Some information for those interested: Capoeira was developed as a way for slaves to maintain their shape and have some fighting ability when they were prohibited to do anything that seemed 'dangerous', it also helped them have flexibility in the case they run away. It was like a ritualistic dance. The reason it does not have much contact and killing blows is because they had to hide one of the true purposes of it. Eventually, after some centuries, it became just a sport and a good way to be in shape. Brazil even banned it at some point, because it was seen as an attempt to rebel. It's not meant to be effective per se, but a supporting technique and a training method. Like parkour to some degree.
Your commentary just proves how smart the creators of Capoeira were, to see it in a fight and say its just a dance or something, Capoeira has one of the most devastating kick on all martial arts and in most top 10 marcial arts it is there, why? Its extremely lethal, safe, fast and beautiful, here in Brazil most of the time is more of a dance, but it is a full martial art made for slaves to survive and was used in multiple rebellions, it shouldn't be underestimate
You were correct until "It's not meant to be effective." If someone takes a real "Meia-Lua de Compasso" it doesn't matter where it hits, it will bring you down for sure! (By the way don't forget the trainings with "Facão" (A sort of Machete in case of someone doesn't know).. Capoeira mata um amigo!
Brazilian here. You are partially right, the martial art aspect is greater that most people think. Everything on Capoeira have context and reason. Why there is no grappling on Capoeira? Because if you immobilize someone, you are also pinned in place with him. So a 3rd person can have you. When you are a slave you is the weak part of society: everyone around or hidden is a potential foe. Why you can't touch any body part on the ground but head, hands and feet? Because if you do is harder to stand up again. And if you're laid on the ground, you can't run. Why there is music on Capoeira "roda" (circle)? Not only to disguise the nature of the training like most people think, but because the music can deliver secret messages and instructions to everyone capable of understand the "code", without raise suspicions. Why there is less "contact"? Because you are defending your life and don't have time to play "macho". You kill or get the foe unconscious, or you need to run. So, some kicks like "ponteira", "meia lua", "martelo de chão" are devastating and even DEADLY if applied with full commitment. Today on MMA, "meia lua" is a very popular movement that knock down opponents very fast (and regular martial artists doesn't know how to defend themselves properly against). Is more related to other martial arts that got relevance in periods of oppression around the world (like some Kung Fu styles) that most people think. But when you say "not meant to be effective" or "ritual" this is wrong. The "ritual" part was ever a lie.
_I'ts clear how superior in speed and range the sword is, and Capoeira isn't very defensive, but that doesn't make the last kick less freaking cool. __01:45_
@@radoslavkosil7450 I've done unarmed vs. sword matches before (we used guards on the unarmed person's forearms to allow them to block the sword); it's extremely difficult to get past the sword's range in order to engage, requiring ridiculous aggression and chutzpah.
@@namedjasonc I think that's true of most fights where you have inferior reach, but I imagine it's especially noticable when your reach is essentially 0
The defense of Capoeira is not be at opponent's reach whenever possible. In old times, the standard defense against someone armed is just run. Capoeira was developed as a survival system to slaves, so there is no shame on that. But if you really need to face someone armed and you are not, Capoeira still have it's principal asset: the opponent can't easily calculate the maximum reach of most of its movements.
@the Dragon Knight You obviously never saw a real capoeira combat to say that "is slow". Search for "Marco Aurélio" or "mestre Barrãozinho" on MMA here on RU-vid, to have a faintest idea. Is same with Tai Chi, isn't actually slow. But people see the slow motion training and do all wrong conclusions... I practice Capoeira, and also HEMA. As HEMA fighter I need to dissolve your fantasies: you are EVER a target for a sword, shielded or not. There is no way to become invulnerable. The only way to safely not expose yourself is stay out of reach. That established, what counts on combat is at first reach, and second initiative. As you can see even on this video (if you play attention) is that what allows the Capoeira fighter make points is because some moves have much more reach that the swordman calculated possible at first glance.
