The history of capoeira goes back to the time of discovery and slavery.As in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAPOEIRA The history of capoeira goes back to the time of discovery and slavery.As in the United States of America, there was also slavery in Brazil. About the 16th and 17th century Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese explorers. An estimated 2 to 4 million slaves were imported. The slaves, Africans (mainly coming from Angola, Congo and Mozambique), were put to work on plantations. These slaves were distributed in three main ports: Salvador do Bahia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro.In Recife a group of slaves (40) rebelled against their master. They killed there white employees and burned down the plantation house. The slaves were now free and decided to search for place where they could hide from the slave hunters. So the slaves headed for the mountains. It was a difficult journey that took several weeks to complete. Had it not been for the help they received from the Indians, this journey would be impossible to accomplish. Finally they reached a place abundance by palm trees, which they taught was suitable for a save haven. They named it Palmares.Palmaresgue Over the course of years, scattered settlements (Quilombos) was established in the mountains. Palmares was the largest (20,000 inh). The inhabitants were Africans of different tribes, Indians and even some white people. A new community was born with a very rich cultural mix. The result of this rich cultural fusion: "Capoeira". The Bantu groups are believed to be the foundation of the birth of the capoeira. They brought with them a culture away of life and the berimbau (a musical instrument which now symbolizes the Capoeira). Palmares was growing' rapidly as more escapes occurred and more refugees arrived in this little mixed nation. The Portuguese started to get worried. The people of Palmares would come down from the mountains to trade products, fruit and animal skins. They would often raid plantation houses to free more slaves.Palmares began to affect the economical life of the plantations because of the diminishing labor force. To make things even worse for the Portuguese, Holland invaded Brazil in 1630. The slaves took advantage of this situation, and with the assistance of Palmares it became easier to escape while the Portuguese army had to fight two enemies. The Dutch won the war, but the Africans never stopped fighting. In 1644 the Dutch organized an expedition to go to Palmares, but nothing was accomplished. In the following years many expeditions followed. Teams of very experienced and well-armed soldiers were sending to Palmares. But the Africans developed a system of fighting called "jungle war" or "ambush". Capoeira was the key element in this system. It also became their symbol of freedom, their unique weapon. When finally an expedition was successful, the slaves who returned to the plantations taught Capoeira to the others there. And Sunday was their one day of rest, the day of the Lord. That was the time when they practiced Capoeira. But the practice soon altered. Music, singing, dance and rituals where added to Capoeira, hiding the fact that the slaves were practicing a "deadly" martial art. After the Abolition On May 13, 1888 Slavery was abolished in Brazil and some ex-slaves returned to their home in Africa, but the majority stayed in Brazil. After the abolition there was no employment any more for the ex-slaves so most slaves headed to the cities. Unfortunately for them there was no employment in the cities either so many ex-slaves organized into criminal gangs. Others, more fortunate, because of their knowledge of capoeira were hired by politicians as bodyguards. Unfortunately all were seen by the government as a plague.The main activities of these capoeiristas (=one who practices Capoeira) was to disrupt the political life of the country. The government felt threatened and there was a special police force created to control the situation. This effort was ineffective and a law was made stating that any person who was a known capoeirista would be expatriated. In that time it was common for a capoeirista to have two or three nicknames. The police knew all the capoeiristas by their nickname but not by their real name so it was very hard for them to arrest the capoeiristas. (This tradition is continued today. When a capoeirista is "baptized" into the practice of Capoeira they are given a nickname or Apelido.) A few years after the law a man named Juca was arrested and expatriated. He was the son of a well known man who was favored by many politicians. After this event, change was expected in the behavior of the capoeiristas. But the change was in their favor. The opposition created a black militia to disrupt the president. This militia was formed exclusively by capoeiristas and they spread fear in the capital. The police force was ineffective against the capoeiristas and just as the situation became desperate, Brazil went to war with Paraguay. The black militia was sent to the front and suddenly the outlaws became national heroes.The only place was Capoeira didn't evolve to the creation of a rude fighting style, was Bahia. Capoeira developed itself as a ritual-dance-fight-game and the Berimbau became the indispensable instrument that was used to command the "rodas" (sessions of the capoeira game). In Rio de Janeiro and Recife "the art of capoeira" slowly died.