Armada

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Armada is a 360° spinning capoeira kick delivered with the outer edge of the kicking foot; the Tucson Capoeira glossary describes it as the basic standing spinning kick. The name means armed, and its other name, meia lua de costas, translates as back half-moon. The capoeirista plants one foot forward, turns the head and torso 180° towards the target, and the legs rotate in the same direction; the torso acts as a spring that drives the leg into motion. Together with meia lua de frente, queixada, chapa de costas and bênção, armada is one of the kicks that define capoeira's repertoire. It is used in both Regional and Angola, though each tradition places a different emphasis on how aggressively it is performed. Da Costa cites it as the best example of a deceptive strike: the capoeirista seems to turn their back on the opponent, but continues the motion and carries the leg past them. Among the variants are armada dupla (envergado), armada com martelo combined with the hammer kick martelo, and the jumping armada pulada, which is the riskiest: a bad landing carries the risk of serious injury, including a skull fracture.