in fights or fight-like rodas. As Mestre Bola Sete said in a lecture at the ABCA (Associação Brasileira de Capoeira Angola), “capoeira angola is a violent fight; it can kill; it has killed before” – and this is true. However, the fight will not always be apparent when watching angoleiros play because 1) fight is one aspect among many of capoeira angola, and one does not often see it – in fact, it should not occur – between friends and training partners in the roda. “Do the game in the roda, and not the fight, reserved for defense against our enemies” (Mestre Bola Sete); and 2) the fact that capoeira angola is a violent fight that does not appear to be one only adds to its strength.

The efficiency of any martial art depends on the experience level of the practitioner; this applies to both capoeira angola and regional. Mestre Bola Sete writes, “The hits of capoeira angola, almost always executed with moderation in the roda, are very dangerous when used in the street, against enemies, as long as the practitioner possesses the necessary experience to utilize them in this circumstance; if this is not the case, the situation is inverted (the danger is to the practitioner).” I’ve seen both forms of capoeira used well and used poorly in more aggressive, fight-like games.

Finally, the ad hominem attacks – the stereotypes of regionalistas as shallow steroid addicts and angoleiros as dirty potheads – are simply stereotypes that create divisions between capoeiristas rather than bring them together. So why not drop them?

Conclusions

I agree with Mestre Valmir, who once said to me in a conversation about angola vs. regional, “each style has its own value. Which one someone practices depends on who they are and what they’re looking for.” In other words, it’s not a matter of which one is the “best” form of capoeira; it’s the question of which one is the best for you.

Mestre Itabora also gave some wise words during a workshop in Boston: “if I teach a move differently than the way you’re used to doing it, it doesn’t mean one way is right and the other is wrong… they’re just different; try to learn from both.” If certain capoeiristas focused less on the “superiority” of their chosen style and instead tried to learn everything they could from people who do things differently from them, we’d have many more open-minded and well-rounded capoeiristas as well as fewer problems between groups.

I’ll close with a Mestre Bola Sete passage that really captures the fact that capoeira’s diversity of styles is one of the sources of its beauty and uniqueness: