What are the different styles of capoeira?
Although each capoeira group (and each individual capoeirista) develops their own style, the styles of capoeira fall into three main cateogories: Angola, Regional, and Contemporânea. Capoeira regional was created in Salvador in the early 20th century by Mestre Bimba (Manoel dos Reis Machado), who marketed a modified version of capoeira, with a greater emphasis on fighting technique, to the middle- and upper-class populations. Bimba originally called it the Luta Regional Bahiana (Bahian Regional Martial Art), and it later became known as capoeira regional. The older and more traditional form of capoeira was preserved by Mestre Pastinha (Vicente Ferreira Pastinha), Mestre Waldemar, and others. Mestre Pastinha established the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola for the training and promotion of the style that came to be known as capoeira angola. The contemporânea style was primarily developed by Grupo Senzala in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960s. This style heavily influenced capoeira regio
