Mestre Bimba

Mestre Bimba and Capoeira

Kiera Cheatham, Ryan Shallow, Kyle Wittkowski, Justin Miller

Introduction

Manuel dos Reis Machado, who is also known as Mestre Bimba, was a central cultural figure in Brazil in the early 1900s. He is best known for his contributions to the art of Capoeira, which is a form of martial arts originally practiced in Africa. 

Bimba was integral in taking the free-form martial arts style from its illegal status to a formalized “school” of Capoeira. Bimba’s own unique style of Capoeira came to be known as Capoeira Regional. His student, Mestre Pastinha, would develop his own school of Capoeira called Capoeira Angola. These are the two most popular forms of Capoeira in Brazil today.

 

Bimba’s Background

Manuel dos Reis Machado was born on November 23rd, 1899 in Salvador to  Luiz Cândido Machado and Maria Martinha do Bonfim. Manuel was given the name “Bimba” due to a bet between his mother losing a bet to the midwife that she would birth a girl. He would go on to developing the practice of Capoeira into a worldwide phenomenon practiced all over the world.  Mestre Bimba was the youngest of twenty-five children, which could be both challenging and helpful for him. At age twelve, he was pushed to work as a carpenter on the docks, and had other jobs such as coal mining and horse coach conducting and that is where he learned Capoeira. He was taught by an African sailor named Bentinho during a time when capoeira was still being persecuted by the police. At age 18, he believed that Capoeira had lost its power as a martial art style because it was reduced to only nine movements. He then began to create more movements, incorporating the skills he learned from his father and Bentinho and also adding personal movements as well. This was the start of Capoeira Regional. Bimba, in 1928, was allowed to demonstrate capoeira to President Getulio Vargas who was later impressed by his skill and talent. President Vargas made the decision to authorize the opening of the first legal capoeira school in 1932 which Bimba named Centro de Cultura Fisica Regional. This Website offers more detail on the code of ethics Bimba talks about, and other developments he accomplished in his life.  

At this school, Bimba included an honor code that includes the likes of no drinking or smoking, minimal talking during the Roda, and the fighters skills had to be restrained to within the Roda and not outside of it. This also led to the formation of Capoeira as we know it and how his upbringing and early challenges led to his own style of the art form. Capoeira had a very rough start as it was originally used by violent gangs in Rio, which made it become illegal. Bahia was still allowed, but it was used in a much less aggressive approach and treated it was a form of folk dance involving music, singing, and rituals. Other martial arts styles like Jiu-Jitsu at the time was also beginning to take place in Brazil. To prevent Capoeira’s extinction, Bimba made it his personal mission to make it more wholesome to the values of Brazilian society. He basically revitalized old movements once used in the beginning and eventually adapted movements from batuque to spark its influence again.

History of Capoeira

The fascinating history of Capoeira is extensive and is thought to date back further than the previously agreed upon origin in Brazil. Although our focus is to focus on the Brazilian history of Capoeira with an emphasis on the Brazilian hero, Mestre Bimba. Prior to Bimba, Capoeira was widely used as a means of both captured and runaway slaves to practice combat disguised as a dance.  From the article, The History of Fighting, Andrew Griffith says, “What is known is that it was developed into the art form we know today as capoeira in Brazil by slaves who wished to hide from their masters the fact that they were practicing and learning martial arts. Needless to say that authorities would frown on such practices, so the fighting moves were hidden in dance to protect its practitioners from punishment” (Griffith, 2016). This quote perfectly defines what Capoeira is and the necessity of it t be disguised as a dance, rather than a martial art style. Now, to focus on the leader of the new Capoeira movement. From reading a little on the history of Capoeira, we know that Capoeira was declared illegal in Brazil.  

As for the challenges he faced in lifting Capoeira off of the ground, Goiânia Gazette interviewed Bimba, and he said, “Capoeira was only talked about in whispers, and those that did talk about it, were afraid of becoming criminals” (Gazette, 1973).  This shows that a common fear of practicing this art style was the fear of imprisonment. Perhaps being the biggest challenge that was faced, it is clear how Mestre Bimba’s role was such that if he didn’t show people how important Capoeira was, then we wouldn’t be talking about it today due to his being snuffed out before it could gain global popularity

Music of Capoeira

Next, we will take a look at the music that Mestre Bimba created to accompany his performances. As for Bimba’s regional style, he felt as if the old practice of Capoeira was outdated and was in need of reform. He changed the old nine-move style of the dance to a much more complex and diverse style that revolutionized the worldwide appeal. As for Bimba’s role in developing the young men of Brazil into men of society and taking them off the streets, he gave them a sense of purpose and community that led them to participate in something greater than them. Here is a video of a modern performance of Capoeira.

