unarmed arsenal of the capoeirista. Again, there is a distinction between
Angola and Regional, with the former relying more on low kicks, sweeps,
and trips “played” to a slower rhythm.
As an armed fighting art, capoeira has incorporated techniques for the
use of paired short sticks and bladed weapons (particularly straight razors,
knives, and machetes). Even in those cases in which the art has moved from
the streets to the training hall, training in weapons remains in the curricu-
lum in forms such as maculêlê,which entails a rhythmic clash of short
sticks while performing a dancelike action. Stickfighting persists on the
streets of Trinidad during Carnival as kalinda.
Though not as well known as capoeira, other similar martial arts have
been noted throughout the African Americas.
In Martinique a particularly well-documented form exists, which is
called ladjiain the south, damiéin the north, and also ronpoinand kokoyé.
Like capoeira, ladjia is played to the accompaniment of percussion instru-
ments (primarily drums, but also sticks that are clashed together) and
leader-and-response songs, and it is characterized by vigorous acrobatic
movements. The music controls the pace and character of the fight and
therefore is of major importance to the event. Practitioners echo the senti-
ments of capoeiristas in claiming that without song there is no ladjia. With
Africa and African America 9Many African combat systems relied heavily on the rehearsal of combat movements through dances. Here, game
preserve guards in Ndumu, South Africa, practice a martial dance using rungu(knobbed sticks) in conjunction with
the rhythm from percussion instruments, 1980. (Jonathan Blair/Corbis)