Another rare eyewitness of the first half of the nineteenth century, known only as A.P.D.G., provides us
with more information. This author describes how a slave used crouches and kicks to defend himself
against two free men who abused him as he passed by: ‘The negro gave him with the sole of his foot a kick
in the stomach with such force and dexterity that he stretched him lifeless’.^28 The use of foot kicks and open
hand techniques is also confirmed by a painting from Augustus Earle, showing ‘Negro fighting in the
Brazils’, yet without any accompanying music. His work suggests that slave women enjoyed watching
capoeira when practised as a friendly game (see Figure 3.2). Ferdinand Denis, a French traveller who
resided in Brazil on different occasions during the years 1816–1831, clearly indicates that capoeira was a
‘mock combat’.^29 At least some capoeiras carried and used weapons, which they tried to dispose of when
arrested. In this early period, over a quarter of those detained for capoeira were carrying arms. According to
Soares, Africans usually carried simple knives and only occasionally razors, whereas the early Brazilian
capoeiras already preferred the navalha (razor or jackknife).^30 These testimonies imply that at this early
stage, capoeira already encompassed different modalities, with or without music and weapons, from friendly
games to full-fledged fights. It seems therefore inadequate to postulate that capoeira was a fight that evolved
into a game or vice-versa.
Policemen arrested individuals because they were playing capoeira in the street (see Figure 3.3). This
does not tell us anything about its practice in private. Earle’s painting shows that slaves (the expression
‘negros’ always referred to captives) also played in backyards; and the officer climbing over the fence
indicates not only the imminent repression but also the intrusion of the state into what slave owners
considered their private sphere. In the public space, slaves and freedmen played capoeira or used it as an
offensive weapon wherever they used to gather: in the streets, near taverns or on squares. Carioca Square
appears as the first prominent meeting point for capoeiras in the city. The public fountain on the square
attracted crowds of slaves queuing for water. It also offered many escape routes, including into the nearby
hill of Santo Antônio (see Figure 3.4). Soares suggests that the struggle over access to fountains, which resulted
in frequent fights among slaves, could have provoked capoeira gang formation and that control over squares
was ferociously disputed by the emerging maltas.^31
Figure 3.1 The earliest representation of capoeira. ‘Jogar capoëra ou danse de la guerre’, engraving by J.M.Rugendas,
from Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil (Paris: Engelmann & Compagnie, 1835), PL 18 4th Div. By kind permission of
The British Library.
CAPOEIRAGEM IN RIO DE JANEIRO 73