Capoeira Basics
Let me tell you that I am just a beginner in the art of Capoeira; I've been
studying for half a year so far and maybe the whole section is utter crap
in the eyes of an experienced Capoeirista. This page is designed for newbies
who want a brief insight, it's nowhere intended to be some sort of reference
material. Nevertheless I would appreciate any feedback on this particular
section; come on, let me know!
General Rules:
- In Capoeira you don't try to beat the shit out of your opponent. The other
one is not your enemy, he is your friend, and both of you try to keep the
game going. Therefore no bleeding noses please.
- No active blocking in Capoeira; instead try to be evasive. When the pace
of the game increases, get some distance between yourself and your fellow
(at least in Regional).
- Don't be predictable. That may sound hackneyed, but since Malandragem
(dirty tricks) is accepted and widely welcomed among Capoeiristas, you can
easily get tricked into some serious trouble. Be creative and let the music
take controhoholl.
Basics
Ginga
Handstand
Queda
de Rins
Au
Au Malandro
Cocorinha
Queda de
Tres
Queda
de Quatro
Negativa
(Position)
Rolê
Chapa
de Costas
Negativa
(Takedown)
Meia
Lua de Frente
Macaco
S-Dobrado
Bênção
Ponteira
Meia
Lua de Compasso
Queixada
Armada
Martelo
Martelo
Rotado
Martelo
Rotado (jumping)
Escorão
(Chapa)
Rasteira
Cabeçada
Escorpiao
Vingativa
Tesoura
Tesoura
Angola
Cruz
Style moves
Backflip
Headspin
Au de
Costa
Macaco-Queda
de Rins
Handstand
whirling
Relogio
Folha Seca
Ginga: the most basic movement of Capoeira. Instead
of taking a fixed stance, you have to keep moving all the time; all the other
moves derrive from this dance-like pattern. Ginga becomes soon second nature
and provides great potential for unpredictable 3D movement and fake attacks.
I have no idea how to explain the Ginga properly; probably I'll release a
tiny QuickTime movie later on.

handstand: practice practice practice! It's very stylish and part
of many defensive/offensive movements. If you never ever tried it, start with
swinging up at a wall. Don't look at your hands, keep your eyes on the opposite
wall instead. Once you get the feeling for it, try a handstand without support.
If you are about to topple over, lift one hand and find your balance again.
Occasionally that won't work; then try to roll over or -even better- lift
one palm, use your other hand as a pivot and gently step down in the opposite
direction.(example: lift your left hand, turn clockwise for 180 degrees, put
it down again, lower one leg, touch the ground, lower the other leg, get up
and always keep smiling:). No problem you say? Then try to...
- get up into handstand from a squatting position.
- get up into handstand from a cartwheel.
- get up into handstand from a headstand.
- get up into handstand from a macaco.
- get up into handstand with a 180 deg turn.
- combine the above.
- walk on your hands. Forwards (where the heels are) is easier than backwards.
- clap your feet to the rhythm of the Berimbau.
- Straddle your legs both back and forth and left and right.
- Straddle your legs and twist your hips for 90 degrees.
- go into handstand and squat with your legs in the air.
- stretch your legs into an angle with your body (big inverted "L").
- stand on one hand.
- spin on one hand (e.g. starting from a one-handed Compassa).
- combine the above.
- get down into a headstand.
- get down into a Queda de Rins.
- get down with a handspring.

Queda de Rins: "stand on the kidneys". Begin as if you wanted to go
into a headstand; crouch. Turn both your knees that they face your right elbow.
Shift your weight over your left hand, then lower your head. Place the area
above your left hip on your left elbow and let the left side of your head
touch the ground. Slowly raise your legs and put your right knee at your right
elbow to a rest. Both legs are now drawn up.
The picture on the right shows an
example of how the Queda de Rins can be put to good use in Capoeira. In the
image we start from a Queda de Tres but you can enter the QDR from Negativa,
jumping in etc. as well. Drop down to one side but keep your body up by touching
the ground with one hand and sticking the elbow into the flank of your body.
Feels awkward at first because you have to twist your arm somewhat, better
get used to that. Now lower your body further, stretch your free hand over
your head and put it down as well. Then let your head touch the ground on
its side; put it on the imaginary line between your two hands (Normally you
need not put everything in a straight line but for this trick it makes getting
up much easier). Your weight rests mainly over your support arm (the one that
rams into your side) at this point. Time to get up again: Lift one leg (diagram:
right leg) and move it in a straight arc over your torso. The other legs follows
as well but concentrate on the first one for now. Get this first leg over
your head and try to let its foot touch the ground on the extended line that
goes through your hands. Stretch out your aching arm (image:left one) again,
thus pushing yourself up (6th frame). This takes some muscular effort- later
on when you get down the balance and perform the move with schwing it gets
much easier. When your head's off the floor, push with both hands and get
straight up.

