راه كاراته

Many of you out there may be wondering 'what is capoeira?' Capoeira is part dance, part martial art that was created by the slaves of Africa around the 1500's and imported to Brazil (where it was taken on by the Brazilians as their own).

It is usually performed to music, and usually involves the participant swaying from one foot to the other whilst pivoting their arms around their body. As a martial art, capoeira is one of the most entertaining to watch since it often involves people doing flips and all manner of gravity-defying feats.

The strength of capoeira as a martial art comes in its unpredictability. Back when it was used for fighting almost no-one had ever seen anything like it (and many people still haven't) so you certainly had the element of surprise on your side. In addition to this, it is very easy to become mesmerised by the movements of a capoeira routine - only to be struck by a surprise attack from your opponent.

The main problem with it, however, is that it's incredibly tiring (since you're constantly moving) and you need an amazing amount of stamina to be able to do it for any meaningful period of time. The word 'capoeira' actually is a direct translation of 'chicken coop' (in Portuguese) and gets its name from the so called 'chicken fights' that Brazilian people used to organise.

Fans of 'Tekken' will be somewhat more familiar with capoeira, since anyone who's ever played as the character Eddy Gordo in the Sony PlayStation game series will know that his fighting style is based 100% around the dancing martial art, and most of his moves and attacks originate from the most basic of capoeira movements.