Capoeira

Capoeira is a combination of dance, ritual, and martial arts that developed out of the Portugese trade of African slaves to Brazil during the 16th century. Capoeira was illegal in Brazil until the 1930's. The ritual game begins with two players squatting in a circle, or roda, of spectators. The players rest at the feet of a single-stringed instrument, or berimbau, and one player sings a commencement song. The other player can sing in response or remain silent to allow the first player to sing the announcement that the game has started. The musician at the berimbau then picks up the song as the players move to the center of the circle. The lead berimbauist is the Mestre, or master of the capoeira game. The roda chants, sings, and drums under the direction of the Mestre. The players and the Mestre carry on a dialogue during the game; the music sets the tempo for the tricks that a player can use. A player may also improvise his movements according to the musical commentary the Mestre gives to his performance. The Mestre in turn may play music that reflects the players' attitudes, reactions and strategies.

The goal of the game, or jogo, is to catch the opponent off-guard using guile, technique and gymnastics. Players can fake each other out using rapid kicks, cartwheels, handstands, leg sweeps, flips, jabs, dodges, and turns. The base movement, and the one most often used by beginners, is a side-to-side motion in a semi-crouched stance called ginga. Unlike most martial arts, strikes are admired most when there is no physical contact. A player gains the most applause when the other player has been skillfully baited into a vulnerable, off-balance position, but has not actually fallen or been hit. Although there is no point system, and no official winners or losers, players can be disqualified for falling into a seated position or, in some forms of capoeira, using their hands to strike. Some speculate that the lack of hand use in capoeira harkens back to an ancient Kongo saying: "hands are to build, feet are to destroy." Modern martial artists have two main choices for capoeira techniques and philosophy. Angolan capoeira is the more traditional form, with slow, dance-like steps while Regional capoeira relies much more on high-energy acrobatics. Capoeira today is truly a global phenomenon with schools teaching Angolan, Regional and dozens of fusion styles in major cities all over the world.

by Dancing with Fire January 1, 2011

Flag

Get the Capoeira mug.

Caponer

Getting extremely excited about something nobody cares about.

Dan got a caponer when thinking about the high school football game.

by candapone April 2, 2014

Flag

Get the Caponer mug.

Canonese

The language photographers who own Canon cameras and gear use in forums and in everyday life that can be abbreviations or idioms that other photographers will not understand. For example: The 5D DoF with the UW lenses is much more pronounced than the 40D because of the crop factor.

If you don't speak Canonese, you probably don't know anything about Canon photography.

by SuzyView February 18, 2008

Flag

Get the Canonese mug.

phone cajones

The ability to forcefully, and often angrily, speak your mind while on the phone but not usually in person.

He's got one hell of a set of phone cajones. He was really giving it to the customer service rep on the phone but when he went down to the store, he totally fell apart.

by Kaptain1 June 10, 2007

Flag

Get the phone cajones mug.

caporegime

A highly ranked person in the italian/sicilian mafia. A regime is a troop, and a capo is a leader/boss.

In The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone and Consigliori Tom Hagen is the highest, and after them comes the family's two caporegimes, Clemenza and Tessio. Later, Rocco Lampone creates a new regime.

Sonny Corleone: "Our two New York-regimes are more than a thousand men, that's more than the other five NY-mafia-families have together."

Six people were present at the meeting in Don's working-room: Michael, Sonny and Don, Tom Hagen, and the caporegimes Clemenza and Tessio.

by klimaxx August 9, 2006

Flag