Au: the cartwheel. Immensely important in Capoeira.
Use it for a quick retreat or lure your partner into a trap.
- Common Au: I assume everyone knows how to do this. In Capoeira remember
to keep eye contact with your partner; don't ever look at your hands. At
first, don't stay too long on both of your hands; try to have only one hand
at a time on the ground. Later on you can try to delay the movement or even
to freeze in handstand position. Always be prepared to get knocked down
by a Cabecada or Bênção.
- Small Au: Not so flashy but much more safe. Put your hands further apart,
move your head closer to the ground, keep your knees bent and work strongly
with your hips to shift your body's center of gravity over your head.
- Au with spin: Start an Au to your left side until you reach handstand
position. There take off your left hand and spin on your right hand in clockwise
direction. After turning ~270 degrees, go down as shown in the diagramm.
This is a cute style move that leaves you open for a brief moment, so try
to do it quickly (It shouldn't take more time than an ordinary cartwheel).
- Au into Queda de Rins roll: Do an Au. When you pass through the handstand
position, drop down into a Queda de Rins and roll over. You will end up
in negativa position. If you like to watch the difficult part of the exercise,
take a look at my private homepage.
In the upper right-hand corner you can see a 'Macaco into Queda de Rins
roll' animation.

Au Malandro: I really love this one. If you
attempt a cartwheel and your roguish partner goes for the Cabecada (headbutt
into your stomach), -BAFF- he'll get punished by your lightning-fast legs.
To pull off, grab the ground with one hand and jump. Now you twist your chest
slightly upwards and do the jacknife movement with the upper leg. At the begin
it's easier to keep the other leg bent; later on, you can try to keep it stretched.
Now simply go down forwards or sidewards. Experiment with hitting above your
head and to your front, try out various angles between your legs (striking
with two legs, doing the splits etc). If all that poses no problem to you,
continue the movement to a handstand, do an Au Malandro in the opposite direction
and go down there. Voila,a Capoeira cartwheel.
This is a really tricky movement. For training
purposes I suggest you get yourself a partner who can give you support. Face
your friend ; both of you should grab each others arm (see pic: right arm
to right arm). Now start as if you tried an Au (cartwheel). Once you are 'airborne',
twist your body a little bit upwards.. fold your first leg towards your face
and don't worry about the other one at first. If you keep a firm grip on your
partner's forearm (and vice versa), you can train this move with great efficiency.
I strongly recommend (as for all other movements too) practising the move
in both directions.

Cocorinha: A way of avoiding circular kicks
at a close distance. You duck below the kick and lift the arm on the side
the kick comes from, thus protecting your head (Lift it higher than the man
on the right!). The other hand touches the ground and gives you balance. Make
sure your entire soles have contact with the floor; else you could easily
be pushed over. And keep eye-contact.

Queda de Tres: While the Cocorinha
is employed mainly in Regional, Angoleiros favor the Queda de Tres instead.
You crouch on your toes and put one hand diagonally behind for better balance.
Unlike the Cocorinha, the Queda de Tres requires you to turn your body away
from the partner a little bit (the scribble on the right shows the move viewed
from the front). The remaining hand protects the head from kicks that come
from the side which are more likely to occur in Capoeira Angola than in Capoeira
Regional. You can shift your weight over your supporting hand and lean away
from the other Jogador if he comes too close; or you can go into Queda de
Rins, Tesoura Angola, Negativa, Rolê to to keep the game flow smooth.

Queda de Quatro: The Queda de Quatro
is a way of dodging kicks and typical for Capoeira Angola. Let's assume your
partner launches a Rabo de Arraia at you and you decide to evade with a Queda
de Tres (described above). You go along with the kick when your friend suddenly
changes legs and performs the Rabo de Arraia in the opposite direction, aiming
directly at your face. To perform the Qdea de Quatro you glide gracefully
backwards onto your hands (coming from the Queda de Tres) and walk away on
your hands until your legs are stretched. From there on you can do the Rolê,
cross your stretched legs and attack with a Rabo de Arraia, move forward again
and carefully get up etc. Always remember that you may never touch the floor
with your bottom.

