For UNM's Capoeira fighters, the object is not to land a blow, but to dance.
Every Tuesday night, the Capoeira club gathers to practice a Brazilian national sport.
Former club president, Eric Bierke, said membership is growing steadily as interest takes hold on campus.
"When we started this semester, we were only five, sometimes three," he said. "And we are 20 today - today (Tuesday) was the biggest day."
There is little actual contact between capoeiristas. Opponents battle while enclosed in a circle or roda. Maneuvering gracefully to the hypnotic rhythm of an ensemble of instruments, including Capoeira's signature berimbau, a one-stringed instrument whose twang determines the pace of the game, the players rarely strike each other. Rather, their acrobatic, swaying attacks are performed to complement the responding attack, neither landing a real blow.
Capoeira is a ritualized combat tradition that emerged in 16th century Brazil. Angolan slaves kidnapped and held there were barred from practicing fighting techniques. As a result, the slaves covertly developed Capoeira as a martial art disguised within their traditional African dances. By disciplining the mind and body in self-defense and combat strategy, Capoeira played a role in the slaves' uprising and successful fight against their oppressors.
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Bierke said while Capoeira has more lateral motions, sweeping techniques and reactions to direct kicks, Karate is limited to linear motions.
"There's no martial art that's superior to any other; it's all about the level of dedication of the individual," Bierke said. "There are certain basic movements of certain martial arts that counter others well."
Sebastian Pais, the group's main instructor, said he sees one exception in martial artist Bruce Lee's style.
"(Lee) was moving all the time. He had a rhythm," he said, adding an element the two disciplines share, synthesizing elements of many fighting techniques into one martial art.
Capoeira has evolved in two main branches: Capoeira Regional and Capoeira Angola. UNM's club teaches the more widespread version of Capoeira Regional.
"The contemporary Capoeira is a mixture with the old Capoeira school and oriental martial arts," Pais said.
Pais attributes Capoeira's growing popularity to its amalgamation of popular activities. "It mixes a lot of stuff that people like - singing, music, martial-arts, dancing and acrobatics," he said.
Capoeira's practicality as a real-life self-defense is secondary to its artistic, symbolic and communal qualities, Pais said. Notably, he said he sees parallels between Capoeira's original purpose, and its modern practice.
"We all are slaves, right now, slaves of the system. And Capoeira, all over the world, is like a family," he said. "If you're not like George Bush, you'll like it."
UNM's Capoeira Club, in association with United Capoeira Association based in Berkeley, Calif., has been meeting at UNM for more than four years and is closely integrated with Capoeira Pegadas, Albuquerque's sole Capoeira studio.
