Matthias Röhrig – Capoeira – The History of Afro-Brazilian Material Art

The martial art capoeira, which was first documented among African and Creole slaves in late colonial Brazil, extended among the free underclasses of Brazilian towns during the nineteenth century, despite frequent police crackdowns.
Capoeira is now a popular sport, taught in Brazilian fitness centers, schools, and colleges, and practiced by individuals of all ages, classes, genders, and ethnicities all over the world.
Capoeira practitioners are now attempting to get Olympic status.
The evolution of capoeira’s meaning and goals has resulted in tensions between traditionalists, who regard capoeira as part of an African cultural legacy, and reformers, who want to see capoeira evolve as an international sport.
However, there is agreement that capoeira is a weapon to be utilized against social injustice and racial marginalization.
Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art delves into capoeira as a battlefield where many fights that split Brazilian society are waged.
It is the first English-language scholarly narrative of capoeira’s origins and evolution to the current day.
Matthias Röhrig Assunço is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex’s Department of History and the Centre for Latin American Studies.
Slavery in Maranho (Northern Brazil), popular culture, and the political history of the Brazilian Empire are among his past works.
EDIT: This book is entirely written in English.