Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game

I consider myself an intermediate/beginner capoeira practitioner, and I have enjoyed it for several years, and of course, I've enjoyed it enough to seek more knowledge about Capoeira's history in the form of a book. I'm glad that this book has confirmed my notion that Capoeira has had a much more complex development that I originally thought, and that all sorts of your personal life situations and feelings can be involved while you "ginga" in the "roda". Nestor Capoeira really delivers knowledge in these historical and cultural fronts, as well as providing a in-depth look at how Capoeira is related to Brazil's overall history. The book of course, is not perfect, and I believe that in future editions, Nestor should really revise and rethink some stuff, like photography quality, the section about capoeira movement descriptions and illustrations (which I believe can be better explained), and possibly even rewrite the section called "Conferences an Debates of the 1990 World Samba Capoeira Meet.", which is a frankly weird section. For example, there's this subsection here called "Prevention of Accidents On The Major Joints Of The Body During Capoeira Practice by Dr. Maria Ines Pereira", where he describes the importance of the conference, but no useful knowledge is for the end user is written or explained at all. Why put the entire subsection up then? I don't think it makes sense. But overall, this book is a fantastic read if you have more than a passing interest in Capoeira, and Brazil in general. Highly recommended!

Wow - amazing book! This book explores capoeira in a very detailed historical, sociological and philosophical context. It presents sensible historical evidence for the evolution of capoeira and not just mythical hearsay. This book might be a little boring to someone with just a passing interest in capoeira, but it will be hard for a capoeira lover to put it down. Thanks, Nestor - Axé!

I have been watching my children learn to play capoeira for a number of months. What impresses me most is that they are learning more of an aesthetic than a series of martial arts moves. It is this Afro-Brazilian aesthetic which has allowed capoeira to grow and move beyond its homeland to become an international movement. "Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game" is not an instructional manual. Instead, it is a deeper look into the origin and aesthetic which has shaped the game.Nestor Capoeira is not only a senior capoeira mestre but also one of the game's leading intellectuals. This work is a compilation of different articles he has produced over the years. Of special interest are his chapters on the role of malicia and malandragem in the playing of capoeira. His section on the rich dialogue between Mestres Bimba and Pastinha is also very interesting. What keeps me from giving this book five stars is that at times, Nestor Capoeira's writing style becomes excessively didactic in a manner common to Latin American intellectuals. This book is a great introduction and I am looking forward to reading additional books about the subject.

This is a good book to understand the roots of Capoeira deeper. One could argue that the edition needs some reviewing for clarity, but definitively there is a lot of good information there that it can't be easily found anywhere else. Capoeira is an art that is supposed to be transmitted orally... However, books like these help for people to understand the context behind capoeira and world, which is nothing more than the relationship between human and oppression.

Nestor's books are always an insight into the capoeira's fundations. He is one of the few capoeira masters capable of autocriticism and performs an extraordinary research work on every book. One of the things that i've liked about this book is the fact that he invited other autors and mestres to discuss his opinions within the book wich enriches the readers knowledge. A must read for capoeira enthusiasts.

There aren't too many books available via Kindle about Capoeira so it's hard to compare it and rate it. I will say that the history of Capoeira fascinates me so in that sense it was a good read.

gift for a capoeira player in my life. great book she loves it. much info on the history and roots of the game.

ITS COOL

Ottimo libro. Comprato usato. è arrivato in perfette condizioni. Il libro tratta della storia vera della capoeira con i vari riferimenti agli usi e strumenti uttilizzati. Consigliato agli amanti della cultura ed ovviamente ai capoeristi.

this boock was amazing i lovd it it told me evreything i needed to know buy this