Sinhá Bahia de Capoeira Canada is a capoeira group based in Scarborough, Toronto. Instructor Soquete Runs the school here under Guidance of Mestre Cicatriz, the Vice president of Associação Sinhá Bahia de Capoeira Internacional and President of Asia-Pacific region.
We Value A harmonious multicultural community where every person has the opportunity to develop one's full potential, enabling individuals to contribute positively to the society at large.
Sinhá Bahia de Capoeira Internacional was Formed in 2005 when Grupo Bahia de Capoeira (Mestre Cabeça) and Sinhá Capoeira (Mestre Binha) Came together. Sinhá Bahia De Capoeira Has Schools In Brazil, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, and the Phillipines.
We believe in teaching capoeira and other Brazilian cultural expressions as means to facilitate physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Working to create an environment of tolerance, interaction and respect. Empowering individuals, while cultivating appreciation for one another’s differences and promoting sense of community.
We promote Integrity, responsibility, compassion, respect, cooperation and understanding and hard work.
In 2010 Instrutor Soquete worked in Projects in Brazil. Working with Mestre Cabeça and Mestre Torpedo in Natividade and with Mestre Binha, Contra Mestre Guerreira and Instrutor Grande In Belo horizonte. Teaching and trying to inspire at risk children and teens to take on the ideals mentioned above. It was an experience he will never forget. He hopes to continue working with capoeira here in Toronto as a way of inspiring and empowering people to choose a better tomorrow.
Questions of Capoeira’s origins create controversy. Since it is from a time that pre-dates audio-video technology, and with few written records, much of our current understanding comes from legend and lore. So, one’s beliefs about Capoeira’s genesis can only be a matter of perspective, and is in fact part of the game itself. Despite the many controversies, most agree that Capoeira is a Brazilian-born art form derived from African ritualistic and martial arts traditions. The intermingling of groups such as the Yoruba, Ashanti, Mandinka and Imbangala in oppressive conditions gave rise to game now played around the world.
Capoeira is a child of the ma’afa or "great tragedy". Between 1500 and the early 1900s, millions of West and Central Africans were captured and sold into slavery. Taken from their homes and suffering months at sea with little or no food, the survivors arrived in North and South American ports, only to be put to work on sugar cane, rice, tobacco and/or coffee plantations. In Brazil in particular, the enslaved were subject to inhuman living and working conditions. As to make communication and revolt difficult, enslaved people were separated from those with whom they shared a native tongue. Capoeira manifested, and grew as an art, during the rare moments the enslaved were permitted leisure and community. In those times, traditional African elements of music, dance, combat and play were fused in contest, celebration and remembrance.
Brazil’s rich history reveals that Capoeira’s appearance varied over time, and manifested in distinct ways in different regions. In the 1600s, a rudimentary form of Capoeira was used in defence of the quilombos: well populated forest compounds established by escaped slaves. In Rio de Janeiro, there are accounts of Capoeira as early as 1770. However, northeast Brazil is generally considered Capoeira’s home: the two most influential Capoeiristas, Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha, hail from that region. They each technically refined and legitimised Capoeria. For, even off the plantation or away from the quilombo, the art form was considered degenerate and criminal.
In 1888, the Lei Aurea (Golden Law) was passed. It granted “freedom” to the enslaved, in social practice however, little really changed. There was not much work available and, generally, newly “free” people were neither economically independent nor socially accepted by Euro-Brazilians. Many former slaves had little choice but to work on plantations in exchange for room and board. Not only did they fall into the country’s lowest socio-economic bracket, their cultural expressions and practices were held up to contempt. The most scorned expression was Capoeira. In 1890, it was outlawed, and for decades after capoeiristas were hunted, beaten, imprisoned and even killed. Yet, because of their infamy and combat expertise capoeiristas were feared and respected. In major cities, like Rio de Janeiro, they were hired by politicians and organised crime alike.
In the 1920s, Manoel dos reis Machado (known to capoeristas everywhere as Mestre Bimba) brought capoeira from the streets into mainstream society. He developed the “Luta regional bahia” (or “Regional” -Hey-jo-nal- ) a style that incorporated moves and training techniques from other martial arts and instituted a belt or cordero system, and a set of learning sequences. In 1937, he became the first person in Brazil legally permitted to teach Capoeira. In 1942, Vincent Ferreira Pastinha, (Mestre Pastinha) opened the Centro “Esportivo de Capoeira Angola” in Pelorinho. His game, marked by its slow, controlled movements, inspired a style now called “Angola”.
The next most notable change was effected by the Senzala group. Comprised of 3 brothers and 2 friends not affiliated with a school, these five trained intensely - pushing each other to their limits. In the 60s, they took the movement to new heights and spawned countless mestres; many of whom in turn started their own groups. In the 1970’s, mestres travelled to the U.S. and Europe for shows. Some stayed to teach. Capoeira’s most recent evolution has produced Benguela: most easily described as a game that meets Regional and Angola half way. It is very strategic; played quite close to the floor and emphasizes trickery and misdirection. In a mere decade, Benguela has become extremely popular. It owes this success, in part, to Capoeira’s now international roots.
