The main male character in my thriller novel, The New Dawn, is skilled in capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art.
Capoeira is a fighting style, a dance, a sport, and even an art form. When I first watched a video of capoeira in practice, I was mesmerized by its simultaneous ability to be beautiful and lethal. The more I learned about its history and influence in present-day Brazil, the more I knew I had to showcase this dynamic, unique combat style in my book.
The First Spark
Early on in my writing process, I stumbled upon a video on YouTube about a community in Brazil offering capoeira classes to children, the goal to help them keep out of gangs, get community support, and find great role models. I cannot remember how I found the video, but it impacted me.
After that first encounter, I sought more information on the historical and present-day culture of capoeira. I watched a couple documentaries I found through my library featuring interviews with people whose lives had been positively influenced by capoeira. I learned that the dance influence in this combat form was integrated in order to disguise the practice of fight as a harmless dance. Capoeira history is connected to slave trades and the pursuit of freedom. In present day, in the favelas of Brazil—the slums—capoeira can be a beacon of hope and safety to kids. They can find role models, learn skills and discipline in a craft, and it keeps them safe from being caught in dangerous activities.
That is amazing. These leaders in the community I heard speak on YouTube were so passionate.
I wanted to showcase this in my thriller.
Learning Capoeira Movements & Music
To write about capoeira, I needed to learn it.
An obvious avenue was to take some classes. However, due to some then-recent hip surgeries, taking an active class that required unique and impressive movement patterns was not realistic. Unless I took private lessons, which was a financial commitment I was not prepared to make. So I returned to YouTube.
I watched capoeira tutorials on YouTube to learn about the basic movements and rhythms and mentalities. I watched documentaries and took notes on the mentality of capoeiristas, as well as some particularly dangerous combat moves, such as the banda de costa.
I learned about the traditional circle they create within which to fight, the roda. I listened to traditional capoeira music and learned about the musical instruments used—the berimbau, caxixi, atabaque, and pandeiro. While writing my capoeira sequences, I listened to this music.
I did my best with readily available resources.
Capoeira in My Novel
About the time I found that initial short YouTube video, I’d been searching for ways to make the second protagonist in my novel The New Dawn, André Torres, distinct from the sea of male thriller characters skilled in combat. How can I make my male protagonist different than the cookie cutter ex-military stereotype? How can he stand out?
The answer was capoeira.
My character was born and raised in Brazil. Capoeira was his lifeline in childhood, as it was for those kids I watched in documentaries. André Torres isn’t a former SEAL or Green Beret or any other ex-military soldier who became ridiculously good at his job. André Torres grew up with capoeira as a part of his childhood, and I love that.
To the best of my ability, I’ve integrated the mentality of capoeira, the music of this martial art, and the skills of it into my novel. To see how, you’ll have to read my book when it’s published. And when you do, I hope you fall in love with this element of André Torres’s character as much as I have. And maybe you’ll watch some documentaries on capoeira too.
Now, a capoeira expert may have comments on my details. I know I’m not a capoeirista. I’m just a fiction author doing my best, and I’m SO excited to share this story with you!