Despite the fact that Capoeira has no blocking perse, this makes its system of evasions second to none, and perhaps the trickiest and most difficult to predict of any martial art.  While other martial arts may be linear in either attacking or retreating, Capoeira can be linear, circular, in any direction, at any height or even upside down.  Counterattacks can be targeted as low as the ankle of the opponents supporting leg while they are kicking, (and down with the whole body inches above the floor) or as high as their head while in the middle of a jump.   Although we rarely see them in demonstrations, Capoeira also incorporates takedowns, and leg sweeps that make many Capoeira Rodas look more like this than like this.

This is not to say that Capoeira is a perfect system of self defense.  As aforementioned, a punch is pretty much the most common kind of attack one can expect in any kind of a fight, and Capoeira does not train its practitioners on how to throw them or defend against them.  As such,  the chances of successfully avoiding and/or countering one when someone throws one at you for the first time isn’t exactly optimistic.  At the same time though, as every system of martial arts training is bound by the rules of their sparring system, none of them are perfect.  Even Mixed Martial Arts which argues to be the most effective of all martial systems lacks applicability in military or two-on-one self defense situations where there’s only time for a single strike and taking an opponent to the ground is simply not an option.

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Comments (1)

I agree that capoeira is not a perfect fighting form, just as there is no perfect fighting form. But we must remember that the capoeira that happens in the "academy" rodas is only one form/manifestation of capoeira. It is multi-layered. Punches and other hand strikes are not used OFTEN in the game but are a part of the game. There is what we may call "street capoeira" where hand attacks may be used much more frequently as well as bone breaking moves and the use of weapons. And when you fight with capoeira as many enslaved African-Brazilians did and many oppressed African-Brazilians in post slavery Brazil (but still during the time where capoeira was illegal), it will look different. There will be no chamadas, no valta do mundo, no handshake, and no smiles. That is capoeira at war. When we play, we PLAY. Axe!!!

Posted by Akinlana "Preguiça" Lowman on October 01, 2009

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