As a Brazilian, I know capoeira closely. I've seen some masters disarm men armed with machetes in street fights. For me the video made it clear that despite being an interesting martial art, a man armed and trained will overcome a capoeirista.
being honest that capoeirista isn't that fast, the guys you see on the capoeira circle in the streets are a lot faster Na real aquele capoeirista é bem lentinho, os caras que ficam na rodinha de capoeira na rua são bem mais rápidos
@@LuisFelipe-pq9lr But then again it won't really be that effective against armed people especially with better reach. But it'll look cool to see someone like those people who mastered it
You might get away with it if you're fighting against someone who's been conditioned by official Kendo rules to never cut at your legs and feet because they're not "valid" targets. Try that against almost any other sword style and you're feet and legs will be done
@@alexanderren1097 As a kendo practitioner, I doubt I'd have much of a problem applying my skills to hit the legs when he brings them up like that, but the fact that he doesn't have any armor on them would make me quite nervous about hurting him if I actually hit them.
@@SirConto As I said, "someone who's been CONDITIONED." If you haven't been conditioned to ignore hands, feet, arms, and legs that's good and sounds like you're a better swordsman than this particular Kendo practitioner. As for your second point, then this is a poor demonstration. They should have made him wear leg and foot padding because a practitioner from nearly ANY other sword style would have been hitting him there.
@@alexanderren1097 Ok, not sure what you mean by "conditioned" then. We're not specifically trained to ignore legs. We're taught that basic stance and attacking the legs from it wouldn't just fail to get us a point, it'd also be quite impractical. The legs are quite far from the area you can strike at well. And your opponent in kendo is never going to bring them that far up. Still when you do have a target higher up, (the wrist in particular tends to move to different locations quite a bit) we are trained to hit it. Also blocking at that height should be reasonably instinctive. Anyway, I don't think he lacks the skill to hit those legs, I think he's avoiding hitting them so as not to actually hurt his opponent. I think letting the kapoeira guy kick the bamboo sword with a lot of force could be dangerous. Perhaps you're right that the kapoeira guy should be wearing some leg armor, but perhaps that'd create different problems, such as making his kicks too dangerous.
hi, i'm a brazilian. An interesting fact about: Capoeira was invented so that slaves could ward off pursuers and flee, not to fight directly with armed enemies. That's why capoeira is a very aggressive and not very defensive martial art.
@@Priestbokmei1 I had this conversation before, and this is not true. In martial arts we have the concept of "genealogy": the tree showing master that trained students that became masters and trained another students... Brazilian Capoeira, all styles, have its genealogy as well. And there is no african capoeira master before brazilians. Not a single one. Every african practitioner we have today learned from brazilian's lineage. And this is also easy to understand: Capoeira is a combination and adaptation from several much more primitive african unarmed fight traditions, from several tribes. Most of them are still living today, but compared with Capoeira are not particularly effective, I need to say. The reason is because on Africa, these tribes grew apart from each other, some of them as even enemies. They never trade their fight and cultural traditions. Even most slave trades was assisted by rival tribes selling information about how to catch each other (yes, is really dumb)! But already in Brazil as slaves, the situation was VERY diverse. They needed to put their differences aside and work together for the first time on their tribes history. That was the context in which Capoeira born, and that is the reason because this didn't happen before on Africa. Even the original "Capoeira de Angola" didn't really came from Angola, like even some brazilians say. This name came from portuguese people that saw slaves "dancing". These techniques came from several places on the continent. I understand the Africa claim, but the truth is that Capoeira comes from Brazil. African contributions are undeniable, anyway.
People seem to be missing the tekken hashtag and are taking this too seriously. Obviously the unarmed guy would stand no chance if they were both unarmored and one has a sword. Doesn’t mean capoeiras ineffective in a fight, even with weapons.
There's always a chance. An unarmed & unarmored person can defeat a person with a sword, it's just difficult, requiring some combination of superior skill, physical abilities, & luck. I certainly wouldn't expect to win against any athletic & experienced fighter if I had a sword & they had nothing.
