The Reform That Set Capoeira Against Judo

WHY THIS ARTICLE

Capoeira's nationalism is often softened into cultural pride. The thesis shows an explicit reform movement framing the game as a national weapon against foreign martial arts.

A nationalist reform

The reform movement Operação-Capoeira, launched by André Lacé Lopes, was not only dedicated to the glory of Bahian capoeira and its most illustrious master, Bimba. It was animated by a strong nationalist sentiment: it aimed, in a short time, to set this typically national wrestling against foreign wrestlings such as judo and jiu-jitsu. Capoeira, as the only truly Brazilian wrestling, had to be taught and defended.

A filiation beneath the differences

Read through the thesis's grid of four conceptions, a filiation appears beyond the technical differences — binding the pedagogical proposals of Lacé Lopes, Lamartine Pereira da Costa, and the masters Bimba and Pastinha. To defend oneself, the nation and the culture come from Africa: these aims run through them all.

Why it matters

Capoeira's turn to nationalism was programmatic, not merely sentimental. Operação-Capoeira armed the game explicitly as a national answer to imported martial arts.

SOURCES

La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles (1905–1984), thèse de doctorat, Université des Antilles, 2020 (Part III: Operação-Capoeira and the four conceptions; Lacé Lopes)

IN THE CORPUS

→ They Learned Capoeira from Karate Manuals

→ Contemporary Capoeira Is Neither Carioca nor Bahian

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

MALO, Olivier. The Reform That Set Capoeira Against Judo. In: Black Combat Arts Institute — Articles [online]. No. 111. 2026 [accessed date]. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/articles/the-reform-that-set-capoeira-against-judo. Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis, Université des Antilles, 2020.