Negativa (Stance): Very
important because of the vast range of follow ups; you can rolê away, go into
Au/Head/ Handstand, do a Macaco, attack with an S-Dobrado, Martelo or Meia
Lua de Compasso, change orientation, retreat, close in,... Basically it's
a way of avoiding kicks (see Cocorinha) but can be done for its own sake as
well. You can drop into the Negativa from the Ginga, from an Au, a Queda de
Rins, whatever, just keep it fluid. You have one leg bent and your weight
should be balanced on its football. The other leg is stretched (or only little
bent), with the toes pointing to the side. That's for reasons of safety, because
if someone kicks at or falls onto your knee with your foot pointing upwards
your leg could get broken in a very nasty way.. Gain better balance by touching
the ground with the one hand on the side of your stretched leg. The other
leg can protect the head if necessary.
This kind of the Negativa is fundamental to Capoeira play in general. However,
there's a variant that is used exclusively in Capoeira Angola...
- The Negativa Angola shows all trademarks of a classic Angola: you are
bent really deep down, both feet and both hands touch the ground but everything
else floats closely above. Coming from the Ginga you step parallel and move
down, similar to the Cocorinha (feet are a bit further apart). Now 'flow'
to one side, in the direction the incoming kick goes. Shortly before your
head touches the floor you have stop the movement and remain in this position.
Your one hand gives support in front of your chest, the other hand behind
your back. Looks like a pushup where you have your body twisted to one side.
The leg on the upper side is stretched, the other leg is bent. Try to touch
the floor only with both of your hands and your feet, but do it as deep
as possible. To come back into Ginga, do everthing in the opposite direction.
- When you're down in the Negativa Angola and your partner is standing rather
close to you, exchange the position of your feet. This is a great setup
for a Rabo de Arraia (Meia Lua de Compasso with both hands on the ground).
Scroll down to the rolê or the Meia Lua de Compasso to see how the movement
continues after the the third image.
- The lower leg of your bent leg travels forward so your leg gets stretched.
From here on you have all the rolê move variations at your disposal, look
up the item below for reference.
- Negativa Angola into Headstand-Au. If you are down in the Negativa, pull
yourself a little forward with your hands. Put your head in upright position
down on the floor (-strain on neck). Now try to push/pull yourself over
into headstand and get down on the other side; it should resemble a very
deep Au with the head on the ground. Try to do it very slowly in training
so you learn to control it better.

Rolê: This 'rolling' motion is -together with
the Ginga and the Au- the basic method of moving around in the Roda. The diagramm
to the right shows the Rolê from the Negativa into the Ginga. Start from the
Negativa. Lean to the side you're going to rolê to (image: left, always the
side with the stretched leg) and shift your weight a little forwards. Push
yourself up by stretching your bent leg while rotating along the axis of your
left leg until your chest faces the ground. Left hand gives support. Now put
your other hand on the floor and swing your right leg around; look through
between your legs to keep your partner within your field of vision. Finally
take off your left leg and swing it around as well; rotate for 180 degrees
and put it down behind. Better keep your upper body low until you finished
the rolê, else you could eat an Armada. Keep your eyes fixed at your partner
for the entire movement; when your body is facing away, let your head hang
down.
P.S. You need not rolê into the Ginga stance. It's perfectly right to rolê
closer to the ground into Negativa position again.
Here we have the Rolê combined with the Martelo.
Easy and useful. Just stand up from the Negativa but keep your hand on the
ground. This creates tension around the hips on the side of your rear leg.
If you now take off your rear leg, it should soar through the air; hit with
the instep and put it down after rotating 180 degrees. Continue the Rolê movement
as described above.
To put it in other words: do the Rolê but lift your rear leg a little higher
and keep it stretched when turning.
If you do the same movement with jumping off, it's called S-Dobrado.
This is basically an ordinary Rolê but with a Meia
Lua de Compasso tossed in. Easier to do if you are further away, so you can
role towards your partner instead of escaping him. Just think of a Rolê where
you strike with the heel of the leg that was stretched in the Negativa. Here's
the description for the proper execution of a Meia
Lua de Compasso.

Chapa de Costas: Move of Capoeira Angola.
Do it of the Role, Queda de Rins, from the Rabo de Arraia etc. Aim for the groin
or head. If the other one is far off, don't simply strech your leg but work
with your arms and standing leg as well to achieve a long range.

Negativa (Takedown): By employing the Negativa
you can elude your partner's kick as well as let him kiss the ground. Simply
bend one knee and dive away in the direction the kick goes. Make sure you
upper body half is really deep down; your bent knee should be the highest
part of your body. Slide with your other leg behind your opponent's pivot
leg and hook in there. When the kick has passed by, shift your weight over
your hands and jump into straddle position; the hands remain on the floor.
If you did it right, you pulled away your partner's foot and sent him down.

Meia Lua de Frente: Coming from the Ginga
you lift your rear/relieved leg and move it in a half circle motion. To maintain
balance move your arms in the opposite direction, so you don't lose your orientation.
Stretch out your pelvis to achieve a better kicking height. Once you can't
move your leg any further without turning away from your partner, bend the
kicking leg and pull it back into the position of the Ginga (parallel or step
position). During the Meia Lua de Frente, your arms should always counteract
(to) your leg movement.

