How to do an Au Batido in Capoeira

Literally meaning ‘broken cartwheel’, the au batido is one of the numerous variations of the au movement and one of the basic Capoeira moves. Being in effect a defensive move, au batido is performed when the player wants to take the opponent by surprise before he has time to perform a headbutt.

In au batido, the Capoeirista performs a great handstand with the body in a straight downward position, followed by a twist with the hips so as to perform a cross kick to hit the opponent’s head or side. During the kick, the player protects the face with one arm, while the other is used to support the balance of the body.

When executing an au batido, a good Capoeirista should have in mind that, although the move resembles a lot like an au, it is not. Au is used both for attack and defense, arms and legs are arched, the back faces the ground and a side kick is executed. The player can delay the move or even freeze in the handstand position to attract the opponent into a trap or use au for a quick retreat. With au batido, legs should be 90 degrees width apart, hips and torso need to twist, back has to face the ground and kick is a front kick that is produced with the body balanced in a cartwheel position. The non-kicking leg stays straight or bends or goes with the kicking leg to execute a dual kicking.

After the move is executed, the player snaps his legs back on the floor and keeps them straight so that he can land standing up and not in a bowed position.

Au batido serves as the base of a number of possible combinations. Sometimes is also used only to trick the opponent, while in several break-dance schools it is known as the L-kick move. Finally, in different Capoeira schools, au batido have different variations known as au quebrado (broken cartwheel), leque (fan), au malandro (wily cartwheel), au amazonas (Amazon cartwheel), Amazonica or beija flor (kiss the flower).

In general, it takes a lot of practice to perform the au batido correctly because it requires maintaining the body’s balance when the kick is executed. Capoeira requires good balance and an exercised body that can take the good deal of strain put on arms and thighs when the player lifts his weight on the air. Hence, both good warming up and stretching are important for au batido so that the player avoids any injuries.

Once mastered, au batido can be performed in several variations. For instance, some Capoeiristas bring both legs to their chest and form a skater pose; others grab the kicking foot or the non-kicking foot; others trail the cartwheel momentum and kick on both sides. Variations are endless.