Among the collection of varsity and club athletic groups here at Swarthmore, the capoeira club is a hidden gem that few students have the chance to stumble upon. Practicing every Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Matchbox, the capoeira club brings together physical exertion and culture in a manner that would capture the wonder of many Swatties. The reason for the presence of this club evading so many is likely encapsulated in the question: what in the world is capoeira?
Davis Logan ’17, one of the current leaders of the capoeira club, describes it as “a martial art that came out of slave rebellion and resistance in Brazil.” Slaves in Brazil were prohibited from fighting by their masters; in defiance, the slaves disguised the martial art as a dance and a game. By learning this martial art/dance/game, the members of the capoeira club feel that they are channeling the energy of this “liberating art,” as Logan describes it.
This unique culture and history is vital to understanding the ways in which capoeira is different from the typical martial art. For example, due to the need to hide, the slaves wove music into the game of capoeira with various Portuguese songs and chants that were actually codes. These included songs telling them how to play and songs when their masters were coming, etc.
Both Logan and David Ding ‘16, another club leader, stressed the communal aspect of capoeira as well. In capoeira, everyone gathers into a circle called a roda with two people in the middle; those in the middle begin the “game,” while everyone around them claps and sings. One by one, those in the circle are invited to switch with someone in the middle and get a turn playing. Ding sees this as communal because “your instructor and more senior people in the group take care of you or teach you after inviting you to go into a roda … in a way, it gives you the experience of what it means for a village to raise a child.”
The actual game itself doesn’t align with the philosophy of traditional forms of martial arts. “In the roda, things really differ,” said Ding. “The philosophy behind capoeira is not just about you knocking down your opponent, trying to destroy them, but rather, it’s about the respect that you have with your mentors. You’re invited to be able to dance with them, in a sense, but they also take care of you, showing you nonverbally spots where you can improve and they challenge you to become a better capoeirista.” Capoeira is characterized by its fluidity, where the players try to put each other in position to make certain moves; there is no concept of winning or losing. The dance aspect of capoeira provides it with more aesthetic appeal and less of a violent, competitive mindset.
A look into how a typical capoeira practice runs, described by Ding, might help give a better picture of what the capoeira club experience is like. It begins with stretching and warm-ups. After that, Ding says, “We start working on fundamental techniques of capoeira such as handstands, walking on our hands, doing crab steps, and we do push-ups, planks, and bridges in partners.” Such preparation is to prepare everyone for the intensity of the physical activity that is to come in the fundamental training part of the practice as well as the roda during the last few minutes.
Yet, after every practice, everyone in the club goes home feeling happy. At the end of each practice, members say some closing words and walk away feeling like they have been part of something greater than themselves, a key byproduct of both the communal warmth and the cultural richness of capoeira.
Logan and Ding, along with Brian Acosta ’17, have been working to get more members to join the club recently. Logan, when recruiting members, urges people to join capoeira because “it is probably one of the better workouts you could get. You’re working your whole body, your flexibility, and it’s fun because you get to listen to music and sing along.” On the one hand, they do encourage those with previous dance and martial arts experience to join in order to add to the dynamic of the club. However, Ding also says, “Really anyone can and should join.” He also adds,“I can see how enriching it would be for other people to understand this tradition because it gives you a very deep and clear insight into the culture and lives of people who do capoeira.”
At the same time, capoeira is not for the light-hearted. “Capoeira challenges you to be open-minded,” says Ding, due to both the cultural traditions and the physical requirements. Once that is satisfied, however, capoeira can become an intrinsic part of one’s life as it has for the club’s current members. Logan, who also goes into Philadelphia a few days a week for additional capoeira practice, says that capoeira “has become a little part of me.” Looking forward, the members and leadership of the club hope that capoeira can become a little part of many other Swatties in the future as well.
