Hybrid · Afro-Brazilian
Capoeira
Afro-Brazilian fight-dance: ginga, kicks, and evasion inside the roda.
Find a topic
A map of this art. Live entries are links. The rest is mapped, not written yet.
Capoeira
Movement
- Ginga
- Kicks
- Evasion
- Au
Game
- Roda
- Music
- Malicia
Lines
- Angola
- Regional
- Contemporânea
Culture
- Mestres
- Groups
- News
What Is Capoeira?
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art born in the world of enslaved Africans in Brazil: a game of kicks, sweeps, headbutts, escapes, and trickery played inside a roda to live music. It is fight and dance and conversation at once. Treating it as “just dance” or “just kickboxing” misses the art.
Two historical poles still organize the map. Capoeira Angola keeps a lower, more ritual game. Capoeira Regional, associated with Mestre Bimba, stood the game up and made it more openly martial. Later contemporânea groups mix both.
How Capoeira Works
The ginga is the moving guard — a sway that hides entries. From it come kicks (meia lua, armada, martelo), escapes (queda de rins, negativa), takedowns (rasteira), and acrobatic exits (aú). Timing is musical. Malícia — cunning — is a technical value, not a personality quiz.
There is no published capoeira term catalog on Martial Index yet. This hub is the overview. Kickboxing and MMA pages sit nearby when someone asks how a capoeira kick shows up in a gloved ruleset.
Roda, not a ring first
Berimbau, pandeiro, and the chorus set the speed of the game. A sportized ring version exists in some events; it is not the whole art. Gym and group pages, when they land, will matter more than any single YouTube clip.
What You’ll Find Here
This hub is the live overview. Published entries are links. Fighters, gyms, rules, and news are mapped for later — even when those pages are not written yet.
- Related hubs. Kickboxing, Savate, MMA.
- Fighters / groups / rules / news. Mapped, not written yet.
FAQ
Questions we hear on the mats, in gyms, and when fighters compare styles.
Is capoeira a dance or a fight?
Both, on purpose. The roda is a game that can injure you. The music is part of the technique, not a soundtrack added later.
Angola or Regional first?
Angola is lower and more ritual. Regional is more upright and martial in Bimba’s line. Many modern groups mix. Visit before you pick a brand.
Does it transfer to MMA?
The kicking and unpredictability can. Takedown defense and a gloved pocket have to be trained separately. See MMA.
The Bottom Line
Capoeira is ginga, kicks, and evasion inside a roda — an Afro-Brazilian art, not a kickboxing costume. This hub is the live introduction.
