Evolve Miami Team
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- Two workouts — legs and upper body, six videos
- Lesson videos — kicks, handstands and acrobatics
- Programs — how adults, kids and teens train
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A look at what is inside
All set.
Opening your experience…
Welcome. Here is your first look inside Capoeira.
Your First Look Inside Capoeira
A guided preview of the movement, training, culture, and learning path inside Evolve Miami Team.
This page was built for someone who is curious but has never practiced Capoeira. You do not need flexibility, coordination, rhythm, strength, or previous experience before starting. Those are qualities you develop through training. Everyone starts where they are, and that is completely normal.
Section 01
Start Here: Your Intro to Capoeira
This is the main introductory class. Follow along and you will get a real first experience of Capoeira — how the body moves, how rhythm connects to movement, and what a class actually feels like.
Give yourself room
Create a safe amount of space around you before you start. Clear anything you could bump into.
Work inside your own limits
Pause and repeat any section as many times as you need. Nothing here is a test, and there is no pace you are supposed to keep.
No experience needed
The class introduces the basics from the beginning. If a movement feels new, that is exactly where it should feel new.
Section 02
Two Beginner Workouts
In class we use supportive movements — strength, mobility, stability, coordination, balance and endurance work — because they make Capoeira easier to learn. These two workouts are your starting point.
Legs Workout
Build leg strength — the foundation of every Capoeira movement, every kick, every escape.
In Capoeira your legs are your engine. Every ginga, every esquiva, every kick starts from the ground up. Leg strength means more power in your attacks, more stability in your escapes, and more endurance in the roda.
This workout targets your quads, hamstrings, glutes and hip stabilisers — the exact muscles that drive Capoeira movement.
Set 1 · 3 to 4 rounds
Squat Focus
- Slow Squat 8 to 12 reps — 3s down, 3s hold, 2s up
- Squat Hold 30 sec to 1 min hold
- Cocorinha 10 reps — deep squat position
Set 2 · 3 to 4 rounds
Hip Hinge & Bridges
- Hip Hinge 8 to 12 reps — hinge at the hips
- Bridges 10 to 15 reps — squeeze at the top
- Esquiva Lateral 5 to 10 reps each side
Set 3 · 3 to 4 rounds
Sumo & Lunges
- Sumo Squat 15 reps — wide stance, toes out
- Lunges 8 to 10 reps each leg
- Lateral Leg Raise 15 reps each leg — controlled
How to train: Complete 3 to 4 rounds of each set before moving to the next. Rest 60–90 seconds between rounds. Focus on control and form over speed.
Upper Body Workout
Build upper body strength — the power behind every ginga, every attack, every handstand.
In Capoeira your upper body is your shield and your engine. Strong arms and shoulders power your au (cartwheel), your handstands, your negativa and your ginga. A strong back keeps you upright and balanced in every movement.
This workout targets your chest, back, shoulders and biceps — the muscles that make your Capoeira movement stronger, safer and more explosive.
Set 1 · 3 to 4 rounds
Chest & Back
- Chest Press / Push Up 8 to 12 reps — full range of motion
- Rows 8 to 12 reps — squeeze shoulder blades
Set 2 · 3 to 4 rounds
Shoulders
- Front Raise 8 to 12 reps — controlled, no swinging
- Side Raise 8 to 12 reps — arms to shoulder height
- Rear Flies 8 to 12 reps — hinge forward, open wide
Set 3 · 3 to 4 rounds
Arms & Handstand Prep
- Biceps Curl 8 to 12 reps — slow on the way down
- Negativa Push Up 10 reps each side — low and controlled
- Toes Tap 10 to 20 reps — core engaged throughout
- Handstand Walk Prep 10 reps — build shoulder stability
How to train: Complete 3 to 4 rounds of each set before moving to the next. Rest 60–90 seconds between rounds. Focus on control and full range of motion.
Repeat each workout for at least three weeks before moving on. Repetition is not a delay in Capoeira — it is how the foundation gets built.
Section 03
Types of Training
Capoeira does not develop through one kind of class or one kind of exercise. Every week you work on several different things at once, and they support each other.
Ginga & Movement
The ginga is the heart of Capoeira and it is in every class. It teaches rhythm, timing, positioning, coordination, expression and balance — almost every other skill connects back to it.
