Guide

Capoeira gear checklist

Walking into your first capoeira class? Here is exactly what you need, what is nice to have, and what you can skip.

The essentials

• White abadá (capoeira pants) — traditional cut, heavy cotton.
• Group t-shirt or plain white tee until your school issues one.
• Water bottle — capoeira is harder than it looks.

Nice to have

• Tank top for warm halls and outdoor training.
• Hoodie for cold UK winters and warm-ups before roda.
• Training shorts for conditioning sessions.
• Kit bag big enough for your abadá, change of clothes and a berimbau.

What you can skip

Shoes (most capoeira is trained barefoot or in light trainers your grupo approves). Gloves, pads, mouthguards — not needed for standard training. A berimbau comes later, when your mestre says so.