Whole Batuque in one video
I decided to re-publish all my Batuque techniques in one long video compendium; so they might find their way to more people who would miss them as individual clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvW-GBmh3sE
Their descriptions are still here:
Batuque article
On this occassion, let me say a few words:
With this video, we kind of have come a full circle; as the original motto behind these pages and the whole project was: 'Let us ressurect Batuque!'
We can say this has been fullfilled; Batuque has been ressurected and anybody can learn it from the video above (and my other materials).
Still, I never dreamed at that time that from this, we will get as far as studying techniques of old Carioca, Recife capoeira, etc.
Yet, here we are; and it is time to return back to the root: Batuque.
I understand Batuque a little better now than several years ago; so let me stress several things:
(Remember that Batuque is asymetrical game: There is always one player standing still, trying to remain on his feet; with the other player using Batuque footwork, trying to throw him on the ground).
1) Footwork
The core of Batuque is its footwork. Only when you use Batuque footwork to launch the bandas it is the full-power leg-wrestling.
It seems that later, as Batuque degenerated, its footwork was replaced with samba-like step (I call it samba-duro step, Crane+Seduction1+Littlebird legs); producing derivative leg-wrestling games such as Pernada, Batucada, Samba-duro etc.
However, these games are a degeneration; precisely because they lack the original Batuque footwork. (It also makes them unable to launch some bandas, such as Banda de costa. Batuque footwork allows to apply all 'real' bandas!).
2) 'Triple banda' tactics
The basic tactics of Batuque is using the 'triple bandas' - use RubberLegs and the Batuque footwork to accumulate energy in your legs; then attack with one banda; when the opponent blocks it with a disruptor position and gets swung into 'banda solta' (position with one of his legs up), try again with some Lifting banda; and if he manages to block that too, launch a final third banda.
Note that there is a strict logic behind this tactics. Lifting banda uses grabbing and produces a great lift; but it gets blocked easily with both disruptor positions.
So if the opponent is a layman who does not know the disruptor positions, you simply attack with Lifting banda outright, grab him and throw him down.
However, if the opponent knows what he is doing, he will move into a disruptor position; either one blocking your Lifting banda.
So you first have to break his disruptor position with another banda. Preferably the one not blocked by the position - then he goes down outright.
But even if he does not go down, it breaks his stance enough("banda solta") so you can re-attack with a Lifting banda.
(Note that Lifting banda done against 'banda solta' position produces a spectacular lift; our video does not do it justice as Zbynek tried to be gentle.
This is the full effect of Frontal lifting banda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZc7t4wLKss&t=56s)
If he manages to re-set into one of the disruptor position before you lift him, you have just enough energy to try to break it with a banda not blocked by the position.
All this is properly executed while standing just on one leg; using RubberLegs and the energy accumulated by the footwork.
Note that once you get rid of the Batuque footwork - as did Pernada, Batucada, Samba-duro etc. - you cannot use this triple banda tactics anymore. You can only use one banda at a time; while the lifting bandas do not work from samba-duro footwork.
3) Non-banda techniques
True Batuque footwork also allows non-banda techniques, such as Pantana tiririca, Cruz de carreira etc. These are still part of Batuque.
The samba-duro footwork of degenerated games - Pernada, Batucada etc. - do not allow them; so they only use bandas.
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So to sum it up, unlike the degenerated leg-wrestling games (Pernada, Batucada, Samba-duro), true Batuque is distinguished by using:
-Batuque footwork
-Triple banda tactics (and disruptor positions)
-Non-banda techniques
You can also finally see what techniques described in the old sources looked like; and see how well it fits:
"[Batuque] - A competição mobilizava um par de jogadores de cada vez. Estes, dado o sinal,
uniam as pernas firmemente, tendo o cuidado de resguardar os órgãos sexuais.
Havia golpes como “encruzilhada”, em que o atacante atirava as duas pernas contra as do
adversário (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNUBtSPSKbQ), a “coxa lisa”, em que
o jogador golpeava coxa contra coxa, acrescentando ao golpe uma “raspa”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bCg_AhQCWI), e o “baú”, quando as coxas do atacante davam
um forte solavanco nas do adversário, bem de frente (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Mjm4mkChw).
Todo o esforço dos jogadores concentrava-se em ficar em pé, sem cair. Se, perdendo o equilíbrio, tombasse, o
jogador teria irremediavelmente perdido. Era comum, por isso, ficarem os
batuqueiros em “banda solta”, equilibrados em uma única perna, a outra no ar,
tentando voltar a posição primitiva. Todo Capoeira joga Batuque, mas, como jogo
independente, o Batuque já não existe mais na Bahia."
