Capoeira de Angola (Angolan capoeira) or simply angola is the traditional style of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art. A newer style, based on the reform of capoeira Angola, is called regional.
However, the term capoeira Angola is somewhat ambiguous and can mean two things:
- traditional capoeira Angola prior to its codification in 20th century.
- contemporary capoeira Angola codified by Mestre Pastinha, based on an older one.
Although mestre Pastinha strove to preserve the original art, he nevertheless introduced significant changes to capoeira practice. He forbid weapon and lethal moves, prescribed uniforms, moved training away from the street into the academia, and started to teach women. But for mestre Pastinha, Capoeira Angola was, "above all, fighting and violent fighting".
The practice of capoeira Angola is to cultivate chants, music and culture in addition to the martial art, and to keep capoeira as close to its African roots as possible. Angoleiros preserve oral traditions about capoeira's origins and maintain a connection with the ancestral art of engolo. According to the old capoeira mestres and tradition within the community, capoeira originates from Angola. The very name of Capoeira de Angola (Angolan capoeira) emphasizes the origin of the discipline. The older names including jogo de Angola (Angolan game) or brincar de angola (playing angola),
In the mid-twentieth century, the painter Neves e Sousa brought detailed drawings of the n'golo from Angola to Brazil, showing that there is an art similar to capoeira in Angola. Ever since, many studies have supported the oral tradition, identifying engolo as an ancestral art and locating the Cunene region as its birthplace.
Traditional capoeira Angola
In the 19th century, an extremely violent version of capoeira developed in Rio de Janeiro, associated with gangs, organized crime and murder. This street-fighting capoeira carioca used foot kicks, head butts, hand blows, knife fight and stick-fighting, and was very different from the original Angolan art. The Brazilian government completely banned the practice of capoeira throughout the country in 1890.
thumb|Bahian street capoeira in 2014
In the plantations of Salvador capoeira was a form of amusement and activity. In Bahia's capoeira Angola, there was an inherent connection to religion, and almost all players were blacks or mestizos. Among the Africans of Bahia, capoeira Angola was passed down as a kind of secret knowledge, which they did not share with others. Muniz Sodré wrote:
Unlike Rio, capoeira in Bahia did not become a weapon of organized crime, although there were also capoeira neighborhood gangs, and capoeiristas used blades as well. Carybé, the artist of the early capoeira illustrations, wrote that the jogo de dentro ("inside game", with opponents very close to one another) was played with knives in the Capoeira Angola rodas. Old Bahian capoeira was also known as vadiação (vagrancy).
Although illegal, capoeira continued to be played in Bahia. Mestre Bimba, who started learning capoeira in Salvador in 1912, remembers that in those times, "capoeira was practiced by horse-coach drivers, longshoremen, dock workers, and malandros". The police used bullies as agent provocateurs in capoeira gatherings: