Quilombo Community of runaway slaves or maroons.
Rabo de arraia ‘Stingray’s tail’, a capoeira kick.
Rasteira Sweeping counter-attack in capoeira.
Recoreco A scraper, instrument of the capoeira orchestra.
Regional, or capoeira Regional The style developed by M.Bimba (see Chapter 5).
Reza 1 A prayer, 2 In capoeira, a synonym for the canto de entrada or louvação.
Roda The circle, where the capoeira game takes place.
Samba Dance and music of central African origins; many variants of samba developed in the different regions
of Brazil.
Samba de roda Traditional Bahian form of samba, where dancers form a circle (roda) and two of them
execute steps in the middle.
Samba duro Local variant of the combat game batuque.
Sangamento Military reviews through which pre-colonial rulers in Angola ensured their troops were well
prepared and had the necessary fighting morale.
Savate French martial art which uses fist punches and kicks.
Saveiro A type of sailing ship common in Bahia.
Sertão Distant hinterland, and more specifically the semi-arid interior of northeast Brazil.
Soba Local ruler in Angola.
Talon zirondelles Strike with the heel of the foot in the combat game from Réunion, moringue; strongly
resembles the capoeira technique known as rabo de arraia or meia lua de compasso.
Telefone Two-handed punch used in capoeira Regional.
Terreiro The shrine where Afro-Brazilian gods are worshipped; by extension, the group of followers and the
organization of the cult.
Tesoura ‘Scissors’, a capoeira attack.
Toque Rhythmic-melodic pattern in capoeira and other Afro-Brazilian manifestations.
Umbanda Syncretic religion derived from Afro-Brazilian, Catholic and European esoteric traditions.
Umbigada ‘Belly bounce’, a movement that exists in many Central African dances, and also in some Brazilian
dances such as the nineteenth-century batuque and the contemporary tambor de crioula.
Vadiaçáo Vagrancy, in Bahia the term also signifies the capoeira game.
Vadiar 1 Being idle, and by extension, 2 Playing capoeira, 3 Dancing and incorporating the gods in a
candomblé de caboclo (Bahia).
Valentao A tough guy.
Viola 1 A guitar, 2 A violin, 3 The berimbau with the highest sound in the capoeira orchestra.
Vodun Jeje (Ewe-Fon) deity in Afro-Brazilian religion.
Zungu A townhouse inhabited exclusively by slaves and free blacks214 GLOSSARY