(Edison Carneiro)
"Ao concluir, disse Tibúrcio contando pelos dedos na mão espalmada, que os principais golpes desferidos no batuque eram: coxa lisa acompanhada
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bCg_AhQCWI); cruzo de carreiro(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFS3lbHrkY); banda amarrada(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEJG820IR3A) e baú(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Mjm4mkChw)."
(Jair Moura)
"Quando a polícia se retirava, recomeçava o batuque bravo quando caprichavam na capoeiragem, com pernadas violentas, soltando baús[above], dourado(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Z0QX0YqA4), encruzilhada[above], rabo-de-arraia(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiZTPwJlVTM), que tiravam os conflitantes da roda. Corte difícil de defender para um batuqueiro era o da tiririca com o seguinte canto puxado pelo mestre: ‘tiririca é faca de cortar / quem não pode não intima /deixa quem pode intimá’. Um pé ficava no chão e o outro com violência, no pé do ouvido do adversário(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlGwHUI1ZpQ)."
(D´Avila)
(Although Tiririca is not a part of proper Batuque, as it cannot be done from Batuque footwork).
Note that most capoeira systems of the golden age used bandas as a part of their combat repertoire:
- Carioca
- Recifeana
- Tiririca2 Paulista
- Bahian physical-game
- Mestre Bimba's Nemer system
- Besouro's system
So Batuque was probably one of the roots of golden age capoeira. Whoever wants to learn real capoeira should first master Batuque! (See also the quote from E.Carneiro above).
Not only for its techniques; but for its specific mood. It was only after I learned Batuque that I got the 'feel' of the old capoeiragem.
Smashing each other on the ground and getting smashed yourself; while laughing about it - this is what the old capoeiragem was about.
Note that the last sentence is more important than it seems; because it describes the proper mental state for Batuque (and to some extent, for old capoeiragem).
Unless you are able to laugh cheerfully after taking somebody down (and I do not meant evil laugh at opponent's expense; but the laugh of pure joy) - and unless you are able to laugh after being taken down yourself - bandas will be a torture to you; something you will strive to avoid at all costs or will try to force at all costs.
You will feel evil pride after taking somebody down; and hate and resentment if taken down yourself.
The only way not to feel these evil emotions is to laugh.
In fact, laughing when getting taken down will make the fall softer, as you are relaxed. On the other hand, if you hate being taken down, you will be angry, your body will be tense and the fall will be hard. (This is used as combat tactics in Tiririca2 Paulista).
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Speaking of which, do not think that the material I present to you was a result of some ivory-tower research. We spent years - literally - refining the bandas; throwing each other down over and over. It was like judo, but without the crash mats.
Even when I still led a modern capoeira school, we were infamous for using a lot of takedowns in roda. Our love for takedowns made us quite unpopular back then - which I conveniently forgot.
Now I understand it better: Takedowns are tough. Not only because being smashed on the ground hurts (well, a bit); but they hurt mentally too unless you have the proper mental state, as I describe above.
And most modern capoeiristas are not ready to get taken down and laugh; but not even to take down and laugh. They want to play capoeira as a 'pretty game'; where your feet swing in the air but never touch the opponent; where your clothes always stay while; where rasteiras, if used at all, are placed, but never pulled.
So they consider takedowns a hostile, unfriendly thing - that is why they will never understand bandas (and Batuque - a game where getting smashed on the ground is not an occassional thing; but the actual goal of the game).
Proper banda is an act of love; not of hate. And training Batuque will help you learn that.
--
More specifically:
- When you get taken down, you laugh both at yourself for being taken down in such a funny way; but at the same time, you laugh because you do not hate the opponent for throwing you
- When you take the opponent down, you laugh at the funny way you made the opponent fall; but at the same time, you laugh because there were no evil intentions in your banda.
As far as I know, Batuque is the only wrestling art that allows this. In judo, for example, you can remain stoic after throwing the opponent down; but you cannot laugh.
(The only wrestling art with a similar feeling is Aikido; which was also conceived by Morehei Ueshiba as an expression of love. But even in Aikido, you just smile - never laugh).
In Batuque, you learn to 'destroy with love'; to destroy while dancing, to destroy without feeling any hate against your opponent.
(Perhaps this was the reason why Batuque - and its off-shots - dissapeared during the 20th century?)
Why modern capoeiristas cannot do bandas
In my article on Tiririca2 Paulista, I lament that most modern capoeiristas cannot even do Banda de frente (or any other of the old bandas).
This might have something to do with what I wrote above:
If you try to do Banda de frente with anger, evil intentions etc., your body becomes tense you will not be able to open your pelvis enough; so you will be unable to throw the opponent.
