O JOGO DO MIUDINHO

“Miudinho is not angola,
Miudinho is not regional,
Miudinho is a sly game,
It’s a game of inside,
It’s a nice game… ”
– Pinauna

“Miudinho não é angola,
Miudinho não é regional,
Miudinho é um jogo manhoso,
É um jogo de dentro,
É um jogo legal…”
– Pinauna

In the 1970s and 1980s, capoeira went through a period of great expansion and popularization throughout the country, achieving a great status in Brazil and abroad. A number of previously unexplored benefits have emerged, such as the introduction of capoeira into the curriculum of educational institutions, the development of training methodologies, the increasing social recognition of capoeira.

This helped to expand the labor markets for capoeiristas to gain jobs with great social values; such as adaptation for students with special needs, reintegration of marginalized children and young people, and capoeira for seniors.

But it didn’t come without damages – some young “masters” altered the training to be more aggressive, which lead to more violence.

During this period, Mestre Suassuna, worried about the direction that capoeira was taking, began to reminisce about the capoeira he played at the end of the 1950s. He then created a training system with the sequences of movements to be learned, experienced and taught.  He set its style to be rich in movements, developed a rhythm and added some elements; after a process that lasted more than fifteen years, it became what is known as Jogo do Miudinho, “Game of the Small.”

The name, “Miudinho” was born in a game of training, where the teacher told his students that they should play closer, and shouted: É pra jogar miudinho!!! (It is to play small !!!)

In the 90’s, he spent and worked on these sequences for his younger disciples who, with a rich and vigorous capoeira, became known as the “Geração Miudinho” (Miudaho Generation).

With supporters all over the world, Mestre Suassuna and his pupils gained students who constantly attend his academy in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood of São Paulo to learn his secrets and mandingas from the capoeira game.

Today, the game of miudinho keeps evolving, and the new generation of students has been very innovative and creative to come up with new sequences.  At the Capoeirando, Mestre Suassuna hosts a miundiho competition where they compete to showcase the best miudinho game.  It is a game that drives creativity and innovation, and it is a foundation of modern Cordão de Ouro style.

Featured Image: CM Ferpa
Original Text By Mestre Boca Rica