Capoeira Mandinga Shanghai

If you couldn’t see this video, please try mirrors on:

• YouTube
• Tudou
• 56.com

Made by Virtual

Did you hear something about “berimbau blues”? No?! Just watch.

Berimbau Blues live in PercPan 2007, Brazil

And what about electric berimbau…

or more cyber-punk things?

via capoeira forums

“Beetle” tells the “true story” of Besouro, a Capoeira master living in 1920s Brazil. The film’s title comes from the name Besouro Manganga, which is a large and dark species of maybug.

According to legends surrounding the historical figure, Besouro was known to vanish whenever he was faced with an uneven fight. This grew into the myth that Besouro had supernatural powers and could dodge bullets and even turn himself into a beetle to scare his opponents.

More grounded details on Besouro suggest he was a rebellious migrant worker who frequently used his Capoeira skills to get into physical conflicts with landowners and police. He died in 1924 at the age of 27 after suffering stab wounds from a knife.

Ku Huan-chiu serves as action director. His credits include stunt doubling for Jet Li in “The Tai-Chi Master” and “Once upon a time in China and America”, as well as recent AD work on CJ7 and “THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR”, and also “Kill Bill”.

“Beetle”, a co-production between Buena Vista and Brazil’s Mixer and Globo Filmes is currently shooting.

For more details on Besouro Manganga visit Capoeira Sul Da Bahia San Francisco.

• “Besouro” official website (Portuguese)
• Official channel on YouTube

via kungfucinema and capoeira.com

The Capoeira was created in Bahia by African slaves as a way to defend themselves from abuse, a skill disguised as a pseudo-dance ritual to fool their masters.

Today there are Capoeira schools all over Brazil and the world, but especially in Bahia, where slaves were first brought to America, as a way of expressing black pride and keeping their history and culture alive.

Lucia Newman reports.

1954, Roda of Capoeira, one of the oldest film about Capoeira, with the participation Traíra, Curió, Nagé, Waldemar, Caiçara, Crispim, Bugalho and Mestre Bimba.

Uploader’s comment:

This for me is one of the most emotional feeling I ever felt! Enjoy it, Capoeira Lovers!

An introduction to the martial art Capoeira, featuring the Capoeira Mandinga Academy in Oakland, CA. An Expression Art College podcast.

The elderly who exercised or gathered at the Temple of Heaven were captivated by two foreign men who one day appeared and performed some kind of street dance. The old people were curious about the movements. Later, they were taught to play strange musical instruments to accompany the dance.

This was a scene that appeared in a program produced by SexyBeijing.tv, an Internet TV station that focuses on Beijing life. Jamel Mims and Leroy Philpotts were the men on the show, doing Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian dance form that incorporates self-defense maneuvers and is now finding a following in Beijing. Read the rest of this entry »

Mestre Suassuna playing the berimbau
Magnificent display of how the berimbau is such a cool musical instrument.

1. Introduction

Originally brought to Brazil in the 1500′s by Bantu slaves from Africa and used to accompany the famous dance called capoeira (a sort of a martial art were two fighters are training while berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque and agogo bells play the rhythm).

The berimbau was also a means of communication used by slaves to prevent being understood by their masters and is considered a sacred instrument.

It is consists of… (Read more)

Moral: Remember rules of Mestre Bimba, especially rule no.3:

1. Quit smoking.
2. Quit drinking, alcohol is bad for your metabolism.
3. Do not show off your progresses to your friends outside the roda. Hold them back and surprise people with them in a fight.
4. Avoid conversation while training. Be quiet while in the academy and, by observing the other fighters, learn more.
5. Always practice the ginga.
6. Practice the fundamental exercises daily.
7. Do not be afraid to get close to your opponent. The closer your keep, the more you will learn.
8. Keep your body relaxed.
9. It is better to get beat up in the roda than on the streets.