Capoeira Miudinho
A way of playing capoeira introduced by Mestre Suassuna in the 1990s. It is played close in, low, with short and precise movement.
Quick Facts
BrazilCharacter & Origin
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Capoeira Miudinho
About Capoeira Miudinho
Miudinho is not a separate style of capoeira but a way of playing it. Suassuna says so himself: it is a different way of showing capoeira, comparable to traditional variations such as the jogo de Iuna or the jogo de São Bento Grande. This page states it that way, because listing it among styles would mislead the reader. It was introduced by Mestre Suassuna in the 1990s, not in 1970 as previously stood here; that figure probably arose from confusion with the founding of his group Cordão de Ouro in 1967. Suassuna put together roughly twelve individual and two group sequences, which he taught to his younger students. He described the reason himself: he had been watching capoeiristas playing very far apart, and he wanted the game closer, "mais miúdo, mais dentro" — smaller and more inside. Hence the name, since miudinho means "tiny" in Portuguese. Technically this means playing at short range, low to the ground and with short, precisely delivered movements instead of the large sweeping kicks that need space. Miudinho also has its own berimbau rhythm, which Suassuna created for this game, so that it is distinguishable by ear and not only by sight. From Cordão de Ouro the sequences spread further through students such as Boca Rica, Habibs and Kibe, who became known throughout the capoeira world.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.