The book opens with a study of the capoeira “Bamba,” Mestre Bimba, who became renowned as a fighting champion in Bahia and opened the first legal academy during the dictatorship of Getulio Vargas. Taylor investigates the dramatic development of the schism that resulted in the competing styles of Regional and Angola. Moving into contemporary capoeira, the author provides an overview of new trends, such as international encounters, long distance “mail-order mestres,” mass membership capoeira associations, cyber-capoeira, and grading systems.
The book features the wisdom of a number of important mestres recounting their experiences teaching capoeira professionally around the world. In frank, inspiring interviews they talk about the highs and lows of the capoeira life, and how its lessons can enrich people’s lives.
Photographs, illustrations, and an extensive glossary of terms illuminate the complex history of this fighting art.
Author
Gerard Taylor
Gerard Taylor is a writer living and working in the city of Oslo in Norway. He began training in capoeira in the 1980s and later received the grade Capoeira Instructor by Mestre Sombra of Associação Senzala de Santos and Mestre Sylvia Bazzarelli of the London School of Capoeira, recognized by the Brazilian Capoeira Confederation.In 1996 the author received his “formado” graduation from Mestre Sylvia Bazzarelli and Contra Mestre Marcos Aurelio Dos Santos of the London School of Capoeira. Later that year he established the Oslo Capoeira Klubb with another “formada” of the London School, Agnes Folkestad. Over the course of the next decade Taylor has trained many hundreds of students. In 2006, the Oslo Capoeira Klubb graduated formados of its own, some of whom demonstrate the movements in Capoeira 100.Since the late 1970s Taylor has worked in various fields of journalism and copywriting, including the Foundation for African Arts, and the Black Voice Newspaper. He has also contributed articles to Agogô Magazine and Brazzil Magazine. Taylor is the author of two previous works on capoeira: “Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace, Volume 1,” a comprehensive history of pre-20th century capoeira, published by North Atlantic Books in 2005; and “Capoeira Conditioning,” a whole-body training program using exercises from capoeira, published by Blue Snake Books in 2006.
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