It’s a sport, yet it’s non-competitive

Like martial arts, it pits one person against another, yet it’s cooperative. It’s a game, yet there is no winner.

The popularity of capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form, has reached Ann Arbor.

"A lot of people think it comes from break dancing, but actually break dancing came from capoeira, when they added hip-hop music to it in the 1970s,” said instructor Van “Manhoso” Robins  II, 32, of Ypsilanti. “A lot of people think it’s break dancing and fighting."

The popularity of capoeira has spread around the globe as it has appeared in a number of movies and video games, Robins said.

"It’s a cool way to work out. It’s not like karate, it’s Brazilian,” said Graham Kuras, 11, of Chelsea. “You don’t get hurt, you don’t get punched and start to bleed. It’s not choppy like karate. It’s more fluid."

Dance, music and martial arts are combined to offer two youth capoeira classes at the Ann Arbor school district’s Community Education and Recreation classes at Scarlett Middle School.

"It develops your mind and your body,” Robins said. “You will become more flexible and stronger. It’s not about what you can do. It’s about what you gain.”

Unlike many sports and even some martial arts, it’s safe, he said. “There is non-verbal dialogue. One person isn’t trying to beat the other person up. It’s beautiful, not brutal."

Capoeira begins when the group gathers in a circle with the master singing a song. The group joins in, singing and playing instruments.

Play begins when two people meet in the circle’s center and begin making their moves: Flips, handstands, head spins, hand spins, twists and kicks in between rhythmic dance steps as the two players move around one another

Like a ballroom dance, another player cuts in simply by entering the circle and nodding toward a player, who then leaves the center of the circle.

Robins started a capoeira club at Washtenaw Community College, has offered classes in Chelsea and teaches it at Eastern Michigan University.“Capoeira is like a game, but it’s not battling,” he said. “It’s like playing chess. There are challenges, but also a lot of synergy. You don’t play against the other person, you play with them. But you’re still challenging them. It’s a mutual understanding.”

Story and photos by Janet Miller, a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. 

Photo 1: Student Graham Kuras, 11, of Chelsea, does a kick inside the circle at the Capoeira class at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor. Photo 2: Student Kerik Barnes, 10, of Ann Arbor, perfects his head spin in the Capoeira class.