Martial Arts USA

Capoeira

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art form that has earned international notoriety for its beauty and the skills required of its practitioners. Because Capoeira requires a combination of dance, acrobatics and fighting skills, those who practice must exceed in physical strength, cultivate endurance, flexibility, and intuition.

The music played and sung by capoeiristas provide the rhythm for the games--while capoeiristas create a dialogue of movements. The appeal of the game and its philosophy is so widespread that it is now practiced around the world. Because Capoeira was practiced in secret for many years, its definitive origins remain elusive. Most researchers agree that Capoeira emerged among African slaves in Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries as a means of fight training. Unlike slave masters in the northern hemisphere, masters in Brazil permitted slaves to sing and dance. Eventually, Brazilian slave masters felt threatened by the slaves' games and the fight aspect of it was camouflaged by the dance and music.

The beauty its players created in the "roda" (or circle) allowed the game to survive. After slavery's abolition in 1888, Capoeira was outlawed until the 1930s because it had become a lethal martial art. Once these laws were repealed, the Brazilian government recognized Capoeira as Brazil's only truly national sport.

Rafael Sakamoto (Metralinha) began his interest in martial arts at an early age. He began training Capoeira twelve years ago under the tutelage of Prof Boca do Mundo. He has participated in many workshops with renown Mestres such as Mestre Paulinho Sabia, Mestre Cibriba, Mestre Rato, Mestre Jelon, Mestre Kim.

He has also traveled throughout Brasil pursuing the perfection of the art, getting to know the history and different styles and learning what it takes to be a great Capoeirista. Today Metralinha teaches Capoeira to children and adults at The Academy in New Jersey and MARTIAL ARTS USA in Brooklyn