Capoeira, which was once a creative adaptation to the brutal slave trades during the
16th century by captive Africans, has now become a unique
art-form that synthesizes martial arts, dance, and song into an
enchanting demonstration of the potentials of the human body and
spirit.By utilizing this practice, African slaves were able to
out-fight and defy their Portuguese slave owners. The art form
survived underground in Brazil for decades until it’s legalization in
the 1930’s. Since that time, Capoeira has evolved in to a
full-fledged martial art, a “dance-fight-game”, that rivals soccer in
popularity in it’s Brazilian homeland. Capoeira first emerged in
the United States in the mid 1970’s and continues to spread throughout
the world.
Our School: In 1978 a young man by the name of
Railson do Carmo began teaching Capoeira to a small band of young
people in his home village of Arraial’d Ajunda in Southern Bahia,
Brazil. This young man, who is now known as Mestre Railson
(hay-you-so), became the founder of the Sul da Bahia school of
Capoeira, which currently has locations in Brazil, Canada, Peru,
Germany, Chile, Italy, Israel, and the United States. Capoeira
Sul da Bahia continues to be committed to the preservation of
Afro-Brazilian culture, and community building.
