Capoeira vs Kung-FU

All martial arts styles have something in common. They’re all based on the same objective, the destruction/protection of human anatomy by the use of the human anatomy. In some cases weapons are implemented as well, but they typically serve as extensions of the human anatomy with many empty handed techniques transfering unto the use of weapons.

Still there’s something fascinating about watching two different styles of martial arts pitted against each other. Like watching a fight in the animal kingdom, let’s say a lion facing a tiger. It’s like it poses the question “Who would win?”.

In reality, no two animals are the same and the same goes for martial artists. “It’s about the stylist not the style” and even then “styles make fights”, meaning that even if one fighter is overall superior to the opponent, the opponent may still have the upper hand when they’re pitted against each other, if the opponent’s strength is to exploit a particular weakness the overall better fighter has.

Capoeira and kung fu are both styles often practised without much contact sparring, especially capoeira. Nonetheless both are rooted in fighting (the destructive potential of capoeira had to be hidden in dance, for more on that you can click here) and to unlock the fighting potential of both arts, sparring is essential.

I have sparred against many different types of opponents, not only to unlock the fighting potential of the kung fu I practise every day, but also of other techniques I’ve picked up on my martial journey from training with others and being a huge fan of martial arts.

Below I’ll share two videos of me sparring, using kung fu techniques against capoeira opponents.

The capoeira footwork takes time getting used to and both opponents were unpredictable and great challenges. The first video is the most recent one, this was light contact sparring as you can tell, nonetheless I sustained an injury at the end which took days to recover from.

The second fight was a while back, at the time of writing this, it is my most viewed sparring video on Youtube and while it should make for a fun watch (I hope), it’s probably my worst sparring performance, oh well :p I started out doing animal style kung fu, then started doing more sanshou kung fu/kickboxing like striking and eventually tried to take it to the ground. My opponent (who is the same guy from the clips at the end of the previous video) did some not only fancy but very hard kicks with great power, we both could have done better, though.

I’ve defintely learned a lot since and the fight happened at the end of KCK Warrior Day (you probably haven’t heard of KCK Warrior Day, it was really a special experience I’m proud to have been a part of. If you’re curious schroll down to #5 right here).

Hope you enjoyed the videos and what I had to say about them.