What is capoeira? (перевод предыдущей статьи)

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, traditions play more important role here and understanding of these traditions comes with experience. Capoeira is a whole philosophy, the full depth of which it is difficult to understand by uninitiated person.

Many people confuse it with a dance. This likely happens because of the presence of music and songs in capoeira, which actually carry a completely different meaning. Somehow I`ll write an article about music and it`s role in capoeira for sure, but now it is enough for one article =)

by Katerina Bilodid