Conclusion: the contemporary meanings of capoeira
Sometimes they call me a Negro
Thinking they will humiliate me
But what they don’t know
Is that it only reminds me
That I come from that race
Which fought for its freedom [...]
Capoeira powerful weapon
A struggle of liberation
Whites and blacks in the roda
Hug each other like brothers
I ask: Comrade, what is mine?
It is my brother [...]
(Capoeira ‘litany’ by M.Luis Renato Vieira,
popular in contemporary rodas).^1Compared to its distant African ancestors and its immediate Brazilian predecessors, the meanings of
contemporary capoeira have expanded, as the game is played in a wider range of social contexts. From street
rodas to fitness centres, from therapy rooms to film stages, from tourist shows to the internet, capoeira
assumes multiple forms. And although historic forms of combat games already contained various
modalities, these have been further driven apart in contemporary styles. Capoeira as fighting, capoeira as
sport, capoeira as show and capoeira as art abides to different rules. Although one can identify some
overarching links between these modalities, each of them entails its own specific meaning. It is thus
doubtful whether ecumenical efforts to ‘unite the art’ will ever be fruitful. The variety of contexts and
modalities, and capoeira’s growing appeal around the world, show that it can accommodate diversity
precisely because it has always done so.
Initially capoeira was closely linked to the history of, and the resistance against slavery. As today’s
capoeiristas rightly emphasize, it became a weapon in the conflict with the police agents of the slave order.
As a slave and freedmen’s pastime it also increased the chances of surviving harsh labour and difficult
living conditions, and enjoying, even though only for an ephemeral moment, the taste of liberty. As
M.Pastinha taught, capoeira was the ‘slave mandinga [witchcraft] in the quest for freedom’. Although the
slave system as such has disappeared, many adepts still subscribe to that aim, seeking through practice their
emancipation from any kind of oppression. At the same time, what appears today as a therapeutic function