Boca de Calça
Boca de Calça
Literally: mouth of the trousers
A capoeira takedown in which the attacker grabs the opponent's ankles or trouser legs with both hands and unbalances them with a sharp pull.
Quick Facts
About
The name boca de calça literally means "mouth of the trouser leg" in Portuguese, referring to grabbing the trouser leg. It is a capoeira takedown in which the attacker grabs the opponent's ankles or trouser legs and unbalances them with a sharp pull. The Portuguese Wikipedia describes the move as pulling both of the opponent's legs by hand, which can be followed by a headbutt (cabeçada). Per lalaue.com, when gripping it is recommended to cross the hands: the right hand takes the opponent's right leg, the left the left, protecting against a counterattack during the pull. The English Wikipedia lists boca de calça among capoeira's standard sweeps and takedowns, alongside rasteira, tesoura, arrastão and vingativa. Per lalaue.com, it belongs to the techniques taught in the Briga de rua branch, street-fighting capoeira, at intermediate level; the same source also lists an advanced variant, boca de calça de costas. It differs from rasteira, described by the English Wikipedia as a leg sweep, in that it works with the hands. It differs from vingativa in that vingativa hooks the opponent's leg with its own leg and throws them with the upper body. We have not been able to document who introduced the technique or since when it has been practised in capoeira.