Bimba also instated rules about the musical circles or “Rodas” that surround the Capoeira fighters. A typical Roda, for Mestre Bimba, includes only one berimbau and two pandeiros; however, Rodas can have up to three berimbaus, up to two pandeiros, one agogo, one reco-reco, and one atabaque or conga drum, but every Roda will have at least one Berimbau.

        Berimbau                    Agogo                       Pandeiro                Reco-Reco                Atabaque      

Capoeira also had their its own set of ethics and rules each person abide by in order to be accepted and recognized as an honored student. One obvious, yet culturally similar rule is that smoking and drinking are unacceptable both inside and outside the Roda.  Additionally, talking and external activities should be kept at a bare minimum due to the danger that distractions have on students. In the real world, Bimba emphasized to the students and kids that they must not disclose their skill in order to protect themselves from confrontation with an enemy unaware of their true capabilities.  One of the fundamental moves in Capoeira is the Ginga, which was uniquely taught by Bimba, but emphasized that move and all other basic maneuvers be practiced as often as possible as it is claimed to be very forgettable and difficult.

Present day Capoeira

Today, Capoeira is still practiced in Brazil. There are three main schools of Capoeira in Brazil: Capoeira Regional, Capoeira Angola, and Capoeira Contemporânea. Mestre Bimba is famous for creating Capoeira Regional in his school, which opened in the 1930s. Capoeira Regional was the standard for Brazilian Capoeira until the 1940s, when Bimba’s student, Mestre Pastinha, opened an academy of his own and began to teach Capoeira that was less focused on sequences and had a slower tempo (Learn). This division of Capoeira is known as Capoeira Angola. Capoeira Contemporânea is another branch of Capoeira that evolved as more students began to study with Bimba and Pastinha and add movements of their own. Most instructors in Brazil today will teach students a mixture of Regional and Angola, with some contemporary movements thrown in.

Conclusion

Mestre Bimba deserves recognition as a courageous individual due to his bringing back of an illegal art form, and being considered as “The Father of Contemporary Capoeira.” These reasons mentioned above exemplify who Mestre Bimba was, as well as how he was not just a Brazilian hero, but a hero to the whole world. Mestre Bimba, after a forty year ban, was brave enough to revive the former warfare practice. Exonerating Capoeira through the honoring of the worldwide attraction it draws today is the greatest honor that Mestre Bimba deserves. Our research shows that Bimba was, in fact, a courageous Brazilian figure, and deserves his due respect. Mestre Bimba is the sole hero, in this case, to receive any credit for nationalizing and globalizing the practice of Capoeira, which in turn brought much respect and appreciation for the understanding of Brazilian culture at the world stage. The works of Mestre Bimba led to Capoeira schools throughout the globe in countries such as England, United States, Spain, etc, and even is used to train the Israeli army, which is one of the most well-trained armies in the world. One quote of his particularly exemplifies his reasons for doing what he did.  Capoeira-Connection is a website that uploads interviews and facts about Mestre Bimba and the martial art he created. In one of the articles/interviews, he stated, “I didn’t do Capoeira for myself, I did it for the World!” He brought to light to a culture that was once viewed as an illegal form of martial arts and now is a world-famous dance style.

 

References

Assunção, M. R. (2004). Capoeira: The history of an Afro-Brazilian martial art. Routledge. http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/rios-capoeira-academies/

“Capoeira Rescued.” Filhos De Bimba California Bay Area, 28 Mar. 2014. www.capoeirabayarea.com/history/capoeira-rescued/ .

Dossar, K. (1992). Capoeira Angola: Dancing Between Two Worlds. Afro-Hispanic Review, 11(1/3), 5-10. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41417219

Downey, G. (2002). Listening to Capoeira: Phenomenology, Embodiment, and the Materiality of Music. Ethnomusicology, 46(3), 487-509. doi:10.2307/852720

Interview with Mestre Bimba. [Internet]. 1973. Originally published in the Goiânia Gazette and reproduced by Capoeira Connection. Available from: http://capoeira-connection.com/capoeira/2012/01/i-challenged-all-the-tough-guys-mestre-bimba-1973/

Griffiths, Andrew. “Mestre Bimba and the Legalisation of Capoeira in Brazil.” Mestre Bimba, www.historyoffighting.com/mestre-bimba.php.

Kingsford-Smith, Andrew. “Disguised in Dance: The Secret History of Capoeira.” Culture Trip, 12 Aug. 2013, www.theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/disguised-in-dance-the-secret-history-of-capoeira/

Rapp, Joshua. “Finding Rio’s Capoeira Academies” The Rio Times, 19 Jan. 2010, www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/rios-capoeira-academies/

Wesolowski, K. (2015). From “Moral Disease” to “National Sport”: Race, Nation, and Capoeira in Brazil. Sheinn D. (Ed.), Sports Culture in Latin American History (pp. 161-182). Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt14tqd0x.12