Hello Dear Gracie Barra Students,

Today the “B in BJJ” will bring you a little bit of information about Brazilian Music.

There are a lot of different styles of music in Brazil; some examples are Samba, Pagode, Sertaneja, Forro, Olodum, Rock Brasileiro, Bossa Nova, among others. I will talk about many of these styles in the future. But the one I would like to talk about today is a style called “Musica Popular Brasileira” or MPB (Brazilian Popular Music).

It is quite an interesting challenge when I try to explain MPB to non-Brazilians. “What exactly is Brazilian Popular Music?” I ask myself. How do I define something that is a feeling, an experience, something that can only be understood through sound and emotion?

In Brazil, MPB is a household acronym that needs no explanation. To ask a Brazilian “What is MPB?” would be like asking him or her “What is samba?” MPB includes any Brazilian music not categorized as classical, which is to say, all non-classical music ever created since the discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral in April of 1500.

Brazilian music is founded upon the syncretism of European, African, and Indigenous Amerindian musical traditions—all of which contribute to its uniqueness.

The Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa (Houaiss Dictionary of the Portuguese Language) defines “popular music” as “urban music of an oral tradition, the authors of which are usually known” (2001).

This definition implies that popular music is only urban, although it is well documented that MPB arose and evolved in urban as well as rural settings. It also suggests that popular music does not include folkloric music, a genre in which many songs are anonymous.

The term MPB came into general use around 1965, when amazing singers and composers such as Chico Buarque, Tom Jobim e Elis Regina came onto the music scene. Each of these singers reflected their generation in their own way with songs that touched a nation with love, beauty, poetry—and that often also protested against the government and social inequality.

I hope that you guys enjoy the music and if you are interested in searching more MPB artists here is a list of some of the best ones:

-Tom Jobim

- Elis Regina

- Chico Buarque

- Caetano Veloso

- Gilberto Gil

- Gal Costa

- Toquinho

- Milton Nascimento

- Djavan

- Maria Bethania

Thank you,

THE GRACIE BARRA JIU JITSU ESCONDIDO TEAM

Twice a month we will bring to you this bulletin rich on information about Brazil. Always something cool related to the Country, the culture, music, people, art, sport, culinary and more.
The “B in BJJ” has the goal of getting Brazil a little bit closer for all of us, and to share the love for this country that we all have with our special students here overseas. It should be interest and fun to know more about the place where the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu comes from, to understand more about the Brazilian Culture and certainly it will help you on your journey for the ultimate dream of a black belt on this art.

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). Providing a lot of great places for surfing.

Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822. This is the reason why Portuguese is the official language in Brazil.

Brazil is the world’s tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power.

Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.

The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities. The Capital of Brazil it is “Brasilia” located on the Central-West region and it was build 48 years ago just to be the capital. Brazilia was plained by Lúcio Costa as the principal urban planner and Oscar Niemeyer as the principal architect. It is a beautiful place and the city is shaped like a airplane.

The largest city is Sao Paulo with 11 million people, it is a great place to visit with everything that a big city can offer, including museums, parks, clubs, business, restaurants, etc. Sao Paulo never sleeps, it is a 24hs city.

The second largest city and the most famous one it is Rio de Janeiro (”River of January”) with 6 millions people. Very famous for its natural beauty the city has a nickname; A Cidade Maravilhosa — “The Marvelous City.” It is famous for its natural settings, its Carnival celebrations, samba and other music, and hotel-lined tourist beaches, such as Copacabana and Ipanema. Some of the most famous local landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Jesus, known as Christ the Redeemer (’Cristo Redentor’) atop Corcovado mountain, which has recently been named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its cable car; the Sambódromo, a giant permanent parade stand used during Carnival; and Maracanã stadium, one of the world’s largest football stadiums.

It was in Rio de Janeiro where Jiu Jitsu start to became really big with the great work of the Gracie Family. And specifically in Barra da Tijuca which is a administrative region located in Western Zone (Zona Oeste) of the capital city of Rio de Janeiro. Its beach is 18 km long.
Barra is well known for American influences in its style of life, and is commonly seem like Miami Beach. It is in Barra da Tijuca where our Head Quarter is located. When Master Carlos Gracie Junior opened his first school, first well know as the “Gracies from Barra” and later “Gracie Barra”.

Now please, take a look on this great website called BR 360, You will find a interest 360 view of some of the famous places in Sao Paulo. http://www.br360.com.br/

I hope that you liked the first edition of “B in BJJ” and bi-monthly you will have always something cool about the Brazilian Culture.

Cheers!

-GB San Clemente Team-

Thank you Professor Flavio for that great initiative!

GRACIE BARRA JIU JITSU ESCONDIDO