@@b.h.abbott-motley2427 you actually would, as long as you're not a fat fuck even a short knife will give you a huge advantage any good cut even to the forearm or wrist and your opponent is simply lost now imagine what a guy who trains with a sword could do to even the strongest unarmored opponents
I read that capoeiristas would also use weapons and would have weapon training using blades and such. So I imagine that some with capoeira and a machete could beat someone who only uses a sword. But weapons seem to have disappeared from modern capoeira.
He was very slow in didn't really put that much weight in a lot of his, it seemed like he was scared to commit to them, but it was still cool seeing the different kinds of kicks (Edit) I'm not trying to trash to person doing capoeira bro, I just had an opinion that maybe he was scared to go faster or full commitment bin THE BEGINNING and at the end if seems like he gained more confidence, I'm just saying that if the match was longer or he fought like how he did In the end the whole time the kendoka wouldn't win by as much as he did, again this is just an OPINION so there's no need to get all offended and upset
The Capoeira guy doesn't have the full protection set (to not get hindered on his motion). That is the reason because they are not full commiting. Safety first.
I think with Capoeira you can't really pull your attacks unless you go slow, unlike most martial arts. They make rotations and swings the whole body and put a lot of weight and gravity into many of their movements, which makes it impossible to make the contact light most of the time. You can't swings your whole body for a rotating heel kick and expect it to be light contact, ya know. So I think for a light sparring in Capoeira, they probably would either not make contacts at all or go slow.
@@revolverd705 yeah, that's why I was saying I feel like he was kinda just a little scared to commit in the beginning, towards the end he starts moving faster and committing more
Short answer: it doesn't. Even with limited targets allowed the sword still destroys the unarmed man. All those blows to the head are fight enders and possibly life enders. The kicks the other guy lands would be about as damaging as they are here. That's not even considering the swordsman could just hack off the flailing legs coming at him or even just let the kick land directly on a sharp edge. Fun video though.
@@aurourus6894 You talking to me? I'm just over here having fun talking about a what if situation. It sounds like you are the one taking comments too seriously there sport.
@@HarryGreenMathematician If you were wearing armor you could pull this off. It would be too risky to do unarmored. Any of those sword disarm techniques you see in certain martial arts involve total body commitment in order to rush in and grab the sword arm. All the swordsman need to is feint the first attack and step back and you are suddenly up shit creek.
Capoeira has some impressive offensive moves. Give a good Capoeira guy a helmet, gauntlets, and vambraces, and he could give an unarmored swordsman a run for his money. (Or an unarmored swordswoman a run for her money.)
Imaginamos um capoeirista armado de facão praticando o maculêlê , acho que mesmo alguém forte demais na arte do kendo vai entender que não tá de brincadeira não 😉 .
This was a fun video to watch. This transaction was better suited for the Kendo player because they could use the full speed of the attack. Capoeira is normally practiced a lot quicker but for safety reasons it couldn’t at this point. Also, if it were a live blade I am sure that Capoeirista would have had to respect the blade a lot more. Great interaction. This is how you expose strengths and weaknesses of any art. Then you train for the best possible response 😁
It still looks like he gets stabbed or sliced about 3 times for every kick he gets in (about half aren't counted due to kendo). I assume that one stab or slice is usually worth more than one kick. Furthermore, kendo with emphasis on head shots seems to be the weakest sword style against a low to ground martial art. I think sprints and long distance running are much better against a sword.
And note the text that appears 3 seconds into the video; "kendo will only strike at the head" - that seems to have been a rule here. So whenever the kapoeira is doing his big kicks facing his head away he basically gets "invulnerability frames" and it affords him what little opportunity he still gets. There's one time kendo guy still hits him in the back during it and the video counts it for him (0:30), but it looks like it may have been an accident and kendo was actually still trying to hit the head. Overall, without this rule kendo could generally block by hacking at incoming legs or just charge in and slash kapoeira even when his head is facing away.
Another really fun video 👍 I wouldnt really say Capoeira overcame the ... I dont know what the correct term is for the Kendo "sword" but it was awesome to see how Capoeira might really be applied. To my satisfaction, a lot of it reminded me of a Tekken character I used to like (even though many people hated him at the time hated him for being a "masher" character lol).
