Capoeira Ukraine: капоэйра в Запорожье

The famous distinctive feature of Rio de Janeiro is favelas (slums), which are located on the outskirts of the city. There are about a thousand of favelas in Rio and each has its own name. The favelas like a coin have two sides. On the one hand (namely, this side is known in all over the world) it is unfavorable areas of the city, an abode of crime of all kinds. The paupers build their houses from what they have – from plywood, old wooden planks, cans, bamboo and canvas bags. The city authorities are unable to stop the rapid increase of these independent settlements. The police are even afraid to go to the areas covered by the favelas, because no one can guarantee that their unregistered residents will not start shooting from above.   Most of the slum dwellers are unemployed, in favelas there is practically no sewerage, no schools, no hospitals. Drug dealers, street gangs and other anti-social elements have found here their shelter. There exist unspoken laws, local "baro...

Известная отличительная особенность Рио-де-Жанейро – фавелы (трущобы), которые разместились на окраинах города. Их в Рио около тысячи и у каждой есть свое название. У фавел, как у монеты, есть две стороны. С одной стороны (а именно об этой стороне знает весь мир) – это неблагополучные районы города, рассадник преступности всякого рода. Бедняки строят себе дома из чего придется — из фанеры, старых досок, жестянок, бамбука и холщовых мешков. Городские власти не в силах остановить бурный рост этих самостоятельных поселений. Полицейские даже боятся подниматься в районы, охваченные фавелами, потому что никто не гарантирует, что их неучтенные и не поддающиеся никакой регистрации жители не начнут сверху отстреливаться. Большинство жителей трущоб — безработные, в фавелах практически нет ни канализации, ни школ, ни больниц. Здесь нашли свое убежище наркоторговцы, уличные банды и прочие антисоциальные элементы. Здесь действуют негласные законы, есть свои «бароны» и их «п...

Наконец-то закончила перевод своей предыдущей статьи на английский :) What is capoeira? It is customary to name capoeira as Brazilian martial art. But there is no definite answer on a question “Where did it arise – in Africa or in Brazil?” Without delving into history, I want to say, that the first mention about capoeira appeared in times of colonization of South America, when the Portuguese conquistadors began to bring black slaves from Africa. One of the myths is that capoeira was born in a captivity among slaves. It's not quite true. The black slaves really started to train capoeira, but only those slaves who escaped from their slave-owners. Such fugitive slaves were organizing free settlements and there they were practicing a martial art Capoeira for their defense.  Today capoeira is one of the most spectacular martial arts, which combines attack and defense, movements, throws and punches, acrobatics, and also deception and tricks. However, tradit...