In Recife, a group of 40 slaves rebelled against their master, killed all the white employees, and burned the plantation house. They then set themselves free and decided to find a place where they could be hidden from the slave hunters. They headed to the mountains, a trip that took many months to complete.  Eventually they reached what they thought was a safe place, which because of its abundance of palm trees they named Palmares. In this place an African community was born; a community which lasted nearly a
century. In this community the first forms of Capoeira were developed.

While no one would deny the tremendous African influence on Capoeira, nothing is really known about a form of Capoeira originating in Africa. All that is written on this subject is based on speculation. The earliest known historical record of Capoeira as a martial art is approximately 1770, long after early years of slavery. No further accounts of Capoeira are found until the early 1800's in the form of various police records from Rio de Janeiro.

Over the course of years, scattered settlements were established in the mountains. The largest of these was Palmares with more than 20,000 inhabitants, including some Indians and whites. Here tribes that were strangers or enemies in Africa united to fight for a common goal. A new community was formed with a very rich cultural mixture. In this new environment they shared and learned from each other their dance, rituals, religion, and games. One result of this rich cultural fusion was Capoeira in its earliest form

 

The law that prohibited the practice of capoeira was still effect until 1920, and its practice disguised as a "folk dance." In their hidden places, capoeiristas did their best to keep the tradition alive, and by presenting it as a folk art, they made the practice of capoeira more acceptable to the society. In those years it was very common for a capoeirista to have two or three nicknames. The police knew all the capoeiristas by these names and not by their real identity, so it made it much more difficult to arrest them. (This tradition is continued today.

When a person is "baptized" into the practice of capoeira, they are given a nickname.) In 1937, Mestre Bimba, one of the most important masters of capoeira, received an invitation from the president to demonstrate his art in the capital. After a successful performance he went back to his home state and with the government's permission, opened the first capoeira school in Brazil. It was the first step towards a more open development, and years later the senate passed a bill establishing capoeira as a national sport. Today capoeira is all over the world. In Brazil, as part of the culture, there is capoeira everywhere - in elementary schools,
universities, clubs, and in military academies.

Basic movements are ginga, handstand, queda de rins, au, au Malandro, cocorinha, queda de tres, queda de quatro,  rolê, chapa de costas, meia lua , macaco,  bênção, ponteira, queixada, armada, martelo,  rasteira, escorpiao, tesoura, cruz  among hundreds.

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