The Brazilian martial art, capoeira, is perfect for those who want to both fight and dance.

In our short documentary video, watch capoeiristas of all ages as they dance, and listen to them explain why they are involved in this unique martial art.

Physical education programs in schools nationwide have been replacing games of capture the flag with a new discipline that combines cultural experience and language instruction with a physical workout: the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.
Children take naturally to the playful energy and physical challenges of the roda, or circle, in which capoeira is played. And teachers enjoy the practice, because along with physical challenges, it provides an opportunity to teach discipline and cultural appreciation.
According to Foca Costa, a teacher of capoeira for over 20 years, elementary school kids are the ideal students. Children between the ages of two and ten are the best, Costa said, because they are impressionable and have an astounding capacity to learn Portuguese.
“Several of the public school students we teach in New York have joined our private studio,” Foca said. “They get really into it. Their parents start taking classes, and it’s neat to see it catch on in an entire family.”
And it is spreading. Abada Capoeira, a Brazilian arts center in San Francisco, serves over 20,000 people in the community, a number that is steadily increasing.
“In the last two years, there has been a huge increase in participation from a very diverse audience in California,” Danny Mcatee, assistant to the director of Abada Capoeira, explained. “So many school administrators have contacted us in the last year that we can’t even accommodate all of them.”
But capoeira’s popularity isn’t confined to PE classes. Like yoga, it has become something of a craze around the country. Americans embrace it as a way to keep fit and reduce stress, as well as just for the sheer fun of it. It has become a staple in American gyms like Sports Club LA and 24 Hour Fitness.
The practice reaches back to the 16th century in Brazil, when African slaves created a blend of fighting and dance as an outlet for their aggressions and as a way to subvert the authority of their Portuguese oppressors. By the 1930s, the practice’s fluid movements, which were set to music in order to disguise their martial nature, had become popular throughout the country. The practice then moved off the streets and into a more formal studio setting.
From its colonial origins to today, it has remained more than just a workout. Regular practitioners of capoeira say its mental and spiritual components are just as important as its physical ones.
As participants become more adept, the discipline becomes rooted in a broader lifestyle, leading them to join studios where they spend years mastering the various movements.
“Capoeira is definitely gaining more recognition, not only in Brazil, but around the world,” Costa said. “The art is growing, gaining more respect and being revered in the way that it should be.”