Capoeira is a martial art that grew from survival. People were brought from Angola, Congo and Mozambique to work as slaves, and with them, they brought their cultural traditions. They hid their martial art and traditions into a form of dance. The African people developed capoeira not only to resist oppression and to defend themselves, but also for the survival of their culture and the lifting of their spirits.

After slavery, they continued to play capoeira. With no employment, many of them turned to gangs. Quickly capoeira was associated with crime and in 1892 became outlawed in Brazil. People that played capoeira had to use nicknames to hide their identity from the police. cracking down hard on anyone who may have an association with capoeira.

Capoeira was against the law for 20 years until 1918. The first capoeira school ever to exist was that of Mestre Bimba where he created his own style called Capoeira Regional.