Aruanda - Capoeira Apeldoorn

Capoeira traditions are mainly preserved through orality and music, especially ladainhas and corridos. These songs transmit teachings and tell stories of enslaved people, mestres, and legends, ensuring that values of resistance and freedom are passed from generation to generation in the educational and philosophical environment of each school.

The capoeira roda is probably the best-known tradition. In it, practitioners play to the sound of instruments such as berimbau, atabaque, and pandeiro. The music defines the rhythm, the style of the game, and guides the players' behavior.

Mandinga and malandragem are the oldest traditions and the only ones common to all capoeira styles. They represent the art of disguise and intelligence: the capoeirista uses the smile, readiness, reading of the environment, gaze, and deceptive movements to confuse the opponent. This tradition values the ability to overcome challenges through cunning, reflecting the survival tactics used by ancestors in quilombos.

The most important tradition of capoeira is being a lethal martial art without being aggressive. It avoids confrontation and only acts when there is no alternative. Although the strikes target joints, head, spine, and balance — and there are no rules — they were never created to score, show off, or entertain, but to quickly incapacitate when confrontation became inevitable. This requires a great deal of emotional discipline to control any situation in one's favor.