Philosophizing with Capoeira / by Lucas dos Reis Martins Eu aqui não sou querido, mas na minha terra eu sou. Paranauê. (Cantiga de Capoeira) Capoeira is critical philosophy. To practice capoeira means to philosophize with your own body as a whole and with the bodies of others in the encounter in the roda [capoeira circle] and in the constant struggle of resistance to exist in the world. Just as Mestre Cúrio said “Brazil has nothing to teach Capoeira, but Capoeira has a lot to teach to Brazil”, I say “academic philosophy has nothing to teach Capoeira, but Capoeira can teac h academic philosophy a lot”. I think that Polylog can be experienced critically and coherently in a roda of Capoeira much more than in philosophy colloquia and university lecture halls. Capoeira is philosophy from below, the fruit of the meeting of the wretched of earth (Fanon) and their joint struggle against European structures of colonization. Capoeira is the confluence of African practices and Amerindian peoples who were oppressed in the territory known today as Brazil. The elements of singing, fighting, the sound of the berimbau [instrument], the drums, candomblé, are all part of this philosophizing that even today confronts and challenges the structures of oppression that make philosophy nothing more than an ideological instrument with the aim of preventing critical thinking (Oliver Precht, 2020). I practiced Capoeira for ten years on the outskirts of Campinas, a large city in Brazil, in a social project that involved grassroots Liberation Theology communities. I was forced to give up training when I entered the University of Campinas, an elite university, and had to take the bus to get to the other side of the city. In Capoeira I incorporated African and Amerindian traditions through the movements, songs, presentations and life examples of our mestres. My friend Michelle, who trained with me and never stopped, is now a contramestre and changes the lives of children and teenagers in the neighborhood where I grew up in Campinas as a in our Coquinho Baiano group. Mestre Bimba, the creator of Capoeira regional, drew inspiration from Japanese martial arts in order to internationalize Capoeira. In our group, we always trained our own style together with capoeira Angola and respected it as the most difficult form of Capoeira, but our reference was Mestre Bimba. Bimba can be compared to Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, and Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. However, he faced the fate that intellectuals in the Global South often face and even at the end of his life he didn't have the international recognition that Kano and Ueshiba enjoy. Today I practice Aikido and see parallels between Capoeira and Aikido. Philosophy still has a lot to learn in order to create inclusive spaces where critical thinking can take place and be cultivated together. Capoeira teaches us how a philosophy that comes from below can be strong and resistant. We have learned to philosophize with fear. Capoeira can teach us to philosophize without fear. Axé! Lucas dos Reis Martins / Hildesheim, Germany. 25.03.2025