Once the recreation of Brazilian plantation workers, the game has grown and evolved inside and outside of its country of origin. Today, there are few countries in the world without a Capoeira school: students in places like Indonesia, France and Australia learn and adapt the art. Through its songs, rhythms and myth, Capoeira takes its history with it where ever it travels. This history keeps it in conversation with the universal themes of liberation, wisdom and joy, and in an embrace with the highest aspirations of the human spirit.
Many cultures use Music and Song to tell their histories, to teach morals and to inspire their people. The rhythms and music of Capoeira ranges in tempo from the very slow sounds of Angola to very fast rhythms of Sao Bento Grande de Bimba (regional).
Each rhythm denotes a different style of Jogo (game) and alters the priorities of the players. Some rhythms call for a slower more strategic type of game in which controlling your opponents ability to manoeuvre is most important. Other rhythms beckon players to be more acrobatic and less confrontational; while other rhythms demand a faster more martial game. The songs mostly fall into 4 main categories and usually progress in a particular order during the roda depending on the type of capoeira being played.
Mostly sung by Angola schools a ladainha Is a solo usually sung by the most senior capoeirista present. A Ladainha can vary in length and subject matter, but are almost always metaphorical and include a moral lesson, story, history or mythology. They can be improvised to suit a particular occasion or structured like perfect poetry.
When the ladainha is finished a soloist calls on the crowd to respond to a number of salutations, sung to show respect and gratitude to their masters, teachers, capoeira itself and to God. These expressions of thanks and reverence are known as the louvação however, they are also referred to as a chula.
After the louvação the lead singer will begin the corridos. These are a group of songs that are typically short calls and short responses. The chorus is often the first line sung in the song. This chorus is repeated over and again between the verses sung by lead singer to share a story or message.
The quadras are an innovation of the late Mestre Bimba. He would sing these in place of the ladainha to be followed by a louvação. There are many quadras written like corridos where the lead singer will sing four lines followed by a choral response.
Following are a list of capoeira terms and definitions. We use these terms in class for students to get more invlove into the culture.
| Abada - Capoeira Pants | Academia - Capoeira school or venue |
| Agogo - Two tone bell instrument | Aluno - Student |
| Angoleiro - Person who practices the angola style of capoeira | Angola - Traditional style of capoeira lower to the ground and usually played slower |
| Apellido - Nickname given to students by their mentor. Originally used for anonymity | Arame - Wire used as the single string on the berimbau |
| Atabaque - Brazilian Drum | Au - Cartwheel |
| Aviso - A berimbau beat | Axe - good energy; capoeira energy; life force |
| Bamba - a tough guy; capoeira expert; expert in physical sparring as well as wordplay | Baqueta - Stick used for playing the berimbau, by striking the arame. Also Sticks for Batucada and some times used to describe a Maculele stick (Grima) | Bater - To beat | Bateria - A line of instruments. Either in a capoeira roda or a batucada group |
| Batizado - Literally meaning baptism, batizado is an initiation ceremony of capoeira | Batucada - Is the World famous Brazilian drumming. Where teams of percussionists play rhythms using 3 kinds of drums( repinique, Surdo and Caixa) , cowbells and shakers. |
| Batuque - A music and African Game that was once popular in Brazil. Players stand in a circle; one player stands in the center in a defensive position, and another moves around him, suddenly attacking. The attacking player tries to throw the defending player to the ground with blows from his legs. Mestre Bimbas Father was said to be a champion Batuque player. | Berimbau - Lead instrument in capoeira. Instrument made of bowed wood, a wire as the single string and a gourd as a rasonator. |
| Beriba - Wood used to make a Berimbau. | Cabaça - The gourd on a berimbau used as the instrument's resonating box. |
| Capoeira Angola - Traditional style of capoeira lower to the ground and usually played slower | Capoeira Regional - A style of capoeira associated with Mestre Bimba. Faster and more upright |
| Cintura desprezada - A sequence created by Mestre Bimba full of throws and flips. Its practice is intended to acclimate the practitioner to falling, landing and throwing. | Corpo fechado - When a Candomble ritual is performed to magically protect the subject from harm they are said to have corpo Fechado (Closed body). |
| Corridos - Songs with a call and response | Fundamentos - Fundamentals |
| Gunga - Berimbau with largest cabaça, It makes the deepest pitch and in charge of the base rhythem and tempo. It is usually played by the most senior ranked capoeiristas present. | Jogo - game |
| Martelo - Literaly meaning hammer | Quilombo - When the African slaves escaped their oppressors they would come to gether in villages built deep into the forests where the Portuguese would not be able to find them. These villages were known as Quilombos |
| Saida - Exit | Samba - A popular Brazilian dance and rhythm |
| Santo - Saint | São - Saint (possessive) |
| Sem - Without | Roda - Circle of people in which capoeira is played |
| Tocar - To touch, to play an instrument. | Toque - Rhythm |
| Verga - The bowed beriba wood of the Berimbau | Viola - A berimbau with a small cabaça it creates a higher pitch. |
| Volta Ao Mundo - Literally " Around the world" refers to the circling of the roda by both of the players inside the roda. Usually done when a player or players are tired or to "start over" or "change the conversation." | Zumbi - Legend has it, that Zumbi was the greatest leader of the most famous Quilombo in Brazil’s history. Often reffered to as King Zumbi |
Maculelê (Pronounced: mah-koo-leh-LEH) is an Afro Brazilian dance where a number of people gather in a circle called a roda. Regarding the etymology, it seems that macu comes from the Yoruba language spoken by the Nagôs (enslaved black people that spoke Yoruba), while lelê comes from the Malês' (enslaved black Muslim people who were literate in Arabic) language.
