Capoeira Q?.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I'm probably being a bit shallow here, but what makes this a martial art and not a dance style?.

miles teg

what makes it a dance style and not a martial art? You don't see too many young folk dancing capoeira style down the local disco do you?
It can be thought of either way(or both) depending on what the person doing it wants to get out of it. Some do it as a fun way of exercising (i'll label them dancers) and others do it as a martial art with the advantage of less injuries due to minimal physical contact.

Charlie3dan

I'm not an expert but I have asked this question myself when I started learning and some people say it can't be defined or labelled as it takes elements of martial art, dance, sport, acrobatics, music, deception etc.

I'd still class it as a martial art first myself and I suppose the martial arts elements are the strikes, sweeps, feints, groundwork, throws, defenses etc

dunkamania

miles teg wrote: »

You don't see too many young folk dancing capoeira style down the local disco do you?

You dont go to many Brasilian parties, do you?

Judomad

i agree with Mairt, if you consider Capoeira a MA then we should declare here and now that TAI BO and also CARDIO KICKBOXING should be a considered Martial Art, and i seen somebody say a MA with less injuries due to minimal contact, "THERE IS NO CONTACT", breakdancing has a higher risk of injury than Capoeira, come to think of it maybe Irish DFancing does too....:D;):D

arybvtcw0eolkf

Judomad wrote: »

i agree with Mairt, if you consider Capoeira a MA then we should declare here and now that TAI BO and also CARDIO KICKBOXING should be a considered Martial Art, and i seen somebody say a MA with less injuries due to minimal contact, "THERE IS NO CONTACT", breakdancing has a higher risk of injury than Capoeira, come to think of it maybe Irish DFancing does too....:D;):D

I didn't say that was my opinion, although it is.

But I'm open minded enough to listen to argument too.

I think if I was chatting to someone and Martial Arts came up, and they said they train Capoeira I'd have a hard time keeping a straight face.

Dragan

It has it's applications to MA. The big difference is when it is being done with intent,as oppossed to just being trained.

It is worth looking into the history of it, and how it originally started out to see it's application in that way.

David Jones

The big difference is when it is being done with intent,as oppossed to just being trained.

You mean like Tekken?

Does Jack count as a resisting opponent?

Charlie3dan

It uses martial skills in artistic fashion.

It's almost like a martial art that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's not overly concerned with practicality. Some people will say balancing on your head and spinning around has nothing to do with fighting (rightly so) but anyone who I've seen practise capoeira to a fairly high standard usually has a level of dexterity, agility, conditioning and fighting skill that would make them a formidable opponent in any situation.

What are we defining a martial art as? Do you have to have high chances of injuring yourself? Do you have to step into a cage?

Cardio Kickboxing and Tae bo are just excersize. Nothing more. Capoeira is more a martial art than some of the fightsport that are often discussed here. Absolutely nothing wrong with fightsport, I am a fan, I appreciate that they are necessary for testing the skills developed in martial arts, but they aren't strictly martial arts themselves.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Charlie3dan wrote: »

but anyone who I've seen practise capoeira to a fairly high standard usually has a level of dexterity, agility, conditioning and fighting skill that would make them a formidable opponent in any situation.

Rubbish.

I've seen people warm up before kickboxing bouts who could nearly kick the lightbulbs from their sockets, but couldn't bless themselves when they stepped into the ring.

Charlie3dan

Mairt wrote: »

Rubbish.

I've seen people warm up before kickboxing bouts who could nearly kick the lightbulbs from their sockets, but couldn't bless themselves when they stepped into the ring.

That's a fair point, I've seen many of those guys myself....not enough to dismiss my point as rubbish though

arybvtcw0eolkf

Charlie3dan wrote: »

That's a fair point, I've seen many of those guys myself....not enough to dismiss my point as rubbish though

Rubbish

I didn't mean it in any nasty way.

Dragan

David Jones wrote: »

You mean like Tekken?

Does Jack count as a resisting opponent?

Just like Tekken! Although his daughter was better than he was, which must have upset him! lol

Charlie3dan

Mairt wrote: »

Rubbish

I didn't mean it in any nasty way.

Ah i'm not that sensitive dont worry:D

miles teg

Judomad wrote: »

i agree with Mairt, if you consider Capoeira a MA then we should declare here and now that TAI BO and also CARDIO KICKBOXING should be a considered Martial Art, and i seen somebody say a MA with less injuries due to minimal contact, "THERE IS NO CONTACT", breakdancing has a higher risk of injury than Capoeira, come to think of it maybe Irish DFancing does too....:D;):D

cardio kickboxing- if you looked at the name a bit harder, you'd see the martial art here is kick boxing. it just happens to be used in a cardio exercise.
tai bo- same story... martial art used for exercise purposes
capoira does have contact if people want to have it... you should look at it's history and know more about it before spewing crap.

Clive

What is a "Martial Art"? Whose definition should we use?

Martial art, dance, sport, calisthenics, ritual - where are the divisions between these? Everyone will have their own ideas, and ultimately these labels are pretty meaningless.

You can call judo a sport or a martial art or both or neither, it doesn't really matter - if you want to be hot at throwing people with the gi, then do judo.

So to answer the question of what makes it a martial art and not a dance style - someone's opinion. It's the same thing that will make it a dance style not a martial art. The same thing will make it a form of calisthenics, ad nauseum.

fragile

Capoeira is a combination of dance, fight and game.

As 'fight' is only a part of the art form, albeit an essential part, of course it will not hold up against an art form that is entirely focused on 'fight' e.g. Karate.

The 'game' component of Capoeira is often likened to Chess. The 'game' in Capoeira is a conversation between the two players, where they must read the other person (strenghts and weaknesses), predict, react etc.

A lot of the elaborate moves in Capoeira are put in by individuals as a means of self expression, and as long as it doesn't take anything away from the game, it is generally fine.

Capoeira is almost always portrayed as a no-contact, no-injury sport, and this is certainly the only way I have seen it portrayed in Ireland. This is primarily due to the fact that Capoeira was outlawed for a long time in Brazil, and now that it is legal there is a conscious effort by almost all masters to protect the name and reputation of Capoeira and keep it out of the gutter. There are plenty of places in Brazil where full-contact Capoeira is practiced, but they tend to be quite about it.

I have been playing Capoeira in Ireland for a number of years and absolutely love it.

fragile

adonis wrote: »

i think this video proves that its not to be taken particularly seriously as a martial art/fighting style---then again your man could just be a d1ck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g45KtHN37bo

That's a scene from the film Never Back Down. It's a Hollywood movie about MMA, of course its biased and shows MMA beating Capoeira, what exactly does that prove? None of the fighters in that movie, who are apparently MMA pros, have any visible bruises or marks, just perfect hollywood features - hardly a realistic portrayal of fighting :rolleyes:

adonis

oh i didnt know that!
point taken..allow me to delete the post..it was posted on a youtube collection of links in the guardian website

arybvtcw0eolkf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMZfdCkYPig

Racing Flat

I don't know how you'd classify it, but it's flippin' brilliant. Stood transfixed watching it in Rio a while back. Would love to be able to do this.

sage880

What makes Capoeira different from cardio kickboxing is it's history.

People argue over exactly what it was being used for but it was invented by African slaves in Brazil as a way to teach each other to fight when the laws prohibited slaves from fighting or teaching one another to fight.

So even though it's a dance/game the theory was that people would learn the basic concepts of fighting and would be able to apply those concepts if push came to shove. I don't know if that really works but it sure looks cool!