Grupo Axé Capoeira began in Recife in 1982.

Today, as Canada's first academy of Capoeira, the Group continues to rise as one of the world's leading Capoeira organizations. Backed by worldwide releases of six albums of music on CD, several VHS and DVD performance releases and the four Volume Instructional DVD compilation, enrollment continues to steadily increase with over 8000 students from all over the world.

The Group continues to travel around the world and participate in competitions and has participated in the 2001 International Capoeira Competition in Argentina. Furthermore, Grupo Axé Capoeira is renowned as a traveling group which promotes the history, music, art, and culture of Brazil in interactive and educational demonstrations.

Philosophy & Methodology

The philosophy of Grupo Axé Capoeira is to respect all the mestres, preserve the roots and traditions of Capoeira, and train Capoeira in all its aspects: as a fight, art, and culture. We endeavor to teach and educate so that capoeira will grow in a positive healthy way. We attempt to pass on to the students physical and mental methods of training so that they learn to create situations and maintain a dialogue within the game. By playing both with friends and enemies, students learn to deal with any situation in or out of the roda. In North America, we not only teach movements, but the Brazilian language and customs as well, so that the students may become true capoeiristas.

Objectives

Axé Capoeira is working hard to ensure that Capoeira has a strong future. Through research, travel and participating in events, we hope to increase our knowledge in the art and contribute to the evolution of Capoeira. Our goal is for Capoeira to be placed among the most widely practiced and respected martial art forms in the world.