Capoeira....what do you guys think of it as Combative?

[Muaythaiboxer]

i would never say it cant be used i will just say that i dont think it would win out against the average thai/mma fighters.

[Jbone1]

See theres a misconception about Capoeira. What mostly is seen today is the speedy game that is flashy like XMA. What a lot of people don't know is the traditional aspects of it. Where they placed razor blades in hands and between toes, used other weapons, and a lot of grappling and throws.

 

Capoeira was used by slaves to revolt against slave owners. Also it was used by thugs for some time to run things in South America. It can be highly dangerous if you can find a traditional Mestre who can teach that style of Capoeira.

 

MuayThaiboxer what's KSU?

[1kickKO]

The jinga (the unique fighting stance that capoeira is well-known for) is very symbolic, the hands close together symbolized the chains that used to be put on them, and sometimes when you see breaking apart of the hands it symbolized a breaking free of the chains...a very unique and fun style, but if used in a street-fight, I think your butt would be handed to you on a silver platter.

[ovine king]

err... the hands don't go close together in the ginga.

 

as a rule, the tend to alternate between covering the head and being in position to drop into negativa.

 

no symbolism.

 

just how the style works.

 

granted there are symbolic gestures within the roda but that's the game, not the fighting.

 

incidentally, where did you read that?

[1kickKO]

I learned that from a capoeira sensei...like I said, capoeira varies wherever you go but that's what I was taught...and if you pay attention not everybody goes from head to body, but some do...when the hands are closed together it's the chains that are binding the hands together..watch it sometime.

[Skeptic 2004]

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread that they wanted a book on Capoeira. I found the following book very illuminating on the history and tradition of capoeira.

 

Capoeira, Nestor. Capoeira: Roots of the Dance Fight-Game. California: North Atlantic Books, 2002.

 

I think his very first book in english was called The Little Capoeira Book (and as the title suggests, it was a small book, maybe no more than 150 pages). It sold so many copies/people expressed a lot of interest that he wrote Capoeira (a full fledged 340 pages). While I'm not entirely knowledgeable in Capoeira, the bibliography at the end of the book (a full 6 pages in itself) suggests that the book was well researched and gives credence to its legitimacy. It's not too pricey either compared to some other MA books I've purchased.

[SevenStar]

err... the hands don't go close together in the ginga.

 

as a rule, the tend to alternate between covering the head and being in position to drop into negativa.

 

no symbolism.

 

just how the style works.

 

granted there are symbolic gestures within the roda but that's the game, not the fighting.

 

incidentally, where did you read that?

 

yeah, that's the way it was told to me as well. The alternating hand is used for defense. one guards the head, and the other deflects/catches kicks.

 

As for the hand being bound in chains back in the day, I think that may be myth - unless they were long chains. Look at the things they do - the separation of the hands in jinga. In negativa, one hand touches the ground behind you while the other touches your face. in meihalua(sp?)the hands are apart on opposite sides of the body. With tightl chains, none of those techniques would be possible, nor would many others.

[Muaythaiboxer]

KSU= kansas state universaty

 

there was a guy in pride who did capoeira won his first few matchs then got beaten up pretty badly by a kickboxer/judoka

[Dragn]

I did capoeira for a few months in Australia under a Brazilian teacher, and for a year in Japan under a Japanese teacher. I also used to practise sometimes with some half brazilian/ Japanese factory workers.

 

I was never taught practical applications for the techniques.

 

The focus was on playing the game. Sometimes it could get pretty rough.

 

But it wasn't taught as a SD art as such.

 

I think this is pretty much the norm these days.

 

Some of the guys who I trained with didn't realise this and thought it would be effective against other MAtists.

 

One of them entered a full contact Karate tournament and got his leg broken!

 

No doubt if you practised hard enough and long enough with a good teacher who could teach you the more practical side of it, you could use some of it for SD.

 

But there are alot of other MA which are focused on SD which would be alot more practical.

 

Still if you really want do it I would recommend cross training in a Striking/grappling art.

[senna_trem]

Who has seen Meet the Fockers? What did you think of his capoeira?