Technique
Escapes and kicks, practiced separately and on both sides. For every kick you learn, you also learn the escape that answers it, so you develop both sides of Capoeira from the start.
Supportive Movements
Squats, planks, core work, mobility and coordination drills. These build the strength, stability, flexibility, balance and endurance that make Capoeira movements possible.
Educational Movements
When a movement is difficult, we break it into smaller parts, practice each part, then put the pieces back together. You learn faster and you build confidence along the way.
Music & Rhythm
Capoeira rhythms, songs, singing, and an introduction to the instruments. Music is not background — it communicates with the players and shapes how the game is played.
Partner Practice & the Roda
Applying what you practiced inside a real game: connection, flow, timing, decision-making, and understanding how techniques fit together as a conversation.
CapoFit: the physical side, on its own
CapoFit uses elements of Capoeira, but its focus is building the physical capability that lets you move better and train better — strength, stability, mobility, flexibility, endurance. Some students start with CapoFit because they do not yet feel physically ready for a Capoeira class, then move into Capoeira feeling much more prepared. The two work together.
Section 04
Technique Preparation
You do not need to arrive ready. The program is designed to help you become ready.
Think of it like building a house
First you need the ground — your basic physical capability. The ability to move, balance, coordinate, squat, rotate, support your own weight, and know where your body is in space.
Then the foundation — translating that capability into the Capoeira game: distance, timing, rhythm, and reading what is happening around you.
Then the structure, and only then the decoration: expression, style, creativity, advanced movements.
Most people want to start with the decoration — the acrobatics, the fast games, the impressive techniques. Without the ground and the foundation, those things do not last. So we build the ground first.
What preparation actually develops
- Strength and stability, so movements feel supported
- Mobility and flexibility, especially through the hips, spine, shoulders and ankles
- Coordination and balance, built one piece at a time
- Rhythm, which organizes movement, timing and interaction
- Control and body awareness — knowing where you are in space
How it works in practice
Acrobatics are a clear example. For handstands, students do not simply jump upside down. We start with plank variations, wall-supported work, and progressive drills. Each step prepares you for the next one.
Preparation is part of learning, not a test you must pass before you are allowed to begin. Every student progresses at their own pace, and progress does not arrive on the same schedule for everyone.
Section 05
What Becomes Possible
Everything advanced in Capoeira begins with beginner foundations. Here is what students actually find on the other side of consistent training.
Movement discovery
Ground movement, animal-inspired movement, moving upside down, rotating, shifting weight. Acrobatics build a level of body awareness that is difficult to find elsewhere, and put you in positions most adults rarely experience.
Creativity and expression
Two people can know the same techniques and play completely differently. Over time you develop your own game, your own rhythm, and your own way of expressing yourself through movement.
Confidence through experience
Adults often stop exploring movement because they become afraid of looking awkward or making mistakes. Confidence here is not a slogan — it comes from doing something this week you could not do last month.
New physical skills
The handstand. The cartwheel. The bridge. A kick that finally connects to the escape that answers it. Each one is taught progressively and safely, built from strength and stability first.
Seeing real people progress
Students in our school have discovered a talent for music, become performers, competitors, leaders and teachers. Teenagers who arrived with very little confidence have slowly become leaders.
A game that becomes a conversation
At some point the game stops feeling like memorized techniques and starts feeling like a conversation — you read your partner, respond, and build a moment together.
“Capoeira is like learning a new language. If you constantly try to translate everything back into something you already know, you will struggle to understand it. At some point, you must be willing to empty your cup and experience Capoeira on its own terms.”
Mestre Cabeção
Section 06
Capoeira Lesson Preview
Two pieces of the curriculum, up close.
Attacks
Students learn the basic Capoeira attacks — kicks like the meia lua de frente, queixada, armada and meia lua de compasso. Each one is introduced slowly, practiced on both sides, and paired with the escape that answers it.
This is not fighting instruction. In Capoeira the goal is not to end the interaction as quickly as possible — it is to create a dialogue. A kick has real purpose, and you trust your partner to respond and keep the game going.
Lesson
Attacks: Full Lesson
The complete walkthrough. Take what you need — you can pause, repeat, and come back to it.
Kick
Queixada
One of the first kicks students learn. Watch the direction of the turn and where the balance sits.
Combination
Double Kick
How two attacks connect together — the beginning of thinking in combinations instead of single movements.