Macaco: Sit down with your entire soles touching
the ground. Put your right hand on the ground behind you. Now stretch out
your left hand in front of you; focus it throughout the whole sequence. Say
"one!" - wave your left hand over your head, follow it with your eyes, stretch
out your knees, then go back into inital position. Say "two!" - repeat step
one but do it with more power; stretch into bridge position as in scribble
no.2; don't jump off yet. When you say "three!" you have to explode: pull
your left hand fiercly over your head, throw you head back and jump off with
both legs. If everything goes straight you will land in a handstand, which
leaves you open to 1000 possible movements described above; but at first you
should simply step down. For this exercise you need the stretching of your
shoulders and your spine. In practice you can be supported by two people who
grab you under your thighs and at your back; they should be able to lift you
gently over without any danger to your body.

S-Dobrado: S-Dobrado is a generic term;
this technique allows dozens of variations. To perform this kick from the
Ginga simply grab the ground with your left hand; dive down on your left leg
and pull the other one in a circular motion around in front of you (Alternatively
to the Escopado you can also opt for a Rasteira now). Then shift your weight
over your right hand and drag up your right hip in one continuous, fluid motion
(scribble no.3). At this point you may decide either to continue the Escopado
or to jump a Macaco (Be creative: I like doing an Escopado-into-Macaco-into-headstand).
For the Escopado keep your hips wide open, don't ever bend your hips! Pull
your right hip up, then let it gently float to the right and put your right
foot finally down in front of you. The kick itself is executed with the left
leg which is dragged behind the rest rest of your body. Remember to hit with
the instep. If done right, the striking leg will fly by and you can turn further
to face your partner again. The whole sequence consists of one single fluid
motion; until the very end, your right leg never touches the ground. Keep
the movement round, avoid any edges.

Bênção: A straight kick that still requires
some skill. Pull up one knee and hunch your torso as if you tried to grab
your partner. Then slowly stretch your lifted knee and drag your virtual opponent
behind. Again, you have to work very heavy with your hips. Hit with the sole.
Don't try to snap; don't kick soccer-like. The leg does not come directly
from the ground, that would make your intention visible and leaves you prone
to counter attacks. When you lift it first, your partner doesn't know whether
a Bênção, a Martelo or some other mean kick will follow. And once again: You
should be able to push your partner away not get him bruised; kick him rather
slowly but firmly.

Ponteira: Looks similar to the Bênção but
it's quite a different move. Whereas the Bencao is very common in both Regional
and Angola, the Ponteira rather suits to Regional style because it's a lot
faster and more unpredictable. Imagine you are wearing sandals and want to
get rid of them; you then throw your foot fiercly forwards in a snapping motion
to shoot them away as far as possible (pic 3). With the Bencao, you first
lift your knee very high then push your leg towards the opponent (foot trajectory
is parallel to the ground). The Ponteira flies in a round arc from the floor
to your partner's stomach/chest, however you do not keep your leg stretched
throughout the entire kicking motion. Lift your knee while stretching out
the kicking leg so it gets extended to the maximum at the point of impact.
Hit with the foot ball, don't break your toes with it. The Ponteira doesn't
require muscular effort, it is easiest to execute with much swing and it hits
in an instant. Don't overuse it unless you want to make the Jogo more competitive
and aggressive. Try to follow up the Ponteira with a Martelo or a spinned
Chapa without putting your kicking leg down; works very well if you want to
surprise your opponent and catch him off-guard.

Meia Lua de Compasso (Rabo de Arraia):
Staple move. When you step behind during the Ginga, keep your feet where they
are and shift your weight over your front leg (by stretching your rear leg).
Bend your upper body inwards and down. Reach down with your hands until your
hips can't get twisted any further; drop your head so you can keep constant
eye-contact with your partner. By now great energy should be created by the
tension you built up. Unleash this power by taking off your rear leg; it should
fly around in a quick half-circle without any muscular effort. Always hit
with the heel! Once your kicking leg is aligned parallel with your upper body,
finish the motion by rotating your entire torso until you face your partner
again. Watch out that you don't get hit because of raising your head too early
- Meia Lua de Compassos are often answered with further Meia Luas.
This is one of the most common yet difficult moves, but with constant training
you will be able to deliver fierce single-handed Meia Lua de Compassos within
fractions of a second. 

Queixada: This kick (pronounced "kishada")
is a great setup for kick combinations; common follow-ups are Queixada, Armada
or jumped Martelos. The movement can be slightly awkward when you do it only
with force, so try to relax and get in the flow..
Proceed as shown in the diagramm on the right. Coming from the Ginga, you
turn your body slightly inwards to prepare some centrifugal force for the
kick. Don't let your arms hang down; keep them ready for loose protection
of your head and use them to enhance the swing. Now throw your upper body
around in the opposite direction while crossing with your rear leg behind
your front leg. Take off your (old) front leg; It should fly in an arc without
any muscular effort if you produced enough rotational power with your upper
body. Your final position now mirrors the stance you started with, so you
can easily do another Queixada in the other direction.

