If you’ve ever walked around the beaches of Brazil, you’ll probably have noticed groups of at least two people doing what looks like a very acrobatic form of dance. Shifting from side-to-side, performing spinning kicks over each other’s heads and generally looking like a cross between Bruce Lee and Fred Astaire, their movements are certainly a physical feat to behold.

The art form in question, known as Capoeira, looks set to become the next big thing in the West. While there’s certainly nothing new about the ancient martial art, the spotlight of the world will be focusing on Brazil in 2016 and this should give the uninitiated a chance to marvel at its beauty and, moreover, it’s potential effectiveness.

When you think of Brazil, the things that come to mind might be the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the national soccer team or modern innovations such as the country’s new tram system. However, the Brazilians also love their martial arts. While China and Japan might seem like the spiritual home of kicks and punches, Brazil has a long history of innovation and expression when it comes to physical movement and self-defense.

Capoeira is one of Brazil’s most loved martial arts, but more importantly it’s a link to the country’s rich cultural past. The martial art was invented in Brazil during the 16th century, with African workers using the activity as a form of mental and physical stimulation and, in November 2014, it was granted special status as an “intangible cultural heritage” by UNESCO. 

From BJJ And MMA To Capoeira

Typical capoeira moves include:

Au

Balança

Bananeira

As you can see from the clips above, capoeira is an extremely dynamic martial art. Indeed, capoeira has become synonymous with physical and mental prowess and has recently started to become more visible in popular culture. 

One of the main reasons capoeira is increasingly being embraced within modern culture is the growing popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Through the sport’s leading organization, the UFC, MMA has become a global spectacle and that’s not only put Brazilian fighters on the map, but Brazilian culture too.

In 1993, the first ever UFC event was organized by Rorion Gracie of the famous Gracie family. Wanting to create a platform where he could show off the effectiveness of BJJ, Gracie entered one of the family’s most skilled yet physically smallest practitioners, Royce Gracie.

Despite being smaller than many of the fighters who entered the tournament, Gracie won the event and proved that a skilled grappler who used BJJ could defeat a bigger man. With millions of people around the world captivated by the spectacle and wanting to know more about BJJ, the sport of MMA was born and today it’s a billion dollar industry.

In preparation for his featherweight title fight against Brazilian champion Jose Aldo, Irishman Conor McGregor went to Rio to learn some basic capoeira moves (see video above). Appreciating practitioners and the ways they move their bodies, McGregor has now incorporated many of the spinning techniques into his own arsenal.

Beyond Martial Arts

While capoeira’s potential attraction for fighters is obvious, that’s not the only medium where the martial art is starting to shine. Throughout popular culture the art’s flashy routines are not only being used to add some color to an event, but as a way to enhance other sports. Indeed, like all martial arts, there are crossover skills that can be taken and applied to other endeavors.

For example, national hero Neymar Jr, who Pele believes is one of Brazil’s best ever soccer talents, recently teamed up with extreme martial artists Jonny Caines and Chris Marks in a new ad campaign for his poker sponsor. Naturally focusing on football, but unlike the classic Nike adverts where the only message is the beautiful game, this video helps to highlight the crossover skills between football, poker and capoeira.

Just like capoeira, poker players and footballers have to think of strategies and moves “on the fly”. In fact, on top of being a “quick-thinker” and reacting to the environment (i.e. improvising), capoeiristas such as Caines must be able to conceal their intentions and bluff, just like in poker. Each capoeira move is hidden behind a flowing dance sequence and this ability to deceive and strike is something poker players and footballers must have. 

Whether it’s a poker pro trying to bluff an opponent or a footballer making a sharp turn with the ball at the last second in order to bypass another player, being tricky is a key skill in both sports and something that capoeira is built on. 

Capoeira Continues To Grow

Beyond soccer players linking up with capoeiristas, the martial art has also found its way into popular culture through TV shows, movies and video games as you’ll see below.

The video game Tekken (see clip above) was a major inspiration for many aspiring capoeiristas. First debuted in 1997 in Tekken 3 by Eddy Gordo, capoeira proved (in a virtual way at least) that it was as deadly as it was flashy. Not only that, but with Tekken 3 being one of the biggest-selling fighting games of all time, with 8.3 million sales on PlayStation alone, the art of capoeira was exposed to a whole new audience.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire continued the trend of exposing capoeira to the masses in 2005. The international hit movie (which achieved $896.9 million in box office revenue) saw wizards from the Durmstrang school show off their capoeira moves in a dazzling display of magical athleticism (see video above).

Beyond the magical world of Harry Potter, TV and movie characters like American Dad, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Indiana Jones and many more have all harnessed the mesmerizing power of capoeira.

Brazilian culture has a real chance to shine in 2016 and there’s no doubt that more people will start to appreciate the majestic and powerful beauty of the country’s culturally significant martial art. From movies to gaming, sport and beyond, the martial art has shown it can add a touch of drama to any situation and that’s one of the main reasons it will certainly start to resonate around the world in the coming months and years. 

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