The documentary that began together with Mestre Môa do Katendê before his political murder, tells the life story of this capoeirista and founder of Afoxé Badauê, intertwined with the rise of black cultural manifestations in Bahia, based on a last interview left by him.
Follow Black Belt Josette D. Normandeau through six spectacular episodes as she travels the planet to seek out and train with the world’s greatest martial arts masters. Josette sets out to uncover the history and culture that shaped these six martial arts: Aikido in Japan, Savate in France, Capoeira in Brazil, Karate in Okinawa, Muay Thai in Thailand and Kalaripayattu in India.
Based on the life of a legendary capoeira fighter from Bahia, "Besouro" spins a fantastic tale of a young Brazilian man of African descent in search of his mission.
As beautiful and sleek as it is deadly, 52 Blocks merits special conservation efforts as the United States' only existing native martial culture, as it is indeed, the jazz of the martial arts world. Across the African diaspora, there are manifestations of African-derived warrior-dances, capoeira in brazil, mani in Cuba, ladja in Martinique, pinge in Haiti- yet the US offshoot has remained esoteric, because it was suppressed throughout slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow and then obscured in the criminal justice system. The history, interviews and training of the martial arts style that created Breakdance and boxing greats like Mike Tyson.
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