Armada: The standard standing spin kick in
Capoeira. It is a crossing between the Mei Lua de Compasso (rotation) and
the Queixada (hitting area, posture). As usual, start from the Ginga. Turn
inwards on your heels (or foot balls); rotate for 270 degrees on your rear
leg and for 180 degrees on your front leg. Now quickly throw your upper body
around until you see your partner again. You will lose eye contact with him
for this moment, so get this part over quickly. Once you can't twist your
torso any further, release the tension by linting your rear leg; it should
get dragged along very fast as your body is untwisting. This kick is performed
with the hitting leg's foot pointing straight up (The same applies to the
Meia Lua de Frente and the Queixada). Put your foot at rest in the same position
you started with. You can now follow up with further Armadas, Queixadas in
the opposite direction, Meia Lua de Compassos etc.

Martelo: Common kick in Capoeira Regional.
It requires good stretching of the legs and a fair sense of balance. Looks
very simple yet it needs constant training.
Lift your knee as it is seen in the Bênção movement. Turn for about 90-180
degrees on your foot ball; keep your kicking leg's knee at roughly the same
position. Remember to turn your hips as well. Do you feel now why you need
stretching of the legs? Lean back a little to keep balance. If done right,
your hips should be aligned parallel with your kicking leg. Your thigh should
point straightly at your target (shoulder/head area). Contrary to the other
kicks mentioned above, you now have to snap quickly with your lower leg. Hit
with the instep. To prevent spinning away from your opponent move your arms
in the opposite direction - just compare diagramm 2 to 3 (this protects head
area as well). Finished? Put your leg down again.
The Martelo is very Regional, very competitive, quick, brute and unaesthetic.
However it's a good way of interrupting an opponent who is stuck in endless
spinning kicks, just wait for a kick to pass by and quickly jump in with a
Martelo. Or do it from the side your partner is going to step with the Ginga
to. He'd better rolê away...

Martelo Rotado: Compare it to the Rolê+Martelo
move described somewhere above. Basically you do the Martelo but pull your
leg violently through and slam it into the ground right behind you. This kick
has to be done fast and with force; it's not very good to start with when
both you and your partner just ginga but if you want to have the last word
in a frenzy exchange of kicks throw the move as fast as you can. Still don't
overuse it, stick rather to Armadas and Meia Luas for setting up a game of
call and response.
First, lift up your knee. Then turn on your foot ball while stretching out
your kicking leg, gain momentum by pulling with your hips. Wave your arms
around the other way (compare pic 3 to pic 4). Study the Martelo explanation
above. Instead of putting the leg down you pull it powerfully down to the
ground behind you, accelarating all the way. Keep your head at facing your
partner until the kicking leg rests on the floor. Now throw your upper body
around (untwisting your torso, pic 7) and go back into the Ginga. Although
this expanation makes the move sound rather stiff it's a very smooth and fluid
motion with no stop in between. Try to get it technically right, then work
on speed.

Martelo Rotado (jumping):Now the common
jump kick of Capoeira, the Martelo Rotado. Not too difficult if you practiced
the other kicks before. Stick to the first line of pictures first. You start
as if you did an Armada- do everything as described there; twist your upper
body so that you get your partner back into view and to generate lots of tension.
Unleash the tension by taking off your first leg (the kicking one if you did
an Armada). However, keep it bent now. Lean back a little with your torso
and jump off with your support leg. Open your hips on the side of your second
leg, don't bend them there. As you spin around, the second leg gets dragged
behind. Since it is the kicking leg, try to execute the strike in the same
way as with the standing Martelo Rotado. Keep it bent at first, then pull
it powerfully around (where it gets stretched and hits like a whip). Hit with
the instep- watch the descriptions of the normal Martelo. Don't kick with
your foot pointing up (like Armada, Meia Lua de Frente etc.). Now while the
second leg flies around you gently land on your first leg. Pull down your
second leg and put it to rest behind. Rotate (both feet now grounded) till
you face your partner again.
Note: 1. In the picture the kick is executed in the opposite direction
compared to the scribble of the standing Martelo Rotado. Don't let that confuse
you. 2. Because of the arrangement of frames one could believe that you have
to jump far to the front.. Don't travel too far, it's better to stay stationary
(still depends on situation).
The second line shows a one-legged MR. This one is quite hard: You have to
jump really high and delay the rotation as long as possible. You lean back
even a little more. Then when you reach the apex/peak, you have to pull off
the kick so violently that you complete the rotation still in the air. Now
you land on your kicking leg first which by now has overtaken your first one.

