As I wrote in my other article, unlike my friend Elias, I am not a big fan of "Elias' guard" in Carioca.
However, unlike certain other modern guards, Elias' guard certainly had a place in old Carioca capoeiragem.
Here you can see it being done properly:
Properly, that means, Snake+Seduction1 mechanics; using Snake-cloak that throws opponent's targetting off.
Watch the backward arch of the whole body, front foot almost without weight on it. This is not because there is something wrong with the men's spines; that is the proper posture that produces the Snake-cloak (Snake+Seduction1 mechanics). Also note the razors.
Here you can see it done semi-properly (Burlamaqui, 1928):
Semi-properly, that means, just Snake mechanics - without the Seduction1, thus without the Snake-cloak (watch the missing backward arch). But still at least using enough proper mechanics so you can throw most real Carioca techniques from the guard (but NOT the razor cuts; which makes Burlamaqui's guard okay for sport, but unsuitable for real Carioca!)
So this is a physical version of Elias' guard, an ignorance, a degeneration, but still somewhat functional. Unlike some others:
I already publishes a few articles about how people today try to recreate Peneiraçao, and fail.
Unfortunatelly, even Elias' guard has not escaped modern vandalization.
This gentleman, for instance, claims to teach 'Guarda na capoeiragem Carioca'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVFmLJadfMk
Yet, what he teaches is not the real Elias' guard (Snake+Seduction1 mechanics); it is not even the semi-proper version of Elias' guard (Snake mechanic). It is done using Rooster mechanics(instead of Snake) and thus has nothing to do with old Capoeira Carioca.
I would not even comment on it - let everybody train when they like - but I would like to warn people that will come after me: This is NOT capoeira Carioca. This is NOT the traditional Elias' guard, as demonstrated by Burlamaqui and others. This is just some home-brew ignorant simulacra.
Of course it does not have Snake cloak. But it does not even have proper mechanics so you cannot throw cabeçadas, bandas and rasteiras out of it. Go ahead, throw Cocada from it!
Instead, the man throws various suspicious frontkicks and an inventive version of Vingativa that has you laying down on your side (slug Vingativa)?
Moreover, real Elias' guard works with a razor in your hand (as is immediately obvious from the pictures above). But the gentleman's 'guard' cannot be done with a razor (try it!).
So this is the final nail in the coffin - how it can be 'Guarda na capoeiragem Carioca' when you cannot throw any old Carioca techniques from it?
If you cannot use razor from it, it is not "capoeiragem Carioca" guard, you dummy! (see the pictures above for proof)
To keep people from stumbling into holes (as is the case with the 'Guarda na capoeiragem Carioca' above), let me write several short notes on Elias' guard, which is the only real 'Guarda na capoeiragem Carioca'.
As noted, properly, you must use Snake+Seduction1 mechanics for the guard. Physically, that keeps your hands separated quite wide; and your back arched backward (never straight or bending over); all your weight on your back foot, your front foot almost weightless.
Any guard where you are standing straight or bent forward is not Elias' guard; and thus not a proper Carioca guard.
See also our video:
Done properly, this position creates Snake-cloak skill; that will fool opponent's sense of targetting, making you much harder to hit.
For this reason, tactically, the primary purpose of the guard is defensive; ie the tactical entry associate with it is counter (versus jab and guardbreaker):
When the opponent is agressive, you assume Elias' guard (Snake+Seduction1, ie with Snake-cloak).
(I stress again that this is only wise in one-on-one fighting; as Elias' guard is static, so it would make you an easy target when there are more opponents).
The opponent will try to strike you, but because of your Snake-cloak, will probably miss. And you can use this opportunity to counterattack.
The easiest counter is of course the razor cut, if you have a razor. There are two counters, one easy and one hard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEMB265Vxc
There are the classic barehanded counters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjbuRDhAhjk
And even some club ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl4U2maJW_A
But you can use almost any real Carioca technique (I have a lot of them on my site) - except most bandas, that is.
