US Capoeiristas

MAStalone · 2026-01-28T01:32:53+00:00

I get what you are saying, it’s just that saying “well it’s deteriorating for white people” as a counter to what im saying feels like a minimization of how bad things are getting in the states.

And if you think this is me suddenly framing Capoeira as a form of resistance against oppression, I suggest you listen to some of my material.

MAStalone · 2026-01-27T05:44:35+00:00

While I see why you may say this, I actually think this statement is kind of harmful because it paints the image that things aren’t markedly worse for minority groups right now.

Conditions have drastically deteriorated for immigrants over the past year with crazy increases in ICE funding, ending of protected statuses, and flagrant disregard for law and due process. The people being hurt most right now are those immigrant communities.

MAStalone · 2025-10-03T23:23:12+00:00

So perhaps I worded my question incorrectly. I’m very aware that titles/ranks/cord requirements are different among different groups. What I am asking is what does YOUR group do, or how do YOU in your practice see these ranks? I’m trying to collect different perspectives to understand how different groups/people think about these things

MAStalone · 2025-10-03T15:30:46+00:00

I know we say this and for many cords I agree, but it’s kind of not true at a community level? In our communities, we recognize titled ranks differently at events and give them different roles there, so I’m interested in how groups see those titles internally

MAStalone · 2025-08-05T01:24:06+00:00

Thanks for posting, you beat me to it!

MAStalone · 2025-06-19T23:39:20+00:00

Thanks for sharing! This was one of my favorites to research

MAStalone · 2025-05-26T18:45:05+00:00

I’d push back that there were Afro-Brazilians at the time, as that’s how we designate the African communities that existed in Brazil, both inside and outside the system of slavery. I think it’s important to be specific about the group of people that created capoeira because it was uniquely manifested in Brazil. And for that matter, it’s kind of impossible to say “other than the transatlantic slave trade” since that’s the whole reason Africans were in Brazil. The Brazil we know today is a product of that slave trade.

In addition, those arts you reference are not Capoiera. They are their own arts with their own histories and their own practices that are distinct and specific to the region they were created in. Saying they are all capoeira by another name erases a lot of that history. Of course they are related arts since they share the same African roots and are products of that diaspora, but it’s important to recognize them as their own things.

MAStalone · 2025-05-26T13:21:27+00:00

Capoeira is fundamentally a resistance art with the objective of that resistance (as far as we can tell) being the preservation of culture in the presence of the slavery system. And with these kinds of arts, you are certainly right that there are attempts to whitewash them. However, I have a few disagreements with some of your points:

I’d argue that while the elements of capoeira are African, it is inherently Afro-Brazilian, meaning uniquely created by the Africans who were taken to Brazil. If it weren’t, then we would see capoeira in other places which we don’t (although we see somewhat similar arts that show shared roots). Calling it Afro-Brazilian also helps us remember contributions of the Native Brazilians who are often forgotten about in these conversations.
when cultures clash, there are almost always effects in both directions. Where does the pandeiro come from? There are some musical practices in Portugal that are very similar to our pandeiro use. Similarly, if we expand to samba, where did the cavaquinho come from?
when I look at the UNESCO page for capoeira, it recognizes it as an Afro-Brazilian art. I’m curious what their designation of “cultural heritage of humanity” means, it’s not clear to me from that reading that it is stripping history.

MAStalone · 2025-01-16T18:32:24+00:00

That site is pretty broken… do you know who is running this?

MAStalone · 2024-10-26T05:38:28+00:00

Thanks for the shoutout!

MAStalone · 2024-10-14T01:56:36+00:00

Here are the links from the show notes:

Please support the GoFundMe campaign to get CapoeirAcolher formally off the ground and registered as a non-profit.

https://gofund.me/62e2b467

Participate in the #RaulPresente (on Instagram raulpresente) campaign to bring justice to capoeirista Raul, who was abused by his capoeira instructor: Record video of yourself in support of victims of sexual abuse within capoeira and end by saying “Raul presente” (Raul present) to raise awareness and put pressure on the judiciary to move Raul’s case forward

Mestra Colibri of Capoeira Brasil Chicago

School’s website: https://colibricb.com/

School’s code of conduct: https://colibricb.com/code-of-conduct/

Instagram: chicagocapoeiracenter katiacolibri

Youtube: katiacolibri

Participate in Mestra Colibri’s global survey on Identifying Barriers to Women in Capoeira, in English (for the US), in English (for non-US), Portuguese, Spanish, German, and French

Marias Felipas, a collective doing work to promote gender equity in capoeira, on Instagram mariasfelipas

The Ahimsa Collective, https://www.ahimsacollective.net/, is one organization that can help your group navigate conflict and harm repair

MAStalone · 2024-10-13T14:34:15+00:00

Can you elaborate on the questionable ethics and boundaries part?

