These are questions that have not really been fully answered, and may never be.

However, I have found it interesting to research the POSSIBILITIES of various influences that Capoeira may have been subjected to.

Capoeira, like many other martial arts, has been constantly changing, to keep within a cultural and practical relevance to society. Whilst some practicioners struggle to maintain important traditions, others are constantly testing and experimenting with Capoeira. I find it important to adhere to both causes, in the aim to give back something to the art that we recieve so much from.

Over the coming weeks, I wish to provide some basic information on some other arts that have had similar histories, movement base, or could have maybe even influenced capoeira in its earlier stages. This is to give you a door to explore capoeira in a much wider context.

N’golo or Engolo

This is probably the most widely discussed African artform with Capoeira circles.
It is said to have been performed at a festival called Efundula which was traditionally a huge gathering of the community. It was a passing of rites ritual, where the girls would undergo tests and preparations to be accepted as women ready for marriage and procreation.

THE EFUNDULA CEREMONY

The efundula ceremony varied between communities and over time. This is just a brief overview of some of the things that were involved.

Firstly the girls would enter into a closed house called ondjuo. A ritual leader called the namunganga would feed them and they would wait until they were summoned. After the sacred initiation they would finish by crawling through the legs of the namunganga and step over a cleft stick. These were tests performed to see if the women was pregnant. If they stumbled when stepping over the stick this would be a sign they were pregnant and would be outcast and rejected by their community. They would then be given some beer mixed with a herbal brew. This was a second test. If they vomited, the woman would have deemed to be pregnant.

The next stage of the initiations would be more ‘endurance’ type tests, that were often tasks like pounding millet in mortars for hours. This would also be a process of weeding out those that may have been pregnant. Previously this process could last for days.

The next stage was called the oihanangolo where the initiates (ovafuka) would become boy-like (ovamati). They would cover themselves in white ash, dress in skirts and go around demanding food from other households and sometimes even beat up men who crossed their paths. The community would have to comply and subdue. They were even allowed to insult the men, make them prepare the food for them and beat them up if the man was caught sleeping with a women, even if it was their own wife! This process could last from days to weeks.

(from an essay: Efundula and History: Female Initiation in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Northern Namibia by Patricia Hayes)

The final stage was a public event. The men would drum and the girls would dance and sing. The men would approach the women and propose for their hand in marriage. The marriages were usually prearranged.

(note: this is a wedding ceremony from an ovambo tribe, It was all I could find, so it may not at all be similar to the efundula).

NOTE: Within my brief research of Efundula, I did not encounter any mention of n’golo being a part of this particular ritual or ceremony. So I am unsure to whether Capoeira researchers have linked N’golo with Efundula through presumptions or historical evidence…

(from an essay: Efundula and History: Female Initiation in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Northern Namibia by Patricia Hayes)

N’golo Origins

The name N’golo, (which they say mean the dance of the zebras), I believe originally came from Barama N’golo and Nia N’golo. They were two brothers who led an animist group called bambara, which later became a very powerful community. Barama was a great hunter and warrior.

The brothers introduced into their community a social conduct structure, consisting of various rituals. Among them was for work to be carried out by association and based on age-sets. All boys would be initiated by being circumcised at the same time, mainly to establish hierachy. I believe that it was within these traditions and probably the passage of rites to manhood, that N’golo as an artform may have been developed/performed/named. There is no evidence to support this claim, so further research is welcomed.

However, the current research is based on a couple of key figures. An angolan artist by the name of Albano de Neves e Souza went to Brazil in the 1960′s. He had claimed to have seen the N’golo being performed in southern Angola and believed it was very similar to Capoeira.

N’golo, the Zebra Dance, is possibly the origin of the Capoeira, the fighting dance of Brazil. It is danced at the time of the ‘Mufico”, a puberty rite for the girls of the Mucope and Mulondo regions. The object of the dance is to hit your opponent’s face with your foot. A rhythm for the dance is beaten by clapping hands, and anyone who attempts a [b]low while outside the marked arena is disqualified. The ‘Angolan Capoeira’ in Brazil also has its special rhythm, which is one more reason to believe that it originates with the N’golo. N’golo means ‘zebra’, and to a certain extent the dance originates from the leaps and battles of the zebra: the blow with the feet while the hands are touching the ground is certainly reminiscent of the zebra’s kick.

(Neves e Souza, Da minha Africa do Brazil que eu vi, p.57)

It is interesting to note that in 1964 Mestre Pastinha wrote a book on Capoeira Angola but does not mention N’golo as being the main ancestor of Capoeira.

There is no doubt that capoeira came to Brazil with the African slaves. It was a form of fighting presenting its own characteristics, maintained up to our days… The name “Capoeira Angola” comes from the fact that it was the Angolan slaves in Bahia who mostly distinguished themselves in its practice.