Something that brazilian Capoeira offer (that mostly unarmed martial arts don't): can be VERY misleading to try to measure the true reach of the practitioner. Frequently is far bigger than you think or feel. But be armed obviously have value and advantage, and that is the reason because weapons have always been popular in history. Capoeira also have it's weapons, like the "Maculelê" machete. This should be an interesting material to try...
Capoeira isn’t Tekken or Samurai Showdown. Capoeira relies on something called malicia . The philosophy of Malicia is a term meaning cunning, suspicion, opportunism, visciousness and alertness. It’s all about catching the enemy out. The sucker punch if you will. Like all martial arts, the modern version is a dance like sport, not that it should be discounted though. Capoeira has many amazing techniques.
Yeah you are right. It saddens me that the more fight oriented capoeira is vanishing. It is going the way of Karate and Tae Kwon do. Hopefully someone will keep the old ways alive even if it's just for histories sake
Most of the comments here are about this being a lop-sided matchup, and I agree. Not to the discredit of the video - I loved it. I just want to point out that the capoerista did better than it looks at first glance. The kendoka landed loads of hits, but there were some successful dodges in there too. Interesting timestamps are: 0:35, 0:49, 0:52, 0:59, both first attempted cuts following 1:29 and, of course, 1:45. For the last one, It's worth noting that the capoeirista entered the kendoka's space by brushing aside the still sword with the outside of the forearm, that the opportunity for the kick came because the kendoka chose to stay defensive in wait for a clearer opening, and that the kendoka really did put in a good effort at blocking that kick but that it just came in at such an extreme angle that it went clean past the sword anyway. To clarify, I think 0:49 counts as the capoerista dodging the cut because the kendoka clearly can't extend the sword enough to have followed through with a meaningful cut to the torso if it was allowed. The last kick is beautiful, but I think the most impressive part begins at 0:48. If you look closely, you can see that he effectively avoided 3 attempted cuts in a row throughout those exchanges, then took one light cut to the head and followed up with a kick to the hands that completely broke the kendoka's stance and made them lose grip of their weapon, allowing for a safe rush-down attempt if allowed. If the capoerista could take that head hit and still be able to deliver that kick, that could've given him the win in a real scenario. Given the favorable rule-set, of course. Can't forget that. To me, that exchange highlights two important aspects of this match-up. Firstly, Capoeira's tendency to dip down low is very useful against kendo, moreso than most other sword styles, because of the lack of a follow-through in the cuts. if these cuts go to head-level, they stop at head-level. That quick, jabbing motion forbids otherwise. This simplifies the dodging of the cuts to just dipping down on time, not having to worry about what's coming - only when it does. Still easier said than done, as the video shows, but it does cut one tough factor out of the equation. So to speak. Secondly, the few kicks that landed showed just what high kicks are actually good for against a swordsman. An unarmed person can't hope to kick someone out of fighting shape while in reach of a sword. That's just not gonna happen, and the video shows why. But unlike a sword, a kick comes with pushing force that can blow the swordsman out of stance and make it safer to run in and close the gap - which is ultimately the only way an unarmed person can hope to beat a swordsman fair and square. Capoeira is arguably more fitting for this than any other martial art, since their kicks are notoriously powerful and focus much more on weight than impact, which is what you'd want to do to achieve the results the few landed kicks did in the video.
Two things amaze me, one is that if the kendoka committed she could've been disarmed or gotten the "sword" pushed. The second one is if she committed with a real sword she could've gotten some good hits.
@@testing4037 lack of commitment is definitely a factor for the kendoka. Committed cuts with deeper lunge and more follow-through would be much harder to step away from and/or duck under, which is how all dodges happened here. Even so, that might give the capoeirista more openings to move in, which is the ultimate goal in any unarmed vs armed scenario. On that note, the capoeirista is also holding back a lot due to the fact that grappling, rush-downs and take-downs aren't allowed. It would definitely be interesting to see a spar like this where the swordsman can target the whole body, but the capoeirista is allowed to take the swordsman onto the ground with force. I feel like that'd be a very interesting match-up, mainly because the added commitment could benefit either side - the only way to know whether the armed or unarmed fighter would fit better in that scenario would be to try. For a light spar, though, this was plenty. I'm well aware that sparring with commitment outside of one's own martial expertise is very dangerous; the capoeirista wouldn't be conditioned to take serious sword blows, and the kendoka wouldn't be conditioned to be thrown or taken down with force. In the end, you'd want some mixed-art experience to safely do this with more commitment. For now... I'd say this was plenty.
