Beginners were treated with some regard. Advanced students for instance were not allowed to throw them
to the ground with a sweeping kick. One reason for this was that Bimba did not want to lose students.
Training for more advanced students, however, could be rough. The mestre justified this by explaining: ‘It
is better to get a beating in the academy than in the street’. Rough play approaching real fighting was
frequent after class, when students would be queuing up for the only shower in the academy. While waiting,
they would engage in ruthless games with each other. Meanwhile Bimba was waiting downstairs to close
the academy and would threaten to switch off the light. The expression esquenta banho (‘warming up for
the shower’) for rough play in the roda derives from this practice.^43
One key didactic innovation consisted in the introduction of the ‘sequences’. Two students performed an
established set of attacks and escapes, similar to a kata in Japanese martial arts (see Figure 5.3).^44 Bimba
taught eight different sequences, which not only familiarized beginners with the basic Regional movements,
but also helped them to develop reflexes, interaction, speed, and a sense for the right distance, in short all
the basic skills required to enter in a roda. Bimba insisted that regular practice of the eight sequences was
the best way for beginners to progress, and only allowed students to play in the roda once they had shown
themselves able to perform them.^45 The sequences of the ‘despised waist’ developed the flexibility of the
spine, and allowed Bimba’s students to confront more successfully practitioners from other martial arts.
Bimba carefully monitored the progress of his students, dedicating each of them special attention. Once a
beginner had learned the basic ginga and the sequences -usually this took about six months—he was
allowed to play in the roda.
The ‘specialization course’ consisted in an advanced training for graduate students only. It lasted for
three months, and during the last month training took place in the woods of the nearby Chapada do Rio
Vermelho. The idea was to learn how to survive in a situation of real fighting, and therefore Bimba taught
students how to use or defend themselves against different types of weapons, or resist simultaneous attacks
from various aggressors. For one exercise, called the ambush (emboscada), students had to cross an area
and successfully resist the surprise attacks of other students hidden in the bush. This course was so tough
that many abandoned it before conclusion.^46
Luiz Renato Vieira emphasizes that Bimba’s didactics were permeated by a new, rationalist ‘ethos of
efficiency’, clearly outlined for instance in the leaflet accompanying the LP Curso de Capoeira Regional,
Figure 5.3 Sequences of predetermined movements were one of the major innovations of capoeira Regional (From
M.Bimba, Curso de Capoeira Regional (Salvador: RC Discos, 1989)).
BIMBA AND ‘REGIONAL’ STYLE 133