(Mestre Pastinha, Capoeira Angola, p. 26-27)

If Mestre Pastinha had known about the theory of N’golo before the publication of his book I would have presumed that he would surely have mentioned it.

Whilst Neves e Souza was visiting Brazil, he made friends with a Brazilian folklorist named Camara Cascudo. They maintained contact and eventually Cascudo published some of his notes in 1967. It is believed that Mestre Pastinha either had contact with Neves e Souza or Cascudo and used their theory to link Capoeira with N’golo, or one of Pastinha’s students found the published letters and showed Mestre Pastinha.

In any case, the most likely theory is that the first link between Capoeira and N’golo came from Neves e Souza’s accounts alone.

The slaves of the Southern tribes who went there [to Brazil] through the trading post of Benguela took along their tradition to fight with the feet. With time, what was initially a tribal tradition was transformed into a weapon of attack and defence, which helped them to survive in a hostile environment. [This is the] reason for its continuity in the urban context. The worst bandits of Benguela are generally Muxilengues, which, in the cities, use the N’golo steps as a weapon. In Luanda, these steps, possibly brought from the South, are called Bassula. Even in the name there is something suggesting that the fight originated among the pastoral people of the South. Ba-ssula, those from the South.

(Camara Cascudo, Folklore, p. 186)

It is interesting to note that when Camara Cascudo went to Angola he was unable to find n’golo or bassula.

T.J. Desch-Obi is the only other person I have found that has seen and written accounts of the n’golo practice. He describes his experience as follows:

The music begins with clapping and a rhythmic humming that can take the place of a response in the call-and-response songs that someone will begin to sing. Soon after the mantra-like song and humming has fully formed, with a shout a practitioner will enter the circle dancing and often shouting again to accentuate the techniques he begins to demonstrate. When a contender joins the challenger in the circle the two will continue to dance to the music as they square off and one adept will launch a kick or sweep at the other. This attack will be defended by dodging or ‘blending’ in such a way that will then allow the defender to launch a smooth counter-attack. The two will continue in a cycle of attacks, defenses, and counter-attacks in a smooth continuous flow.

(T.J. Desch Obi, ‘Engolo’ p.56)

Because of these accounts by T.J. Desch Obi and Neves e Souza, and the presumed links between Capoeira and N’golo, Capoeira today uses these accounts to concrete Capoeira’s African ancestry. Many Capoeira Angola groups will use N’golo as a certain proof that Capoeira was created in Africa and refined in Brazil. However, to me this may be, unfortunately, an over-simplification.

Conclusion

I believe that Capoeira was influenced by many different African martial arts, rituals and tribes. I also believe that Capoeira was formed in brazil by many ethnic groups that influenced society at the time and who were also influenced by society and its situation. There existed a huge number of African tribes over the centuries, each with their own traditions, languages, rituals and beliefs. They all developed different ceremonies that sometimes lasted and were passed down through the years, faded away, or over time, moulded into completely new traditions. There is still a huge amount of research to be done and I believe the search for answers and links, although seemingly sparse, is not yet over.

There are, in reality, only a certain amount of ways the human body can move. We are only born with two arms and two legs. If we were born with maybe three arms, movement possibilities could maybe be different but we weren’t. When there is similarities in social oppression, similarities in environment and culture, I believe there is also similarities within fighting systems. But we will touch upon this in the upcoming articles.

References:

1.Nestor Capoeira, Capoeira: Roots of the dance-fight-game
2.Mattias Rohrig assuncao, Capoeira, the history of an afro-brazilian martial art
3.Patricia Hayes, Efundula and History: Female Initiation in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Northern Namibia

http://www.gwsafrica.org/knowledge/patricia/efprint.htm

4.Mestre Pastinha, Capoeira Angola
5.T.J Desch Obi, Engolo
6.Neves e Souza, Da minha Africa e do brasil que eu vi
7.L. da Camara Cascudo, Folklore do Brasil
8.Waldeloir Rego, Capoeira Angola
9. Ousmane Sako, The Heart of the Ngoni By Harold Courlander
10. T.J. Desch Obi, Fighting for honor

How do you know whether a person wants to harm you or not? When does the game turn from a game into a fight? Where do people’s true intentions lie?

How could you ever know?

Sensing intention has been around in the martial arts for centuries. Although it seems sometimes a little too abstract or far fetched for the average martial artist, it is definately a medium to explore if it is indeed possible.

Many times have I been in a roda and felt the hairs stand up on top of my arms. The look in one’s eye, the fake smile that someone wears, the feeling that lingers in the air…

By no means am I an expert on this subject, nor do I pretend to claim that I possess ‘super human powers’. I am just merely exploring the subject to help contribute to it.

THE FIVE SENSES

From my understanding, the five senses are what we primarily use to gauge situations and react accordingly. Thoughts and emotions are secondary. This ‘sixth sense’, sensing the intentions of others, seems to be overwhelmed and blocked out by the over-stimulation of your other senses, thoughts and emotions. It’s like with our bodies, sometimes we work too much on the bigger muscle groups. This can sometimes cause us problems because our smaller muscles become weak and eventually do not work properly.

