In 1492 the first wave of Africans were forcefully brought by the Portuguese to South America to be used as slaves in the sugar cane fields. The Africans fought this slavery by freeing their minds, bodies and souls. Candomblé, Batuque and many other art forms were brought with the Africans, as well as the art form which is now called capoeira. Capoeira is African in its underlying philosophies. These philosophies are taught through songs performed in the practice of capoeira, through the mythological histories of the roots of the art form, through the lessons and stories that address both the Afro-Brazilian experience and the tenacity and cleverness of the Afro-Brazilian people to endure. People who practiced capoeira were said to be thugs and vagabonds, but they were in actuality revolutionaries!

Quilombos were fortified cities ran by the escaped Africans and protected by capoeiristas. In 1694, Quilombo dos Palmares, one of the most well-known and led by a man named Zumbi, fought against the Portuguese army, holding them at bay for a great amount of time. The people never gave up and capoeira helped them in their battles.

Capoeira was used not only in direct combat, it also inspired the battle strategy itself: feigning retreat, thus luring the over-confident enemy into remote territories only to strike back at an unsuspecting place and time. During the Paraguay War (1864 to 1870), many capoeiristas were sent to battle in the front line. Slavery was abolished on May 13th1888 and soon after, in 1890, Brazilian president Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca signed an act that prohibited the practice of capoeira nationwide, with severe punishment for those caught. However, the capoeiristas still practiced their art on public holidays, during work free hours and similar occasions. Riots caused by police interference were common. Persecution and punishment were almost successful in eradicating capoeira from the streets of Brazil by the 1920s.