Capoeira good for self defense?

[MFGQ]

I practiced capoeira a year ago for about 5 months, and i loved it, all the flexibility and quickness was great. But what i was looking as any MAist was to be able to protect myself in the street with what i was learning, but i wasnt that convinced, and a lot of friends told me it was just a dance, so i wanted to ask, is it really just a dance? or could it be used as a self defense system?

thank you for your answers

[dippedappe]

Capoiera is apparently very effective in a vs battle. Very difficult to beat a good Capoiera student. Or so I have read from other posts like this. I can't figure out how it can be effective in streetfight however. But one wrote that Capoiera in a fighting situation is much different from the dancing that we see. That it's very effective in a streetfight too. But I do not personally know anything about this. I just write what I have read.

[Muaythaiboxer]

i have taken both capoeira angola and the other more showy form and i do not consider it very effective. i know that it is done diffrently in a real fight but as of yet i have not yet met a capoeiraista i have not been able to out strike or out grapple once again i mean no offense to the style as it is very pretty to watch and im shure that an experienced capoeiraista could defend himself but there are other more efficient styles that serve the self defense better.

AMITABHA

[elbows_and_knees]

I can't figure out how it can be effective in streetfight however. But one wrote that Capoiera in a fighting situation is much different from the dancing that we see. That it's very effective in a streetfight too. But I do not personally know anything about this. I just write what I have read.

because you haven't really seen it. All you have seen is the play in the roda most likely, and yes, it looks danceish. I started training capoeira recently and it's got a lot of infighting - elbows, knees, headbutts and takedowns. The core techniques are the infighting, the cartwheel, roundhouse and the inside and outside crescent kicks. The other stuff from what I am told is part of the system, but may or may not be used by most capoeirista.

[elbows_and_knees]

i have taken both capoeira angola and the other more showy form and i do not consider it very effective.

the more "showy" form is regional. They are actually more competitive than the angola guys - regional guys IME really like to mix it up.

i know that it is done diffrently in a real fight but as of yet i have not yet met a capoeiraista i have not been able to out strike or out grapple once again i mean no offense to the style as it is very pretty to watch and im shure that an experienced capoeiraista could defend himself but there are other more efficient styles that serve the self defense better.

I have met one I can't out grapple - but he is also a bjj purple under de la riva. I can outstrike most of the ones I've met if I can get in my range - and that is the problem. They are very evasive and very deceptive. That is where their main strength is. Many of the techniques are circular, so when you crash forward, you can jam them, but they will immediately find another angle.

[JusticeZero]

Hey, what's up with the lost posts? *repost*

Works fine. For what I was taught it's pretty much the same, we don't really change much because we don't do anything especially impractical. (No jumping, no ballistic-commitment flips, no turning our back, all attacks at effective range)

Item 1: Don't hang out in a ginga - don't ginga at the first sign of trouble, because that's the same as when a kung fu guy goes through five or six flowery movements in a form for no reason with no target to settle in some stance before the fight even starts like they do in the movies and nowhere else. Stand in a neutral position that has structure like a point in ginga and use that to respond from.

Item 2: You have hands. The ginga contains quite a few very effective hand techniques, you don't have to 'default to boxing". Trust the form and use it to make opportunities.

Item 3: Move. The roda is about (or should be about) controlling, dominating, and manipulating space. Esquiva is great for getting off the line; there's lots of ways to get into scary angles on someone, and if a capoeirista hasn't gotten an inexperienced fighter cramped against a chair, wall, etc. then I have concerns about their skill in the roda.

Personally I like to spar in spaces about two yards across, preferably with walls but any sort of disastrous enclosure or edge works fine, just so I can work on this.. that's a common exercise, though I admittedly get a bit frustrated when it gets down to 4' diameter, as some of the form starts eroding out of necessity.

We have some very destructive throws, our elbows can be very scary (as, actually, can be our trapping against people who don't do that range), and our ability to move off the line and around attackers is top notch. The only major concern is that those skills are

1: often neglected by worshippers of the almighty dollar (which I will note is not in and of itself a bad thing, and understandable from people who are trying to raise the money to give their family a chance at a better life than a third world hovel) who adjust their teaching to cater to the upper-middle-class testosterone-pumped lithe teenage gymnast types who often drift toward Capoeira alongside the underdressed upper-middle-class teenage muscle-worshipping camp follower girls who tag along after them,

2: usually neither understood nor contemplated by the students aspiring toward either of the two stereotypes mentioned in 1, and

3: esoteric and slow to develop and grasp by those who care to learn. Hard to avoid learning it, eventually, but if you ignore it it takes longer.

I wish I had footage from the NHB fight a couple month back? where a pure Capoeirista (Secondary Grappling background, used to avoid grappling range) won some matches. Wasn't one of the huge name competitions. Bimba was famous for taking on all comers and winning, and there have been some other effective fighters. A couple stories of successful use of Capoeira in spontaneous self defense situations have trickled over to me over time, too.

[MenteReligieuse]

1: often neglected by worshippers of the almighty dollar (which I will note is not in and of itself a bad thing, and understandable from people who are trying to raise the money to give their family a chance at a better life than a third world hovel) who adjust their teaching to cater to the upper-middle-class testosterone-pumped lithe teenage gymnast types who often drift toward Capoeira alongside the underdressed upper-middle-class teenage muscle-worshipping camp follower girls who tag along after them, and there have been some other effective fihters.

I'm thin and muscular...does that mean I'm attracted to other males?...

[Muaythaiboxer]

yes i did see the NHB fights with the capoeira guy the jump kick was very pretty but i have to say as good as he is at capoeira i dont think he could trade blows with some of the better fighters. as i said capoeira can be used effctively against a guy with no training buy a fighter with any training worth anything i dont think capoeira can compete. once again no offense intended to the capoeiraistas out there.

AMITABHA

[Maddwraph]

i took it for a year, its a lot of fun. capoiera in the right hands can be devastating, but it depends on the condition of the person. its an art that takes time to grasp it. there are more practical arts out there, but if you can get good at capoiera, it can really put a hurting on someone. if you stick with capoiera, it alone will get you into great shape, which is always helpful in a fight.

[JusticeZero]

Might have been different person, the one I remember he didn't jump. I know Mestre Bimba, for one (others were doing other things) was tearing up people in anything goes matches in his day.