Well, capoeria seems capable of overcoming blunt weapons, not bladed ones. So kinda yes, but vs a sword that cuts there is no chance if the swordsman is mildly prepared. -i think, im no expert.-
As a brazilian I can tell you a brutal truth most of us are unwillling to accept: most of what we know about Capoeira being used in real fights come from urban legends not from reliable historical sources. What we do have real evidence of is that Capoeira was and is still is a form of dance and cultural practice.
Another great little session to see how fights like those might play out for real. Love the work of all included, awesome stuff. And yes, that last kick was simply beautiful! Now, if someone were to combine those moves with a war flail ;)
😂 this isn’t anywhere near how this would play out. Are you kidding me? He’d be missing body parts if that were a sword and capoeira wasn’t created to actually fight
True, but I feel all involved know that. Its just to offer some directions, feel free to improve on it :) Important lesson confirned: Bring more than your limbs to a sword fight!
This was a lot of fun to watch😊. I've read a few articles that capoeira was often practiced with machetes and sticks, in a manner similar to Kali. I think it'd be interesting to see how a style like that would work in this sort of context. Have a wonderful day!!!
Actually, it's another martial art called Maculelê, but it's very common Capoeiristas get trained in Maculelê too (I was in the school), but I was a kid so I only use sticks. Masters or more advanced students used to train with machetes and torches.
When the Capoeiristas used to walk in street gangs called Maltas, in the end of XIX century until the first half of XX century, the most common weapons they fight was the razor, knives/daggers, and walking canes.
@@andresouza6346 lol, Maculele is not a martial art. it's a dance, yes dangerous when real machete is used, but a dance. It's funny how people who know little about capoeira and it's culture look at capoeira and say "it's dance" and then look at maculele and say "now that's a martial art", while in reality it's vice versa
@@rosatecnologica3934 mas essa é a brincadeira, eles tem um vídeo de um boxeador vs um espadachim também, se os braços do boxeador fossem áreas safe, seria uma luta bem interessante
I wouldn't call this the most fair of match ups and seeing as the Capoeira was not fully engaged here discredits its ACTUAL power. It's kicks are Highly lethal when in Full mode.
sadly, the tip of a weapon moves about twice as fast as a limb can... any time you extend a limb that limb becomes a target. doesn't make this less cool!
As a capoeirista this really didn't make sense to me in practical terms. The caopeirista here should have taken the sword more seriously, but instead his ginga and attacks were were as if he was in a regular roda. He should have been using far more malicia and esquivas in my opinion, I know this would be a really difficult situation too. On the kendo side: Why wasn't there more of an attempt to cut at the les and arms? I mean just hit anything in range especially if it's an attack. Yeah it's easy to say all this from my chair, and I did enjoy watching anyway.
Yeah the capoeira person looked like they were holding back probably out of not knowing what to do in that situation. Or they may not be that experienced. Or they didn't want to risk hitting the person hard by accident
As for not cutting the legs and arms, that was the rule of the spar. Only head hits count. My guess would be lack of protective gear available. You can see a hand hit later in the video, for one, that was solid but didn't count. It would definitely bring a different result, for sure.
Here is the problem. You don't use the dance itself as part of the combat aspect. The dance, as someone else has pointed out, allows the practitioner to practice the techniques for kicks and ground fighting. Here, you are basically telegraphing your moves. But, if you fell, capoeira is good as a recovery art, especially when performing low and spinning kicks. It compliments TKD and BJJ well in this regard.
Here it shows that it is basically useless against a katana. But let's be fair : he is using only one kick over and over again and he is not committing to his attacks even though his opponent is wearing some basic armor. So it's clear he is not going anywhere near all out . But the thing is neither is the sword weirder. The capoera user is exposing his legs,back, butt and even groin over and over again to the swordsman . A simple thrust or even a blocking cut would give the capoera guy a wound that would be life threatening to say the least.