By using the five senses and by directing our thoughts emotions and focus to opening this sense, I truly believe that you can become better aware of the way others may feel towards you and a better general sense of your environment.

If you get a chance, have a look into Gestalt psychotherapy. It explores heightening awareness and helping understand how to ‘be in the moment’.

Remember, the only thing that holds you back is your mind.

Training The Mind

here is a little left right brain test to help you explore the capabilities of your mind, and the way you percieve things.

In this picture below, is the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Can you make her spin either way?

Look closely, it is important that you believe you can, you must convince your mind and yourself that you can do it.

Apparently, if you naturally see her spin clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Now that your brain is sufficiently warmed up, I recently ran a trainathon, which involved teaching capoeira for 13 hours straight.

Intention exercise 1

Within our trainathon we covered a few experimental exercises on intention and feeling intention. One of the exercises we split the group into partners, and one person would hold a coin in one hand, whilst the partner tries to snatch the coin out of their hand. Just like a reflex game, the person holding the coin had to close their hand before the other person could get the coin. Next we made the person holding the coin do it with their eyes shut. Next, we held a coin in each hand, closed our eyes and tried to feel which hand the person would go for and at what time.

If you ever have the time and partner to do this with, I would love to hear how you go.

The important thing that helps me, is to try and relax and clear your mind from everything that is not that moment in time.

Intention Exercise 2

The next exercise was having two people face the other way kneeling down, eyes shut, with a soft stick in one hand. Two other people would sneak up behind them and try to have to touch the person on the back and run off. The person kneeling has to try and sense when the person is about to touch them and touch the person with the stick beforehand.

You will see in a video below some demonstrations of the exercises we performed. There were many more hits and misses, but I only put in a couple for your enjoyment. In the soft stick exercise we also had the music up really loud so that the people could not rely on hearing.

We related these intention exercises on general distancing and knowing if a person is about to kick you or not.
We did this by having each person ginga, and one person throw out a bencao. When they threw the bencao out they could choose to try and hit the other person or try and think about only kicking close to them but not touching them. The other person would have to decide whether or not to react to the kick by getting out the way or just staying in ginga.

When I know other people’s intent, I feel like I have more ability to control my actions and reactions to others. If I am sensitive to the people around me and my environment, I feel more connected to who I am.

These were only a couple of examples of exercises we ran through, We definately had a lot of fun and if you play with these ideas, I am sure you will too. If you know of any other exercises or have any comments or suggestions on exercises to help train feeling intent, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Axe and Salve!

Chan.

Capoeira e luta de bailarinos. E danca de Gladiadores. E duelo de camaradas. E jogo e bailado, e disputa-simbiose perfeita de forca e ritmo, poesia e agilidade. Unica em que os movimentos sao comandados pelo canto.
A submissao da forca ao ritmo da violencia, a melodia, a sublimacao dos atagonismos.
Na capoeira os contendores nao sao adversarios, sao “camaradas”. Nao lutam, fingem lutar. Procuram- genialmente dar a visao atistica de um combate. Acima do espirito de competicao ha neles um sentido de beleza. O caoeirista e um artista e um atleta, um jogador e um poeta.

Seu sonho, seu desejo, vivem como o nascer do sol, dia a dia.

Capoeira is the fight of ballerinas. It is the dance of the gladiators. It is the dual between comrades. The game is a dance, it is a perfect symbiotic dispute between force and rhythm, poetry and agility. Unique because the movements are commanded by the song. The submission of forces, of rhythm, of violence, of melody; a subliminal antagonist.

Your dream, your desire, lives like the sunrise, day by day.

Capoeira Acrobatics is spontaneous, agile and sometimes mysterious, I remember watching countless amounts of videos, searching the world for new tricks, different movements. The more I have experimented and tried different movements the more I have come to realise three things:

1. It is always better to have an instructor who understands the movement to go through it with you.
2. You should always try and build up the necessary areas of the body that are needed for that type of movement BEFORE you attempt to do it.
3. The movement should be broken down into certain steps, and it is these steps that should be practiced seperately before putting it together.

Remember, this movement is only from what I have experienced and learnt through my journey of capoeira, you should always listen to your instructor first and follow their instruction. Many styles have many in-depth reasons for doing things a particular way, so it is always my recommendation with everything you do, to follow your instructor.

I have written down a few notes on the observations that I have found over the years of practicing them.

1. Observe how far I throw my arms back and also the amount I bend in the knees. The knees do not need to bend that much at the start of the jump, as I want to pop it up instead of push it up. The arms go back far to help build the momentum as I swing them hard and up.

6. Backsaults are scary, and dangerous without the proper training and teacher. So pick both wisely before thinking about attempting one.

Stumble It!

PART 2