Olympics and Capoeira

[Sean -Sapo-]

I know this subject has been brought up in other forums and such, but i want to bring it up here.

What do you guys think of trying to get capoeira into the Olympics? Its certainly a sport and competitive, but the rules are a lot less defined in capoeira.

Making it an Olympic sport would require judges and standards and such things. This would certainly change the game. But there are already existing capoeira competitions with such things.

So ya,what do you think?

[Pavio]

I have thought about this as well but after a bit of thought I think it wouldn't be such a great idea. Taking Capoeira to the Olympics would make Capoeira a sport, and no longer a way of life, a martial art, a song, dance, etc. In addition, if I remember correctly, capoeiristas are strongly discouraged (at least those under Bimba's lineage) from performing Capoeira unless it was actually for a roda (not a judged competition with medals) or for self-defense.

[Leão]

On a not too unrelated note... Did anyone get to see the Brazilian women's gymnastics floor performance? I know fo sho' that there was berimbaus playing. (This was at the same time that USA women's gymnastics team was on the beam...

[Sean -Sapo-]

lol no i didnt see that. i heard about it but i didnt see it myself. :D

[Tranquilo]

Nah. Capoeira will begin to lose it's edge if put into the oplympic games

[Sean -Sapo-]

some people would say capoeira lost its edge when it became mainstream (ie: no longer illegal) and practiced in the open.

[Pavio]

Well then the Olympics will really take whatever edge is left of Capoeira, and we won't be any different than those WTF TKD guys.

[Mad Magazine]

I think it sounds silly, but it would still be good to watch. If they kept the bateria it would be nice. Maybe rules would be like batuque, where the aim is to knock the other guy down?

[Ze Belchior]

Capoeira and competition do not go hand in hand, Capoeira to me is something more than sport, it is a way of life a School of life to be precise, this school teaches me to love life to learn from my mistakes and pay attention to people and their attitutes, to be street smart. How will one judge that at the olympics??

[Geloso]

I would some what say some of the same. To take capoeira to the Olympics you would need to have exact rules, and a winner/losser. I don't want what happened to traditional Tae Kwan Do (I speak of it's traditional form to a points system sport) to happen to capoeira. Not even just the cultural part, but once you take it to a point system it ceases to be capoeira.

[Chaleira]

Capoeira...already a lifestyle. All at once...a dance, a fight, a game, an expression of life....an olympic sport/game-why not? In my opinion, I think Capoeira could still survive even if introduced into the olympics. Even more so than any other martial art. Capoeira has always been able to blend and change with it's surroundings and environment. I don't think having it in the olympics wipe it off the map. It has survived more harsh things than that.

I also think that capoeira as it is today can be apart of the olympics without changing too much about it. My only fear (and I suspect others may have this fear as well) is that they may try to change too much, and I really don't think that it's necessary.

Am I for it becoming an olympic sport...no not really, nor am I against it. What will be will be. But if it were to become one, I have faith in the ability of capoeira to stand the test of time~

[Leão]

That is very well thought-out and well spoken, Chaleira. I can agree with much of what you say. At this point, I can only ask myself questions and try to find answers. Like, for instance, would attempting to put points to capoeira for the olympics turn into what happened when Brazil tried to do this long ago? Or... If an olympic sport, would there be such pressure into forming super-fast, accurate, consistent, etc., athletes instead of the street-smart malandro... Would this create another "schism" like between Angola and Regional like back in the day?

Now, none of these questions really has an answer; and it costs me to try to word these questions in a coherent manner. You are right when you say what will be will be. It may be an olympic sport, it may not be an olympic sport; it doesn't matter to me.

Plus, I wanted to use the word "schism" today.

[Pavio]

I personally like the path that Capoeira is walking today. I feel as if new ideas should be brought in, but without the disturbance of the system...and (in all due respect) I definitely feel as if the Olympics will distort what we all know and love as Capoeira.