In order to do Banda de frente, your body must be loose; and for this, you must be also loose mentally; laughing with love and joy internally, as a playing child.
Any mental and thus physical tension makes the banda unnusable.
This kind of rhymes with the above: This, my dear reader, is probably what I learned from Batuque as I write above("It was only after I learned Batuque that I got the 'feel' of the old capoeiragem."): I learned to apply bandas with love and laughter.
Old capoeiras played Batuque; and thus were used to the mental state of applying bandas with love. All old capoeiragem systems require it.
Modern capoeirista does not play Batuque; and from this results the tension, the agressiveness, the treachery of modern capoeira. And for this reason, they also cannot do bandas.
And since you got so far, let me share a little tidbit with you:
It is possible that Batuque (and perhaps Bahian physical-game capoeira) might be one real 'Christian martial art'.
Before you dismiss this as bizzare, consider: Most of what we consider martial arts came from Asian countries; so there was no Christian influence involved in their creation.
Yet, Batuque was created in 19th century Brazil; where Catholicism was widespread, it fact it was the only religion supported by the state.
So in the very least, Batuque was created in a society where Catholicism was everywhere around; so it would naturally soak it in.
(Similarly as Chinese kungfu naturally soaked in buddhism, taoism and confucialism, because it was created in a society where they were ubiquous)
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We are sometimes told capoeira was played after the Sunday mass. For an atheist, this does not mean much. But consider: It meant that people probably played capoeira after receiving Eucharist.
Do you not think that playing capoeira almost immediately after getting into intimate contact with your God would influence the way your were playing?
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So I believe there was more Catholicism in Batuque and old capoeira than people think.
Most importantly, I believe that both Batuque and Physical-game capoeira both needed and allowed Christian love - Charitas.
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Sadly, in the 20th and 21th century, this feature of capoeira appears to be dead.
Both de iure - much effort has been spent to 'blackify' capoeira, so it is all Exu and Ogum, but no Christ. How dare you suggest that capoeira has anything to do with the 'religion of evil white slavemasters'?
But also de facto - I do not feel any love in the modern practice of capoeira. There is pride, violence, arrogance, sometimes magic and treachery(malandragem); but love is altogether missing.
Yet, if you want, you can still try to play the old, love-driven capoeira. And Batuque is a good start.
If you got this far, let me go even deeper.
In the common view, martial arts and love are the opposites: While fighting, you hurt the opponent, injure him, or kill him. For most people, this is the opposite of love.
And indeed, on the basest level, it is.
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Most people, when they fight, fight out of hate. They hate the opponent and so they want to destroy him. Some fighters even go as far they try to make themselves angry before the fight; or dehumanize the opponent, so they can hate him even more.
Modern propaganda is based on dehumanizing the enemy; WW1 media portrayed the Germans as killing little babies with their bayonets.
This, however, is primitive level of fighting; and also an evil one (and spiritually unhealthy one too, but that is beyond the topic of this article).
When you fight because you hate the opponent, not only you are being evil; you also prevent yourself from using real martial arts. Your judgement is clouded, your body is tense, your high-level powers are blocked.
This is the modern 'combatives' level of fighting - you are angry, fearful, have tunnel vision, your body is tense; so the only techniques you can use are the most basic ones.
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Once you become a competent fighter, however, this changes. All martial arts worth their salt know it: An angry fighter loses when facing a calm fighter.
So all at least somehow advanced martial arts strive to cultivate mental detachment.
You are not angry; you do not hate the opponent. Instead, you calmly destroy him.
Not only this strips the base evil from fighting; it also allows you to use your martial art at a high level. When your mind is free from emotions, your judgement is clear, your body is loose, you can use your high-level powers.
You can fight for good.
This state is not easy to attain, however. It is natural to feel fear or hate when facing an enemy that wants to hurt you. It is natural to tense up and get an adrenaline rush.
This is why old martial arts used meditations and similar methods of mental cultivation.
Thus the modern image of 'practical martial art' that you learn in 3 months is stupid; as only the proper mental cultivation part takes 10+ years.
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And here it gets funny. Meditation, while a powerful mental cultivation method, is more in the style of Asian people. They seem to be naturally inclined to it.
In Brazil, they probably did not meditate that much. However, they discovered another method to attain mental clarity in fighting: Batuque.
As noted above, if you are angry, evil or tense, you have trouble playing Batuque. So Batuque is a great training ground for training yourself to apply your techniques while calm and loose, in fact, in a loving fashion.
Batuque is ideal for this training; because when you apply the bandas, the opponent is standing still; so you do not have to fear his counterattack.
