Finding a Place to Play

If you are interested in playing capoeira, most major cities throughout the world have at least one club/group to join. Make sure you find out about your group's style and watch a class. Different groups have many differing advantages, so do the research yourself. Some styles are heavily geared towards being clever in the roda whereas others focus more on the physical capabilities of the players. Some groups practice exclusively Angola, while others practice exclusively Regional, so if the style you see isn't what you hoped for, keep looking.

If you join a Capoeira Regional group, you may eventually have a chance to take place in a batizado, a baptism into the art of capoeira. At this point, you will normally be given a corda, a cord belt, as well as your apelido or capoeira nickname. Batizados are great celebrations of capoeira, and normally a number of groups and masters from nearby or far away are invited to the celebration. These ceremonies are a great chance to see a variety of different capoeira styles, to watch mestres play, and to see some of the best of the game. Sometimes they are open to the public, and they are a great chance for outsiders to learn about the art. Batizados do not occur in Capoeira Angola, which does not have a system of belts.