Capoeira and the physical culture circle: decolonial gingas in physical education

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate how capoeira can be thematized in school Physical Education through the methodology of the physical culture circle, contributing to a critical education committed to decoloniality and the valorization of Afro-diasporic knowledge. This is an exploratory, qualitative study, in the form of an experience report, built upon the reflections and practices developed within the Research Group Corpo, Cultura e Ludicidade (GPCCL/UEM) and Corpo, Diferença e Educação Física (CODEF/UFG). The text is organized into two parts: first, we discuss capoeira as an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice that intertwines game, fight, and dance, forged in Black resistance and historically marginalized within school curricula. Next, we present the proposal of the physical culture circle, structured in four interdependent stages: empirical and contextual reading, thematization and sensitization, experimentation and problematization, and creative dialogical action. The analysis showed that capoeira, when articulated with this methodology, goes beyond technical approaches, allowing its comprehension within broader relations of social power. We conclude that this proposal strengthens the recognition of capoeira as a decolonial pedagogy in Physical Education, opening pathways for teaching committed to the critique of modernity and the coloniality of knowledge.