Seattle Capoeira Center — Attraction in Seattle

I initially started Capoeira because I was mesmerized by the movements and wanted to improve my flexibility and ability to move fluidly. I was surprised to see how much more the SCC offers. CM Manganga is very passionate about honoring the legacy of Capoeira and shares about its history, practice, and significance. I was also exposed to the music and was thrown right into playing an instrument and learning to sing in Portuguese on the fly. There have been many moments of being thrown in and learning on the fly, which although awkward and uncomfortable at times, have really helped me loosen up and smooth out my rigid and rough edges. The things I learn here and in the roda transfer to all aspects of my life outside of the SCC. The community at SCC is very warm. They provide room for people to authentically express themselves and have offered me an understanding and contained place to grow myself and develop areas of my personality I have spent much of my life suppressing. The Capoeira journey here feels like a holy cycle of death and rebirth. I am very grateful for this place, CM Manganga, and all the people who make the SCC the thriving community that it is. I highly recommend the SCC to anyone who feels the slightest tug to learn more about Capoeira. If it is something you commit to for the long haul, you can expect to discover yourself here and in the roda. You can also expect CM Manganga to challenge you in ways that push up against your boundaries of comfort, which are also the very places where the greatest growth is to...

First week training at Washington Capoeira Center - Capoeira Angola Palmares and I love it. Shows me I need to practice relaxing and not be so stiff, empowering my inner warrior spirit I feel so alive afterwards. Combining my interests of movement, incorporating my own style, community, rhythm, culture, music and so much more.

Basically learning another language ha, I like the challenge!

Learning Portugese verses in singing, and playing instruments at the same time is a steep learning curve but if its too easy its no fun right!?

"It is generally agreed that the seeds of Capoeira were sown by the African slaves taken from the region of Angola. The original movements were based on a courtship dance called “The Zebra Dance,” in which men would engage in mock fights for the right to marry. In Brazil, this ritual dance evolved into a form of self-defense whose movements emphasized attacks with the head and feet, including head butts, sweeps, and kicks from a handstand position. Portuguese slave owners outlawed its practice because they recognized that Capoeira was used as a form of resistance. However, instead of being suppressed, Capoeira’s movements of attack and defense were blended with dance steps and acrobatics so that the plantation overseer would instead see a strange but harmless dance. The slaves also began using musical instruments, such as the berimbau and the atabaque, as a way to disguise Capoeira. Different rhythms were even created to alert capoeiristas of approaching danger and avoid...

As a capoerista who's trained off and on with various schools for over 15 years, I made it a point to try out each of the 6 or something different schools in the greater Seattle area before committing to one to train with primarily (after relocating to Seattle). Seattle Capoeira Center is that one.

Despite being committed to a different school and style, I was and am continuously welcomed by Mestre Manganga, his professors, and all of his students. In addition to this, it was immediately apparent that the school does a phenomenal job balancing its education amongst all its members in not just the movements, but music, history, philosophy, and spirituality simultaneously. I've really never seen a group who's leaders can do this, and with such care and attention towards every individual. Additionally, It seems to me that everyone there wants to soak it all up and grow in all those dimensions.

In addition to the immediate benefits and offerings outlined above, I also picked Mestre Manganga and his school because they seem to be doing the most for Capoeira in general in the PNW. They are the only school that hosts a weekly roda (which is truly and sincerely welcoming to capoeiristas of any level and school), brings in teachers and masters from other schools and places to share wisdom, and is constantly looking for avenues to spread capoeira and bring more...