Escorão/Chapa: The Escorão is a kick that
is somehow similar to the Bênção and the Martelo; you have to hit with the
sole but your body takes a sideways/lateral(?lack of vocabulary!) stance.
At the Escorão (from the front), you put for instance your right foot from
behind into parallel stance. Then you turn your body a little bit to the right,
drag your left leg along, lift it up a little bit and push it in the direction
of your partner's chest (watch picture). You can do it from behind as well,
crossing your legs as with the Queixada and then throw the kick. Or do a Esporão,
aka spinned Chapa, where you have to spin -similar to the armada- and then
deliver the blow out of the rotation in a straight line. However I'm not sure
what the arms do during the motion; if someone knows exact details, feel free
to email me (or perhaps I'll ask my teacher tomorrow).

Rasteira: Pronounce Hashtera, 'a' like
in 'car'. The most common way of taking someone down. It's applied against
all kinds of incoming kicks, it's simple to execute but hard to time. Note:
don't sweep your partner's feet away in an arc-like movement, that would only
hurt both of you. The move is strictly a 'go in-pull out' kind of motion.
Do it as followed: If there's, for example, a circular kick coming your way
from the left, bend down to the right. Always move in the same direction as
the kick goes. Keep your weight over your right foot while trying to get your
left foot behind the attacker's supporting leg. Your right knee should point
straightly away from your target (requires good stretching). Gain balance
by putting down your right hand somewhere on the imaginary line you're going
to pull along. Keep your left leg stretched and hook in behind your partner's
supporting leg (the lower you hook in the better the leverage). Keep your
left arm above your head. If you can feel your opponent's heel on your left
foot, it's time for the pull. The power doesn't come mainly from your leg;
except for the hooked foot your leg should be totally relaxed. Stretch your
left arm as far as possible and move it over your head until your hand touches
the ground. Since you are stretched from your left hand down to your left
foot, your left leg is automatically dragged along. Your partner should start
to fall right now, and we complete the movement by swinging our left foot
around and stepping back with the right leg.
The Rasteira is very timing-dependent. Do the pull when your partner is throwing
his leg up in the air, that's when there's little weight over his supporting
leg. When his kick has already passed the vertex (?), you have to pull far
more harder.

Cabeçada: The Capoeira Headbutt.
Regional variant: Keep your back straight. Aim at the solarplexus region of
your partner, bend your knees and lean over. Gain momentum by stretching your
rear leg and strike in a straight line. Keep your hands crossed loosely in
front of your face; They should provide protection from surprising knee-strikes
or accidental spastic movements of your partner.
Angola variant: Keep everything low. Get close to the ground, take aim and
thrust yourself at your partner's stomach. You end up with only your hands
and feet touching the ground but everything else hanging down. Arms remain
stretched, legs spread a little bit.
The Cabeçada is applied mainly against Aus, handstands and headstands but
also against some kicks (Meia Lua de Compasso, Rabo de Arraia). Advanced players
also aim at the opponent's head (chin and nose). Of course it's perfectly
feasible to knock someone out of a handstand with a Bencao; but since a handstand
is thought as a provocation, kicking means to deny the challenge and take
the safe/cheap route.

Escorpiao: Mind
you this is not a very common attack and it should only be used if you are
very certain that it will surprise/ hit/leave you unharmed. Do an Entrada,
step slightly forward. Duck as if you simply want to evade a move, then put
both your hands in front of you. Now jump up into handstand but but keep your
legs drawn up, ready to explode. Twist your hips towards the other player.
Extend your legs suddenly into his direction. Now don't try this step by step
but instead in a continuous motion without a break, like a spring you drop
down, get small and then shoot out with force -doiiing! The problem with the
move is that you break the basic handstand rule of Capoeira of never showing
your back to your opponent, but if it is done in the proper situation everything's
fine. Again, you should keep eye-contact with your partner throughout the
movement. This is much easier if you start with your partner not directly
to your front but more to the left or right, therefore the Entrada in the
beginning (Does this make sense to you?). At the end you should get down as
fast as possible because you are in a very vulnerable position; don't simply
drop down but draw you legs up again actively and with force while going down
(see 5th picture).

Vingativa: Fancy movement; If you get it through,
it will provides you with great satisfaction. However, you must be really
quick to get the timing right. Once the other one moves in and attempts to
land a, say Armada, you have to place your right foot right beside your friend's
right one. Stand firmly on your right leg, get behind your opponent (see scribble
No.1) with the other one. Meanwhile use your elbow to prevent him from escaping
to the front. Now shift your body weight from your right leg to your left
one and watch your partner slowly falling backwards. The throw itself works
very well when applied at the proper moment.