Obviously a sword vs an unarmed guy its goin to win almost everytime no matter what same that a spear would win vs a sword normally and stuff like that. But to be fair he is using some movementd like exposing his body and hiding his head because of the rules setting for this match if not he would have done very different, but you sre right anyway he is nlt going full speed at all and its just a curious video, he does not overcome the sword as the title says or anything but its interesting and i would like to see different martial arts vs a sword to see how they would plan it, was a nice idea. See you!
The best strat here is for capoeira guy to turn around, duck his head, and walk backwards till he can reach kendo guy and kick his nads. Otherwise, let kendo guy hit any target and capoeira guy will start losing 2 limbs wirh every swing.
Some extra info about capoeira. The name itself means "high bush/grass" . It was invented by slaves and made in a way it looks like a dance so they could pratice without raising any suspect action. Its meant to combat firearms, not swords, and while fighting in places where the grass is so tall it reaches your belly or more. They fight low on the ground because of that, so they can hide on the grass to not be shot while gather impulse for a suprise high kick.
Yeah but the Capoeirista is just moving. He’s not trying to close the gap to draw the attack so he can esquiva. Not saying he wouldn’t have still gotten cut, be he’s just aimlessly moving.
Ué mas maculelê também faz parte da capoeira, põe dois facões ou bastões na mão dele but maculelê is also part of capoeira, he puts two machetes or sticks in his hand
A fight is determined by numbers. Percentages, the more you train the more your efficiency increases.. but it’s still a numbers game, a lot has to be factored in especially when considering combat in a situation for self defense.. it’s good and easier to think of these things when not in combat obviously, in a fight it’s not smart to visualize percentages but you have to know what actions to take that will decrease their overall efficiency and increase yours which will in turn put you in a dominant position spiritually over them.. it’s basically a modern equivalent to winning the fight before it’s started or gotten to out of hand.. a fight happens when you lose control over a situation, this applies to a lesser extent to spontaneous fights as well
Even though I think there are ways in which you can use Capoeira to increase your chances against a sword and I'm sure that if you worked at it for long enougth you might very well significantly increase your odds against a weapon yet whenever you are going against a weapon while not really armed with anything except for your own body then it will still not be a super easy task and that pretty much goes for anyone whether they happen to be a practitioner of capoeira or not.
Interesting !!! Flesh and blood vs Weapons ! I can't even imagine how the fight would turn out. What's next? How about "How 'Karate' overcomes machine guns" or "How 'Kick boxing' overcomes Flame throwers" ?
I think the Capoeira guy is hamstrung a little. Operating at full speed would mean the kicks would become lethal force. A kick from capoeira can stop the heart in some cases, break ribs into the lungs ect ect. The kick can deliver over 700kilos of force in under 3 seconds. You can't really spar with it in the way they're sparring here and expect to be operating realistically.
Historically Capoeira/Kipura used weapons like the spear, sword, sticks,daggers and guns but some people don’t know that also there’s more to the martial art than what was used in the video.
@@tirhaquahmosley7370 true true, sadly the mainstreamed art of Capoeira that has been internationally available is severely limited in what it’s teaching. Been to a few classes, seminars. Always wanted to see the weapon work in action, but short of going to Brazil or Angola, meia lua de compassos and rabo de arraias for days.
There was a sports science episode done on capoeira and if the round house kick is done correctly it can deliver around 1800 pounds of force! 😰 scary and deadly!
As a Brazilian it is good to see the deadly art of capoeira going so far but the capoeira boy needs to improve his speed, the masters in Brazil demonstrate well how effective capoeira is against armed men since it was created by slaves disguised as a dance for this very purpose .
It would be nice to put a Capoeira practioner that is also used to train Maculelê (a type of dance that uses machetes or sticks and was incorporated to capoeira)
Capoeira or anyone who's unarmed has literally no chance to actually win in a sword fight, one simple swing can be devastating and you wont have time to react and dodge it, but I really love the "dancy" movements