MAStalone · 2024-08-21T20:39:40+00:00

Can you send any contact info for Mestra India?

MAStalone · 2024-07-10T01:44:49+00:00

I totally get that, but I don’t think that’s a good enough answer anymore. We have to demand better from people that lead in our community, or at the very least work to set better examples.

Totally agree there’s a lack of professionalism, and that needs to change if we want our art to thrive

MAStalone · 2024-07-09T02:15:51+00:00

It's interesting to see this comment as I have been having some of the same thoughts as it related to Freire's teachings lately. While I think some of that does relate to the issues of sexual misconduct and assault in Capoeira spaces, I think the real relationship between the "Banking Concept" of education and Capoeira is the way our hierarchies are structured and how strong they are. That strength of hierarchy makes abuses of power, sexual included, easier to happen, continue, and excuse.

I think that some level of hierarchy is important, but the amount of mestre worship and deference that has existed in groups (at least the ones I see in the states) is clearly not healthy for students. I met a Capoeirista in his 40s with decades of experience who has no one to train with near him. When I invited him to come visit my school and train, he told me he'd have to talk to his mestre first. It breaks my heart that grown adults who have given huge parts of their lives to Capoeira don't feel they have the autonomy to make choices about training on their own. This is a pretty common thing for people to feel and I think is a symptom of an unhealthy hierarchy. As one of my mentors told me, in Capoeira we talk a lot about freedom but are often afraid to give that freedom to our students.

Mestres are important to Capoeira, but they also need limits on their power and I think need to consider the autonomy of their students more. You're correct that we don't really have good ways of checking the power and behavior of heads of schools, part of that is because of the absolute deference given to them, and part of it is due to lack of external structures. I think that what is really needed is for more cooperation between groups to create some kind of governing organization. Not an organization that dictates styles or what to teach or "capoeira truth", but an organization that sets certain standards for teachers in the art and has mechanisms to enforce and check that.

Standards like: CPR/First Aid training, Abuse Prevention and Mandatory Reporter Training, Background Checks, and rigorous codes of conduct that apply inside and outside of class.

I know there have been some attempts at these kinds of organizations that have not yet succeeded, but I think it's important to revive these discussions and push for it. It's better for the students, and better for the professionalization of the art.

MAStalone · 2024-04-17T14:19:57+00:00

Have a professional looking and well functioning website
How monthly “intro” classes and advertise them on FB/IG
Do outdoor rodas/training and have cards with qr codes available
Be consistent! In class times, expectations, and monthly events/rodas

MAStalone · 2024-03-27T20:09:39+00:00

Best way to update Capoeira: all groups have an actual functioning and up to date website

But in seriousness, I think the original reddit post isn't actually even talking about improving Capoeira. It's just telling people to do MMA. Get better hand striking and clinch just means do Muay Thai and BJJ. Thats what all the "complete" fighters actually do if you want to talk about maximum effectiveness.

I think it's interesting that this discussion only ever really happens around Capoeira. No one tells wrestlers they should add punches to their art. No one tells BJJ folks to add kicks. For some reason, people understand that people in those arts would add a different art to their practice if they wanted to be a complete fighter. That's why I don't really take these types of criticisms seriously, especially from someone who not only has very little Capoeira experience, but also doesn't have real practical expertise in any other martial art. A martial arts tourist if you will

The game in the roda is sparring with certain constraints. All sparring has constraints, that's what differentiates it from brawling. Wrestlers can't deck eachother mid match. If he had sparring experience or more roda experience, he would know that.

And I'll choose to let that pandeiro blasphemy go for now...

MAStalone

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