On the other hand, when the opponent is passive, Elias' guard is not a good tactical choice.
In that case, you would either use Peneiraçao to move around and attack; or, in the decadent age of Carioca (around 1920s), you would use Snake-cloak entry. I will try to document this decadent Snake-cloak system Carioca soon; to show you how they used the traditional Carioca techniques without Peneiraçao after Carioca had degenerated.
And this gets us to an interesting topic - the probable genesis of Elias' guard.
In the golden age of Capoeira Carioca (1850-1900), capoeiras from Rio used Peneiraçao for fighting, as that is the only real choice in mass battles. (As I write elsewhere, Peneiraçao was derived from ginga when capoeiras needed to fight more opponents).
If your opponent equips Peneiraçao against you, your only real defence is to equip your own Peneiraçao; otherwise, you are a sitting duck. It is bothersome to fight Peneiraçao with a static guard.
But, here is a problem. When the fight becomes Peneiraçao vs Peneiraçao, it is a contest of Peneiraçao-skills - the man with better Peneiraçao wins.
So when you got into a Peneiraçao battle with the opponent, and found out your Peneiraçao was less powerful (or you just knew your Peneiraçao sucked) - what now?
Well, that is when you equiped Elias' guard.
That is why the guard is so defence-centered - because you used it when you were overwhelmed with the aggressive Peneiraçao of your opponent.
When your own Peneiracao started to crumble under the pressure of opponent's Peneiracao, you pulled into Elias' guard to survive.
Elias' guard was thus probably first created as a desperate counter against opponent's more powerful Peneiracao.
This is why it is static and countering-oriented - because your skill were not good enough to attack, so you were confined to defending and countering - other opponents be damned.
You can try it even today - do Peneiraçao and imagine it crumbling from the frontal pressure of opponent's superior Peneiraçao, pressing you onto your back foot - and you will get Elias' guard.
It allows you to still somehow match the agility of Peneiraçao; you could call it, with a bit of oversimplification, a Peneiraçao-counter.
(Oversimplification - first because it was not a counter, but more of a desperate defence; and second, because a high-level Peneiraçao would crush even Elias' guard).
So in the golden age of Carioca, using Elias' guard was nothing to write home about - it was a sign your Peneiraçao was weak.
--
However, as I note in another article, around 1900, Carioca started to degenerate and Peneiraçao went out of fashion. As to why is beyond the scope of this article; perhaps it went together with the dissapearence of street mass battles and their replacement with one-on-one fighting.
When Peneiraçao dissapeared, suddently, Elias' guard got to the top of the food chain. If you do not use it to save yourself from opponent's Peneiraçao, it is a good guard; certainly better than any physical guard; and most importantly, you can throw most Carioca techniques from it.
Its only problem was that it was defence-oriented, a base for counters; and you also needed a way to attack.
What to do if you want to avoid Peneiraçao?
And here, they came up with Snake-cloak system. But that is a topic for another article (and a few videos).
Conclusion
Elias' guard was probably first created as a desperate measure when your Peneiraçao crumbled under opponent's Peneiraçao.
But when Carioca degenerated and Peneiraçao dissapeared (around 1920s), Elias' guard started to be used as the main guard; and together with Snake-cloak entries into classic Carioca techniques, formed the decadent Snake-cloak system.
Still, even then the guard had to be done properly - with a Snake-cloak.
Since then, the guard further degenerated:
First, into the Snake-cloak-less version (shown by Burlamaqui).
And finally, into the modern useless simulacra you can find all over the youtube; for example the Rooster guard the gentleman in the video above shows.
Proper 'Carioca guard' (Elias' guard) is arched backward. If you stand straight or even bent over, you are doing it wrong!
Excursus:
There was a parallel line of Carioca degeneration around 1920s'; one that used another decayed part of old Carioca, short Negacas. But that is a topic for another article.
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