Where does Capoeira Angola come from? Whoever wants to grasp the essence of Capoeira Angola cannot avoid asking this question. Let us then examine the origin, the place and the people where it all began. The literature on capoeira that has been published up until now, mostly in Portuguese, answers this question differently.  However, before turning to this literature, let us consider directly the art of capoeira itself and in the hope of answering a part  of our question. Directly considering capoeira can mean asking the mestres (masters) and the capoeiristas, which should be done. It can also mean directing our question to another component of capoeira: the music, more specifically the capoeira songs. That has the advantage of tapping into the oldest roots of capoeira. The knowledge of the old masters lives on in the capoeira songs. And so we will now search for the answer to our question in the songs. So where is the origin of capoeira? Capoeira is Brazilian culture. The songs are rarely written down and are sung in Portuguese. In one Ladainha a capoeirista answers the question about his master: "Meu mestre foi Salomao..." And after he has finished telling of his prowess he says at the end of the song:

Eu nasci foi na Bahia
Na Bahia eu me criei
Vou lutar por essa Terra
Nessa Terra eu morrerei
(Source: Academia Jangada)

So, wherever a capoeirista is born is where he grows up. He must have learned the art of capoeira in whichever country for which he is prepared to fight and where he would like to die. So does capoeira, as in the song, come from Bahia, in northwest Brazil?  Another ladainha seems to confirm this, singing of Bahia, capital city Salvador, and capoeira in the opening lines.

Bahia, nossa Bahia
Capital é Salvador
Quem nao conhece a Capoeira
Nao sabe dar o seu valor...
(Source: Academia Jangada

Then, in the next lines, the ladainha seems to answer the question about capoeira's origin once and for all:

Capoeira veio da Africa
Africano que nos trouxe
(Source: Academia Jangada)

Africans brought capoeira to Brazil, so capoeira comes from Africa. It is clear that these Africans were slaves, as heard in the texts of many other songs, telling, for example, of an unknown black man who could be a slave, in another song of a mistress' nego who costed hard-earned money and who taught mandinga.  So this far we know from the songs that the art of capoeira comes from African slaves. Another song leads us to speculate that capoeira, if not originating from Angola, definitely existed there. It was practiced by Angolan slaves, since this song speaks not merely of capoeira, rather specifically of "Capoeira Angola". In this song a woman is mourning her husband, who went to the harbor to "play Capoeira Angola":

Maria estava chorando ...
Porquê seu amor foi se embora
Estava na beira do cais
A jogar capoeira angola
Chor: Chora Maria, chora
Porquê seu amor foi se embora, ya chora
(Source: Academia Jangada) 

We'll delve deeper into these lines later, as they expose a bit of the essence of capoeira, the life of the capoeiristas, and the role of capoeira in society.  Now we should keep in mind that capoeira has supposedly not only African, but also Angolan roots. Important for discerning capoeira's origin is, however, the age of the song.  It originated either around the founding of Capoeira Regional or in the time immediately following.  In that case, this song could be acknowledging the branching off of Capoeira Regional from Capoeira Angola, and provides only limited information to capoeira's origin. However, if the above song existed before the development of Capoeira Regional, it may be counted as proof for capoeira's origin, as it is referring specifically to capoeira's Angolan roots and not merely serving to distinguish between the two present forms of capoeira.  Another song may be considered in exactly the same way.:

Eu sô angolêro
Angolêro sim sinhô ...
Eu sô angolêro Angolêro de valô
(Source: Rego, S.94)

Now we can summarize that the capoeira songs hint at Angolan roots, that the art was brought to northeast Brazil by slaves who lived there, in Bahia, and who practiced and taught it.  Did capoeira exist before Africans were enslaved?  This question cannot be answered from the songs, as far as we know them.  Did the enslaved Africans bring capoeira to Brazil, or did they develop this martial art, possibly derived from another,  after their arrival in Brazil? These insights and the questions which arise following close examination of the capoeira songs are the same as those found in scientific literature on capoeira.  Waldeloir Rego published such an impressive scientific work 30 years ago; "Capoeira Angola".

The terms CAPOEIRA und CAPOEIRA ANGOLA:
We have often heard the question asking where this word "capoeira" actually comes from.  And is it "capoeira" or "Capoeira Angola"?  Waldeloir pursued these questions in 1968, and others have attempted to answer them differently following his book. In the following works on capoeira, the discussion focuses on the origin of the word "capoeira".  We should consider however, apart from the origin of the word capoeira, above all the first instance of the term "Capoeira Angola".  Rego postulates its use as an attempt to clearly distinguish itself from Capoeira Regional, grounded by Mestre Bimba.  Seit wann ist die Rede von Capoeira Angola und