Established in 1993, the Rutgers Capoeira Club is one of the first collegiate capoeira clubs run by students in the Northeast. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art form that is very unique. It combines dance and music with the traditional view of martial arts as a form of combat. Besides capoeira, we also incorporate maculele (a dance), acrobatics, and a bit of samba into our practices. Our club officially meets twice a week in the College Ave Gym under the instruction of Contra Mestre Maranhão. Contra Mestre Maranhão first began practicing capoeira in 1997 with Mestre Cigano of Grupo Liberdade de Capoeira in Newark, NJ. A few years after Mestre Cigano started a capoeira club at Rutgers University in 1993, he asked Contra Mestre Maranhão to assist him in teaching the growing group. Since 2002, Contra Mestre Maranhão has brought Rutgers students this beautiful and poetic martial art from its traditional Afro-Brazilian roots.