Tesoura: translates as 'Scissors'. The idea
is to trap the other player between your legs and lever him over. Step with
your left foot beside your partner's right foot and cross your other leg behind;
this resembles the inital Vingativa position except that your legs get crossed
and you plant your feet just the other way round. Your upper body is facing
rather downwards, but your head keeps looking at the opponent. The right hand
stays firmly on the ground, the left hand can be also put down if you like
to. Get your crotch(?) really close to your partner's leg, because the throw
works better when performed with the thighs rather than with the lower legs.
Once you are properly aligned, throw your left arm fiercely around. This should
make your upper body and finally your hips and legs rotate to your left (counter-clockwise).
Now your partner should start to fall over behind. Rotate further on until
your left hand touches the ground; lift off your right hand and do the rolê
over your partner's stomach. If he struggling to get free you may nail him
with your left knee in his belly and fake a knee strike (right leg) at his
face (last picture). The player who gets thrown with a Tesoura is advised
to make the fall as soft as possible and to cross his arms in some distance
in front of his face because of a possible incoming Joelhada (knee blow).
Once you master this move and your partner got accustomed
to the many hard falls, you should try to jump in with a Tesoura. This is
much more safe to you because if you do it the other way your victim could
hurt your tripping leg during the fall, crushing on the knee from above at
a bad angle etc.
The move stays basically the same, although your right leg doesn't touch the
ground at all. In this case the right leg flies straight at the back of the
knees while your left leg is aiming at the stomach area. Mind you this is
elegant yet very rough if not applied properly, so do it with caution and
only if your partner can deal with such a situation.
(A) Tesoura from standing (B) Tesoura jumped in (recommended)

Tesoura Angola: Better don't do
this move in a Roda of Capoeira Regional unless you like getting jumped in
the back from above.. This version of the Tesoura is a good example for the
playfulness of Capoeira Angola. Although you might use it for quickly approaching
your partner and throwing him with the scissors move described above, it's
rather a challenge you propose to your partner. You may start the motion from
wherever you like, but Queda de Rins, de Tres or de Quatro are all good occasions.
Spread you legs a little and face the floor with your front. The only body
parts that make contact with the ground are your feet and your hands. Let
your body hang through but nevertheless keep up some tension. Now turn your
chest to one side so that your body gets twisted down to your hips. Watch
your fellow Capoeirista over your shoulder and push yourself in his direction
with the help of your hands. Your feet slide across the floor in an attempt
of trapping your partner between them. Your further actions depend on your
opponent's reaction:
To him the most obvious way of escaping is making an Au to your backside;
cause that's where your eyes can't follow him easily. If he does the Au to
your front side, kick him Bênção-like with your lower lying leg. Or try to
catch him with with a Cabecada, either way. If he tries to flee through the
backdoor (watch diagramm) you can get on him by rotating your body on one
hand and the lower lying leg; pull your higher leg through underneath and
aim your kick him at the stomach/chest area (3rd picture). Alternatively try
a Cabecada, but then timing may be critical.
Another nice method of countering the Tesoura Angola is sliding through between
the attacker's legs with legs first (I forgot drawing a picture, perhaps next
time). It's executed in a similar fashion to the TA, yet legs are closed so
you fit through. Mean people lift their heels when their feet pass by underneath
the attacker's face, others like to get up violently. I have even seen an
advanced player rolling over the attacker's back when he got approached by
a Tesoura Angola, but that had been a joking Roda anyway:)

Cruz: The Cruz (cross) is an elegant way to
evade an incoming Bênção or Ponteira and throw the partner at the same time.
Instead of pushing the kicking leg away you bend down and slide under it.
Spread your arms so his leg cannot escape to the side, trap it on your back.
Now simply get up again and watch your opponent fall. If you get trapped with
a Cruz by someone else, don't fall on the back of your head as the Capoeirista
on the right does. Try to fall to the side and dampen the fall with your hands,
doing a Au-like motion.
This is Cruz viewed from above. The diagramm shows
the move the way I was told, and I found it very practical and useful since
then. If there are any other variations I'd be glad to get emails from you.
To avoid getting accidentally hit by the supporting leg during the throw you
have to shift your head to the right side. If you perform the Cruz and and
your position is that of the first picture, you have to roll your head to
the other side so that you end up as in the second picture. If you're already
there, don't do anything except standing up. I do so since the girl I intented
to throw over with a Cruz did a Macaco backwards and kicked me with her support
leg right into my jaw (Hi there Julia!).