Sinha Bahia de Capoeira in Brazil just had their annual Roda feminina an encounter geared toward encouraging women to play and compete in Capoeira. here is a short Video of Contra Mestra Guerreira (our highest ranking Female Capoeirista) and students dancing Maculele.
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CRUA: After learning the ginga and developing an understanding of how to esquiva correctly the initiate starts with a raw colourless corda after his/her first batizado. |
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CRUA AMARELA: During this time the student must develop the basics of capoeira before being awarded corda amarela. |
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AMARELA: The student has now achieved a pure amarela corda. The color Yellow represents the student's achievement of developing a solid base in capoeira. |
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AMARELA LARANJA: The student after developing a solid base in the game of capoeira now aims to develop themselves further by improving on their musical abilities as well as their abilities in the roda. |
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LARANJA: The colour orange is symbolic of the rising sun. The capoeirista has now demonstrated a solid base in both musicas de capoeira and capoeira itself. |
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LARANJA AZUL: The student must now look to further their abilities. In order to graduate further the capoeirista must learn to sing & play all instruments while further developing their skills in the roda. |
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AZUL: The colour azul represents the sky. This corda is awarded when a capoeirista can demonstrate their ability not only in the roda, but also their ability to sing while playing all instruments and controlling a roda. The capoeirista is no longer thought of as a student but considered a graduate. |
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AZUL VERDE: The graduate continues to train all aspects of capoeira, learning more about philosophy and history, improving on music while working towards a more advanced game of capoeira. |
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VERDE: The colour green is symbolic of the forests and vegetation. As the graduate matures the focus begins to be moved away from the individual and onto the group. The graduate welcomes responsibilities and maintains his/her quest for improvement as a capoeirista. |
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VERDE ROXA: While seeking new knowledge to complement his/her teaching skills, the graduate must achieve an advanced standard of game play before advancing to the next graduation. |
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ROXA: At this stage in the journey the capoeirista is awarded the title Instructor. The capoeirista is now someone who not only is accomplished in the roda, but also has great knowledge of capoeira history, philosophy and tradition which he can competently pass onto other capoeiristas. |
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ROXA MARROM: During this stage the instructor must continue developing his skills including teaching. He must have a very strong game incorporating malicia (deviousness), floreio (embellishment) and o eostilo de grupo (the style of the group) before graduating further. |
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MARROM: The color Brown is symbolic of the earth. The capoeirista is now very experienced in all aspects of capoeira. At this stage the capoeirista is a strong teacher and can match any style of game that they may encounter in the roda. The Professor is capable of organising events and assists in the running of the group where possible. |
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MARROM VERMELHA: At this stage of the journey the capoeirista looks to make his capoeira more complete. Fixing any little weaknesses, the Contra Mestre stage is a period of fine tuning. The Contra Mestre stands second only to the Mestre and thus commands such respect. As second in charge, the Contra Mestre intricately understands the group's strengths and weaknesses and has the ability to run the group without any supervision. |
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VERMELHA: The colour of blood. Symbolic of the blood shed by the slaves from which this journey of capoeira was started. Not only symbolic of the bloodshed of the past, it also relates to the blood that flows through us all. The colour Red represents an understanding of all mankind, its nature and diversity. This stage is the pinnacle of the physical aspect of capoeira. A former student, Instrutor and Professor the Mestre has experienced it all and has overcome many obstacles to achieve this graduation. The Mestre develops to the full potential and becomes capable of representing the ideals of the whole group in an honest and impartial manner. |
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VERMELHA BRANCA: The Mestre has now matured and with age seeks a new balance between the physical and philosophical sides of capoeira. This stage of transition sees the end of the physical era and looks towards the future where the mind is stronger than the body. |
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BRANCA: Symbolic of the color of the diamond. Branca is the highest and most revered and respected corda of all. To graduate to this stage the capoeirista has dedicated a whole life time to capoeira and has indeed become a part of capoeira itself. The Grande Mestre is a source of inspiration to all of his students and capoeiristas alike. |
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