Acrobatics
Handstand, cartwheel (au), and bridge. Beginners do not start with flips, and nobody is asked to perform a movement before they are ready for it. We build strength, stability and confidence first, then add the movement.
The bridge in particular is valuable for adults, because it helps open the body and counteract long hours of sitting.
Handstand · Part 1
Building the Handstand
Start here. Strength and stability come before going upside down.
Handstand · Part 2
Handstand Progressions
The next steps once the foundation is holding. Each drill prepares you for the one after it.
Ground Movement
Animal Movements
Getting comfortable supporting yourself on your hands and moving close to the floor. Playful, and harder than it looks.
This is a small piece of it
What you see here is a preview. In class you learn far more — the escapes that answer each kick, how to read distance and timing, the ginga underneath everything, the music and the instruments, how to play with a partner in the roda, and the culture the whole art comes from. None of it is learned from a screen. It is learned with people, in a room, at your own pace.
Section 07
The Six Elements of Capoeira
Capoeira is not simply a martial art. It is not simply a dance, or a game, or music, or culture. It is all of those things happening at the same time, constantly influencing one another.
Music
Music is the glue that connects everything. It is not background sound — the rhythm communicates with the players, influences the energy, and helps determine how the game should be played. Students learn the rhythms, the songs, how to sing, and how to listen. Capoeira is an oral culture, and its songs carry the names, events and lessons of generations. To sing is to remember.
Dance
Dance is the movement system that connects everything together. It includes the footwork, body movement, rhythm, flow, fakes, feints and positioning that let players move through the game. Like a dance, players lead and follow each other, creating a constant conversation through movement. Historically it also helped disguise the martial side of the art.
Martial Art
Kicks, sweeps, takedowns, escapes, hand and knee attacks. Unlike many martial arts that rely on blocking, Capoeira's defense is built on escapes and evasive movement — you move out of the way and immediately position yourself to respond. Understanding the intention behind a movement matters as much as the movement itself.
Acrobatics
Some acrobatic movements help with flow and transitions. Others create openings, change angles, or reposition a player. Some stay close to the ground; others involve cartwheels and aerial movement. They develop coordination, strength, mobility and a level of body awareness that is difficult to find elsewhere — and they are always built progressively.
Culture
Capoeira was developed by enslaved Africans and their descendants in Brazil. It was a way of preserving culture, a form of resistance, a form of self-defense, and a form of expression — and many of those elements still exist today. In 2014 the roda de capoeira was added to UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Learning the art comes with the responsibility of honoring where it came from.
Community
You learn by watching, listening, interacting and participating — not only from instruction. Students train with partners, help each other, and progress together. After class we often spend time together outside training, because people are more successful when they feel connected to the people around them. Events, mentorship and shared meals are part of the practice, not extras.
On top of these, Capoeira adds another layer through malícia — the art of hiding intentions, creating traps, and guiding a partner toward a reaction. A smile, a change in rhythm, or a fake attack can completely change the direction of a game.
Section 08
How Each Program Works
Same art, taught three different ways.
Who it's for
Adults with jobs, careers, families and competing priorities — most of whom spend the day sitting, working, driving or looking at screens. You do not need an athletic background. You do not need to already be flexible, coordinated or strong.
What a class feels like
Class opens with joint mobility and a warm-up that gets the chest, spine, hips, ankles, shoulders and hamstrings moving in ways many bodies have not moved in a long time. Then rhythm and ginga. Then one escape and one kick, practiced on both sides. Strength work between drills, ground and animal-inspired movement, a basic acrobatic element adapted to your level, and usually music and a small roda at the end.
It should feel physically demanding, but not overwhelming.
What you learn
- Ginga — the foundation of everything else
- Basic escapes: cocorinha, esquivas, negativa and rolê
- Basic kicks: meia lua de frente, queixada, armada, meia lua de compasso
- Acrobatic foundations: handstand, cartwheel, bridge
- Partner dynamics — distance, timing, reading intention
- How to actually play Capoeira, not just perform movements
- Music, rhythm, songs and the instruments
- CapoFit for strength, mobility, flexibility and endurance
What it develops
A practice you can keep for decades, a body that moves well, and a room full of people you actually know. Capoeira gives adults a chance to keep learning, playing and creating — qualities many people lose as they get older. It is layered enough that you never run out of it.