Style Moves
Backflip: I didn't learn this move at Capoeira,
I adapted it from the lessons I had in gymnastics. Still it's a nice way to
enter a Roda, following an Au or Macaco or doing it on its own. Mind you this
transcends Capoeira Basics, there's a high risk of injury if you don't take
proper precautions. Ask two friends for help and try this out on a soft mat
in a gym hall.
Stand straight, keep your arms stretched in front of you. Now sit down as
if there were a chair behind you. Very important: don't move your knees forward,
keep your lower legs at exactly the same position, just move your thighs.
Your upper body shifts back- and downwards but remains perpendicular to the
ground. At the same time, swing your stretched arms down and behind (see diagramm).
Once your posture consists of two 90 deg. angles (hips, knees), do the following
actions at the same time:
1. reverse the swing of your arms, throw them from behind in a wide
circle far over your head. Do it really fiercly, because it's the only way
to gain the necessary rotation. Throw your arms back as far as possible, keep
them stretched at all costs, and throw your head back as well (you should
see where you land after all).
2. Stretch out your legs as quickly as possible. The main power for
jumping off doesn't come from your feet but from your thighs, the sudden burst
should travel straight through your legs into your heels.
If you did right the above, everything left is pretty obvious: you land on
your hands but the rotational power pulls your legs down (either one after
the other or both at the same time). Common follow ups are further backflips
or backwards somersaults.
For training purposes get yourself a soft and a hard gym mat. Place them in
such a way that you jump off from the hard one but land with your hands on
the soft one. Have a friend at each side of yours who grabs you at your back
(>support) and under your thighs (>rotation). At your first try let
your friends do all the work; fall backwards and let them carry your whole
weight. They should put you gently down in handstand position. With every
further try jump off a little more until you need no active support from your
friends anymore. It's hard work but can be mastered; Today I do it on concrete
one after the other, yet I don't dare to finish with a somerault yet:]
Please do this really carefully, I don't want to feel guilty for any accidents
of yours. Thanx.

Headspin animation: Like the Backflip this
was destined to go to the style section. Throw one leg back and the other
one in an arc around, it's not BBoy style but a 'rough and ready' method that
works well for me.

Au de Costa: You walk along, bend back, touch
the ground with one hand, do an Au to the back, step down, take a further
step, and start over. Your second hand travels rather behind your head than
in front of your face. What makes this fun to watch is the fact that you don't
change your position with this move. Doing the backwards Au from standing/walking
is rather difficult; learn the plain Macaco first.

Macaco into Queda de Rins: Ok this isn't
really new; I simply took the Capoeira symbol from my Homepage. It's just
a random combination of two typical Capoeira moves and not a special motion
per se. Try all kinds of variations: Do the Queda de Rins part to the other
side (better way of getting away), jump the Macaco into headstand, do a headspin,
jump into handstand, move down but do a kip(?) to get up again etc... endless
possibilities open up...

Handstand whirling:
This animation took me quite some effort; I did not use any reference material
(video etc.) but drew it completely out of my memory and imagination. Also I
improvised throughout the entire drawing process; although I initially wanted
to make a simple handstand spin, I soon thought "wouldn't it be cool if..?"
and so I added the second S-Dobrado-Macaco-spin. When the Capoeirista went through
his second handstand I noticed that the image has travelled too far to the left,
so I let him spin around and do an Au back to where he started. Still the Au
didn't cover enough ground so I needed some frames to close the gap between
animation start and end, that's why the boy shakes around. There are some glitches
I am not all too happy with: speed-wise I did't optimize the animation too well;
the Meia Lua should be faster and everything could be a bit more accentuated
and dynamic, but after drawing frame no.140 I only wanted to finish the damn
thing. The spinning power of the second handstand comes through the S-Dobrado
when your second leg (outer) leg overtakes your first one, causing your body
to rotate. Sadly this isn't evident at all in my animation, the spin starts
only when the figure is already standing upside down..
Recently I came across some pages which use some of my animations. Often people
act politely and ask before they copy the cartoons, and I'm perfectly happy
with them putting my pics on their site. Yet I would like to have this particluar
animation as an exclusive on my page. Don't get me wrong, I am not jealous or
anything but I spent the last two weeks at the computer creating this GIF-file
and I don't want to see them on every Tekken 3 page on the web without credits
or anything. Thanks.
So what is the guy on the right doing anyway? Let's start right after his
leg swing (left hand down to right leg). The Capoeirista steps forward with
his left leg, crosses with his left hand to his rear leg and starts a Meia
Lua de Compasso. Instead of finishing the kick he takes the kicking leg upwards
and jumps off with his supporting leg and starts spinning. Before his left
arm gets too twisted he switches to his right arm and steps down with his
right leg (the kicking leg). Now he could deliver a Bencao if his opponent
closed in, but our friend decides to take the second leg down as well and
pulls it to his front side into a Negativa. Down there he shifts his weight
to the other side and changes the orientation of his legs (stretched-bent)
and pulls the now stretched one in a powerful arc to his side and up into
an S-Dobrado/Macaco/Au. His front leg flies upwards while his rear leg is
delayed; however the second leg soon catches up and overtakes the first one
from behind (starting a handstand spin). This rotation is roughly the same
as the one shown at the top of the Basics section under the 'Au' item (third
example). Look there for details. The Capoeirista has now finished the spin
and gets down again, twisting his body a bit so he can face his partner again.
Just for style he rotates on his right leg and connects into an Au to get
back into starting position. After taking a cute posture he steps forwards
again to start all over, a modern Sisyphos who performs eternally to the amusement
of us all. |