When a Bahian Admitted Rio Was Losing the Game Too

WHY THIS ARTICLE

The Bahia/Rio rivalry is read as a clash of strong traditions. The thesis records a Bahian voice conceding that Rio was losing the game — but as a loss of transmission, not of quality.

A concession from Salvador

Quantitatively speaking, Rio too loses: in Salvador, any man has already done, is doing, or will do a little capoeira; whereas in Rio, almost no one knows how to define capoeira, almost no one knows how to play the berimbau. The observation, from a Bahian standpoint, concedes a real decline of the game in Rio.

Transmission, not quality

But the loss described is one of transmission and diffusion — the ordinary presence of the game in daily life — not a verdict on the effectiveness of the carioca form, which other voices in the thesis judged superior. The two claims can stand together: Rio lost the everyday game while its technical form was rated highly by those who met it.

Why it matters

To say Rio 'lost' capoeira is ambiguous. Distinguishing the loss of a living daily transmission from a judgement on technical worth keeps the Bahia/Rio question from collapsing into a simple hierarchy.

SOURCES

La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles (1905–1984), thèse de doctorat, Université des Antilles, 2020 (Part III: the Bahian concession on Rio's decline of transmission)

IN THE CORPUS

→ 'In Rio, Almost No One Knows How to Play the Berimbau'

→ How Bahia and Capoeira Became the Same Word

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

MALO, Olivier. When a Bahian Admitted Rio Was Losing the Game Too. In: Black Combat Arts Institute — Articles [online]. No. 110. 2026 [accessed date]. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/articles/when-a-bahian-admitted-rio-was-losing-the-game-too. Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis, Université des Antilles, 2020.