They Learned Capoeira from Karate Manuals

WHY THIS ARTICLE

Contemporary capoeira technique is credited to Afro-Brazilian roots. The thesis records Nestor Capoeira's admission that Senzala borrowed from karate, developing away from those roots.

An admitted borrowing

Nestor Capoeira explains that, having no principal teacher, the young Senzala began to create new forms of training. They adapted the routines of the martial-arts academy, particularly karate — which enjoyed great success in Rio with the arrival of Tanaka, the highest black belt of the Shotokan style.

Away from the roots

All this, combined with the fact that they were young white men of the high bourgeoisie with no contact with Afro-Brazilian culture — candomblé, samba and the rest — allowed them to develop quickly a kicking technique and a very objective capoeira. In a certain way, they were moving, little by little, away from the roots.

Why it matters

The 'objective', technical capoeira of the great carioca groups owes an acknowledged debt to karate. Its own most celebrated practitioner said so — a borrowing, not a pure inheritance.

SOURCES

La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles (1905–1984), thèse de doctorat, Université des Antilles, 2020 (Part III: Nestor Capoeira on Senzala's borrowing from Shotokan karate)

IN THE CORPUS

→ The Reform That Set Capoeira Against Judo

→ The Famous Senzala Group Was Built on Bimba's Regional Capoeira

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

MALO, Olivier. They Learned Capoeira from Karate Manuals. In: Black Combat Arts Institute — Articles [online]. No. 112. 2026 [accessed date]. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/articles/they-learned-capoeira-from-karate-manuals. Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis, Université des Antilles, 2020.