Chapter 4 Capuraginga
Since it's early days capoeira has been organized into groups. The group, or school,
we belong to is called "Capuraginga" and was organized by Mestre Loka, Manoel Leite.
Capuraginga was organized in 1984 though at the time it was known as "Cutlura Esporte
Brasileira." Mestre Loka thought the name was too long
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The official Capuraginga logo. |
and confusing, so when he moved to Governador Valadares, MG he changed the name
to "Capuraginga" because the play on words more effectively demonstrated the "pure
capoeira" philoshopy.
Mestre Loka was born in Barra do Cuitê, a small village in the Brazilian state of
Minas Gerais. His nickname, "Loka," comes from the fact that he was born in such
a small village. "Loka" refers to the place where a fish lives in the river and
is a colloquial slang term that implies that he comes from a small town in the middle
of nowhere.
Mestre Loka began his training in Capoeira with Junior, a soldier that was teaching
in his city. Junior was a student of Mestre Katiguara who Mestre Loka met for the
first time when he came to visit Junior's class. Katiguara was impressed with the
skill that this young student had developed in a short amount of time. From this
time on Loka continued to train directly under Mestre Katiguara often living with
him, as he taught in another city.
Very few people trained for very long with Mestre Katiguara. He was considered a
very violent person, and scared away many students. Mestre Loka enjoyed the hard
style of training though and was the only student ever graduated to the level of
"mestre" under Mestre Katiguara.
A majority of the work done by Loka and Katiguara was in the city of Governador
Valadares in the state of Minas Gerais. Capoeira was not as popular at the time
as it is today in Brazil. It was difficult at first to gain a consistent following,
and even find places to train. For a while they would train in a small shed with
cement walls. Mestre Loka recounts that training in that small room was difficult,
as there was only room for a very few people to fit inside and movement was very
restricted. Another favorite training spot was on the outskirts of the town on top
of a city water supply box.
Mestre Katiguara no longer trains capoeira today. Loka recounts the experience of
showing up to Katiguara's house one day and being told that he would no longer be
training capoeira. Katiguara had decided to become an evangelical christian and
felt that the violent style of his training was incongruent with those beliefs.
Today Mestre Katiguara owns and runs a pharmacy, a skill he taught himself without
formal schooling but on his own by reading books.
From its humble beginnings in Brazil, Capuraginga first spread to Europe and then
to Israel. Capuraginga became wildly successful in Israel and still today has several
hundred members there. Mestre Loka
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Mestre Loka boots Mago on the cover of a Brazilian magazine. |
continues to visit several cities in Israel every year, teaching workshops and hosting
batizados.
Mestre Loka first came to the United States to teach workshops after an invitation
from Mestre Jelon Vieira who was the first mestre to open an academy in the US (New
York). His workshops were well received and he decided to look for an opportunity
to stay in the country. He enrolled in an english school that assisted him in receiving
a student visa. Today Mestre Loka lives in Leominster, MA and recently became a
US citizen.
Capuraginga has grown significantly in the United States over the past several years.
The group in the US (and in Israel and, of course, Brazil) has been featured in
several magazine articles in Brazil. Brazilians in general are excited that this
piece of their culture is so widely and positively accepted by other countries.
Non-Brazilians are at a certain disadvantage when they begin to train capoeira.
So much of capoeira depends on an understanding of culture, history, and language.
It is important especially for non-Brazilians to supplement their training of movement
and music with knowledge that helps them to gain a more integral understanding of
such a powerful artform.
Capoeira is a very broad sport. It requires more of its participants than any other
sport. Because of this it is capable of providing more for its adepts as well. Care
needs to be taken to not neglect development of any part so that it can most effectively
benefit their life. For this reason those that work to preserve capoeira and it's
rich history, not forcing it to be something it isn't, trying consistently to better
themselves and their own understanding, will more greatly benefit from it.
Click here to try
out the workbook section for Chapter 4 "Capupraginga."