For parents
Most children's activities develop one narrow area — a sport builds athleticism, a music class builds musicality, a martial art builds discipline. Capoeira integrates them. In a single class a child moves, listens, keeps a rhythm, sings, works with a partner, solves a problem in real time, and learns where the art came from.
How beginners start
Age-appropriate movement, games, and the basic foundations of Capoeira. New children are often paired with more experienced students who help guide and encourage them. Everything is adapted to the individual child, and every student progresses at their own pace.
What classes build
- Coordination, balance and rhythm
- Listening — to the music, to the teacher, to a partner
- Creativity and self-expression through movement
- Social skills and working with a partner
- Confidence that comes from doing something they could not do before
- Discipline and respect for the process
- Cultural connection — Brazilian history, music, language and traditions
- Room to discover their own talents, which are not always the ones you expect
Children who train here have found a talent for the music, for teaching, for performing. Part of the point is giving them enough different doors to find the one that is theirs.
A serious room, and a welcoming one
Teens are not taught like small children here. The training is real, the standards are real, and the expectation is that you take responsibility for your own development. What makes it work is that nobody is judged for starting where they start — and everyone in the room has been a beginner.
Capoeira also gives teenagers something most environments don't: a place where being creative, being physical, being musical and being social are the same activity.
What it develops
- Physical development — strength, mobility, coordination, endurance
- Creativity and personal expression through your own game
- Confidence built on evidence, not encouragement
- Responsibility for your own progress
- Leadership — helping newer students, and in time teaching opportunities where appropriate
- Social connection with people outside school
- Identity and cultural understanding
- Positive challenge — something genuinely hard, that you chose
We have watched teenagers arrive with very little confidence and slowly become leaders in the room. That does not happen in six weeks, and it does not happen the same way for everyone. It happens through showing up.
Section 09
Five Reasons to Start Capoeira
Practical, specific, and honest about what training can and cannot do.
It gives you a reason to move regularly
The hard part of staying active is usually not the exercise — it is coming back. Capoeira training challenges strength and endurance, but it is also a game, with music and other people in the room, which makes it something you want to return to. Building a consistently active week is what supports your daily energy, and consistency is far easier when you enjoy the thing.
It develops the body in more than one direction
Most training moves you forward and back. Capoeira asks you to move laterally, rotate, drop to the ground, get back up, support your weight on your hands, and change level constantly. Over time that develops strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, mobility, balance, rhythm, reflexes, coordination, creativity, spontaneity, body awareness and spatial awareness — together, not separately.
It's hard to leave class in a worse mood
Movement, music, rhythm, play, creativity, other people, learning something new, and visible personal progress all happen in the same hour. Students commonly describe leaving class feeling more present, more engaged, more connected and more accomplished than when they walked in. That is an experience students report, not a medical treatment.
It builds cardiovascular endurance
Continuous movement, constant changes of level and direction, kicks and escapes, partner games, and natural cycles of work and recovery. The game itself is the conditioning. Endurance is built progressively, and the training supports cardiovascular fitness the way any regular, sustained physical activity does.
It supports healthy, sustainable activity habits
Capoeira is whole-body movement that combines strength and endurance in one session. What makes it useful for weight management is not any single class — it is that people tend to keep doing it. A practice you enjoy, with people you know, is a practice you are more likely to continue, and consistent activity over months is what actually changes habits. Results vary from person to person, and training works best alongside the other choices you make.
Section 10
The Bottom Line
Capoeira is physically demanding, mentally challenging, creative, cultural and social — all in the same hour. It is one of the few activities you can start as a complete beginner and still be learning from decades later. And you do not need to arrive ready. Everyone in the room started where you are about to start.
Section 11
School Curriculum
Your Learning Path
Nobody is expected to understand everything immediately. Students move along a structured path, starting with the Intro Program — a six-week cycle that repeats, building the foundation stronger each time — before moving into the Fundamental Program and beyond. The requirements at each stage are not a checklist. They are a map, so you always know what the road ahead looks like.
Section 12
See What Students and Families Say
Reviews from our students, parents and grandparents in Miami — straight from Google.
Section 13
Ready to Experience It in Person?
Watching the class is only the beginning. Come experience the movement, music, culture and community inside the studio. Your first class is on us.
