Cabaça
- The hollowed-out gourd attached to the bottom of the berimbau, which functions as a resonator. It is usually the bottle gourd (lagenaria vulgaris). The size of the cabaça affects the sound of the berimbau (see the terms gunga, médio, and viola).
A cabaça e o caxixi e um pedaço de pau
A moeda e o arame, está aí um berimbau
The gourd and the caxixi, and a piece of wood
The coin and the wire; this is a berimbau
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Cabeçada
- A blow with the head (cabeça)
Ai ai Aidê, faz cabeçada, aú com rolê
Ai ai Aidê, do a cabeçada and an aú with a rolê
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Cabeceiro
- A capoeirista who uses many headbutts.
Iê, é cabeceiro, camará
Iê, he is a cabeceiro, comrade
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Caboclo
- Someone of an indigenous father and an African mother.
Pisa caboclo, quero ver você pisar
Step, caboclo, I want to see you step
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Cadê
- Where is?
Adão, Adão, cadê Salomé, Adão?
Adam, Adam, where is Salomé, Adam?
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Caiman (or Caimã)
- A type of small alligator
Onde vai caiman? Vai pra Ilha de Maré
Where are you going, caiman? He’s going to Maré Island
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Cair
- To fall.
Ave Maria, meu Deus, nunca vi casa nova cair
Hail Mary, my God, I never saw a new house fall down
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Cajuê
- Shortened form of cajueiro (cashew tree).
Vou mandar loiá – Cajuê
I’ll send someone to look – Cashew tree
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Calungá
- 1) A secondary deity of Bantu religion, the god of the sea and also of cemeteries;
- 2) A doll carried in processions of Maracatu (see entry for "Maracatu");
- 3) The passage between life and the afterlife.
É preto, é preto, é preto, ô calungá
Capoeira é preta, ô calungá
It’s black, it’s black, it’s black, oh calungá
Capoeira is black, oh calungá
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Camará
- The shortened form of camarada, meaning comrade.
Iê, vamos embora, camará
Let’s go away, comrade
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Camungerê
- The origin and meaning of this term is unknown, but it appears to be a proper name or the name of a place:
Hê hê hê hê / Eu venci a batalha de Camungerê
Hey hey hey hey / I won the battle of Camungerê
Como vai, como vai? / Camungerê / Como vai vosmercê?
How are you, how are you? / Camungerê / How are you doing?
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Candomblé
- An African-Brazilian religion that involves worship of the orixás (deities). Ceremonies involve percussion and chanting in order to summon the orixás to take possession of their followers; while in trance, the followers perform dance movements that are characteristic of the particular orixá that inhabits their head.
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Cantar
- To sing.
Cruz credo, Ave Maria, eu cantava e cantava e ninguém respondia
Holy cross, Hail Mary, I sang and sang and no one responded
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Caxixi
- A rattle made of woven straw, with pebbles, seeds, or small seashells inside. It is of African origin, and is also used in candomblé. In capoeira, the caxixi accompanies the berimbau; it is held by the third and fourth fingers of the berimbau player’s right hand.
A cabaça e o caxixi e um pedaço de pau
A moeda e o arame, está aí um berimbau
The gourd and the caxixi, and a piece of wood
The coin and the wire; this is a berimbau
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Chamada
- Chamadas (meaning "calls") are ritual sub-games within the roda of capoeira angola during which one player pauses and "invites" the player to approach. They are moments of high tension, opportunities for the players to test their partner’s cleverness and lure him into a trap. Read more about chamadas here.
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Chamar
- To call.
Ai ai ai ai, São Bento me chama
Ai ai ai ai, Saint Benedict calls me
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Chão
- Ground, floor.
Bem-ti-vi jogou gameleira no chão
The bem-ti-vi bird threw the fig tree to the ground
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Chorar
- To cry.
O menino chorou, ô nhem nhem nhem
The little boy cried, nyah nyah nyah
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Chula
- The chula, also called the louvação, means "praise." The chula immediately follows the ladainha and consists of single lines sung by the leader alternated with the chorus response, which repeats the leader’s line beginning with iê and ending with camará. It can be as few or as many lines as the leader wants. The lines of the chula vary depending on the message that the leader wants to send, but the chula is usually praise or tribute to a geographical location, a historical person or saint or orixá, the group’s mestre/lineage of capoeira, one or both of the players, etc.
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Cintura Desprezada
- The cintura desprezada ("despised waist") is a series of throws that Mestre Bimba developed and taught to his students of capoeira regional. These throws were designed to teach the capoeiristas how to land lightly and safely, and also how to throw an attacker who grabbed them with a headlock. Mestre Decânio's book The Heritage of Mestre Bimba contains more detailed information on the cintura desprezada.
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Cobra
- Snake.
Olha a cobra lhe morde, Senhor São Bento
The snake bites, Lord Saint Benedict
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Coco
- Coconut.
Vou vender coco sinhá / Coco sinhá que vem do Paraná
I will sell coconut / Coconut from the state of Paraná
- Coco is pronounced with the accent on the FIRST syllable. If you emphasize the second syllable - cocô - it means poop. Consider yourself warned!
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Cocoroco
- Cock-a-doodle-doo.
Iê galo cantou / Iê cocorocô
The rooster crowed / Cock-a-doodle-doo
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Com
- With.
Mas não é com a mão / É com pé que se bate
It’s not with the hand / It’s with the foot that you hit
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Começar
- To start, to begin.
Vamos começar a brincadeira, a brincadeira de capoeira
Let’s begin the playfulness, the playfulness of capoeira
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Comer
- To eat.
Eu vi a cutia com coco no dente / Comendo farinha, olhando pra gente
I saw the cutia with coconut in its mouth / Eating flour, and looking at us
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Como
- How.
Vai você, vai você? / Dona Maria como vai você?
How are you, how are you? / Mrs. Maria, how are you?
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Comprar
- To buy. In capoeira, it may also refer to “buying the game” – cutting into a game in progress in order to play with one of the players.
Dona Maria do Camboatá / Ela chama o menino e manda comprar
Mrs. Maria from Camboatá / She calls the boy and sends him to buy things
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Coração
- Heart.
Capoeira de angola, ela vem do coração
Capoeira de angola comes from the heart
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Corda (or Cordão)
- Rope or cord. In capoeira, refers to the colored cords awarded to players in order to classify their level of graduation in the group.
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Corrido
- Corridos are the call-and-response songs sung when two players are playing in the roda. As with any of the other song types, the leader may sing traditional verses or may improvise them in order to comment on the game or give instructions to the players.
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Cuidado
- Care, caution, careful.
Jogue comigo com muito cuidado / Com muito cuidado que estou machucado
Play with me very carefully / Very carefully, because I’m injured
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Cutia
- A small, rodent-like mammal that feeds on fruit and seeds; there are seven species native to Brazil.
Eu vi a cutia com coco no dente / Comendo farinha, olhando pra gente
I saw the cutia with coconut in its mouth / Eating flour and looking at us