So you are without fear; and can 100%ly concentrate on throwing him with love. (And vice versa, when you are the one being thrown, you can concentrate 100% on taking the fall with love).
I believe it was this 'Batuque mental state' that was later carried over to all old Capoeiragem systems. It is what the '+Seduction1' modifier in their respective gingas means:
It means than even while fighting in a street mass battle, you are mentally and physically loose(+Seduction1). Seduction1 mechanics cannot be done with a tension in your body; and vice versa, with Seduction1, there is no tension; your body is loose.
This is the combat secret of old Capoeiragem that modern capoeira lost, the secret of Peneiracao - the body being loose, the gingas having +Seduction1 modifier. (Modern gingas do not use Seduction1 modificator).
(Protocapoeira ginga also does not have +Seduction1 modification in its ginga; so its players were probably prone to anger).
And the way you trained it was - by playing Batuque.
So unlike Asian martial arts - whose mental state was that of detachment from the world, trained by meditation - old capoeiragem used half-physical, half-mental state of 'Batuque' - the body being +Seduction1, the mind loose, loving and joyful.
This allowed them to fight without succumbing to fear, hate, anger or tension.
(This might also explain the flamboyant techniques used by Carioca and other capoeiragem styles. Modern martial artist would probably say he would never stand on his hands in a streetfight (Pantana). However, it is possible the old capoeiras did not care; because they did not have this tenseness about fighting. They were both mentally and physically loose (Peneiracao is +Seduction1); which was a product of training Batuque).
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Before we move on, I want to stress one thing: Do not underestimate mental state.
Many people underestimate the role of proper mental state in fighting, because unlike fighting techniques, it cannot be 'seen' or shown in movies.
However, mental state is the most important in combat, even more than any fighting technique or tactics.
As without proper mental state, you cannot apply your tactical scheme; and sophisticated combat techniques.
If, when the opponent attacks me, I become fearful, hateful, or angry, I already lost; as I will be only able to apply the most basic of techniques. Any martial art I have trained for many years will be useless.
Proper mental state is the base of any real martial art.
So the 'Batuque mental state' is immensely important is you want to fight using old capoeiragem. In fact, it is indispensable.
Which only gets us to the beginning: Train the freaking Batuque!
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But where is the titular love, then?
Well, by cultivating either the mental detachment of Asian martial arts; or the 'Batuque mental state' of capoeiragem; you learn to not feel negative emotions when facing an opponent (fear, hate, anger...).
From this, something amazing can happen:
Once you do not feel hate to the opponent, or fear, you can start feeling compassion for him. Instead of killing the one who wants to hurt you, you can stay that killing technique; and instead, use something more humane.
This goes beyond the rational 'eye for an eye'; 'use your most powerful weapon'; this is acting out of love.
Love means that you give somebody a mercy he does not deserve.
It is here where true martial arts begin; when you are able to show love/mercy to somebody who tries to do you harm.
If it reminds you of 'love your enemies' commandment of the New testament, it is probably not accidental.
"Love your enemies", however, does not meant you cannot fight them at the same time! "Love your enemies" does not mean pacifism.
It is in a fight where your love for your enemies is really put to the test.
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This is where the blend of martial arts and love start to make sense:
Loving somebody who loves you back is easy. Loving somebody because he does good things for you is probably not a real love.
Real love is loving somebody who does not deserve it.
Thus if you love your opponent, only this is the real love.
And real martial arts allow this love to blossom.
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In fact, there is even one Capoeiragem system that is almost on this level. It is the Bahian physical-game capoeiragem.
While it is primarily a game, not combat; to do it properly, you have to have an 'absurd love' to the other player.
To fearlessly enter the challenges of Bahian physical-game - risking your own health and perhaps your life - you have to love the other player even though he does not deserve it.
Thus in certain way, Bahian physical-game capoeira takes Batuque a step further, mentally. But that is a topic for another article.
Conclusion
But this is as far as I can take you, my dear reader; as my own understanding of this complex topic is limited.
Still, I believe you can go even farther; that you can blend martial arts and love even deeper.
However, to conclude:
Martial arts based on the mental state of fear, hate and anger are the lowest level of fighting.
For a real martial art, you need a trained mental state that allows you to fight without fear, hate and anger.
I gave you two examples I know of:
- the meditation-produced detachment of eastern martial arts
- the 'Batuque mental state' of old capoeiragem that allows you to fight with love and looseness
Both mental states, at high enough level, can be turned into love; love to your opponent.
Which is one of the greatest miracles human body and mind is capable of. And it is hidden in martial arts.
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