QMC School of Capoeira: Sport as a tool for development
- Borough: Ealing, Kingston upon Thames
- Organisation: QMC School of Capoeira
- Topics: children and young people, health and wellbeing, sport
Who we are
Quilombo Marcus Cabeça (QMC) School of Capoeira offers weekly Capoeira classes in South and West London for all ages and skill levels. Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, uniquely combines dance, acrobatics, and music. At QMC, we leverage Capoeira to foster positive behaviour change, particularly among youth. Through our dedicated youth projects, we highlight the transformative power of sport and how it can be used as a tool to encourage and enable youth development.
Our project demonstrated the transformative potential of Capoeira in addressing critical issues such as youth crime and mental health. By engaging with young participants through workshops, we uncovered significant challenges, including a lack of future skills, role models, and supportive networks.
To tackle these issues, we organised youth projects throughout 2023 and 2024, focusing on fostering positive behaviour changes and equipping participants with essential skills for their future. These projects, rooted in Kingston, relied on creative approaches such as video creation, role-playing, and storytelling, which proved effective in developing leadership, teamwork, and communication skills.
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Building skills and community
Capoeira, as a sport, served as a compelling entry point to engage the youth. Its dynamic nature and physicality built trust among participants, making them more receptive to working with coaches on other life-skill development initiatives. Through these efforts, young people not only experienced project leadership but also learned to draw on community networks for quality training and development.
We collaborated with a diverse group, including individuals aged 11-25, local community leaders, parents, families, and local professionals. In the process, we uncovered key insights: many young people struggled with a lack of career awareness, guidance, and role models. Furthermore, the absence of robust support networks stood out as a critical gap.
By leveraging Capoeira and creative methods, the project sought to address these challenges while fostering a sense of resilience and opportunity within the youth community.
A lasting impact on young people
This project demonstrated that initiatives like ours are crucial for engaging youth who might not otherwise be interested in developing future skills. By using sport as a hook, we were able to broaden their horizons, raise their aspirations, and support their future development. Our work highlights the importance of creative and community-driven approaches in making a lasting impact on young people’s lives.
The changes we would like to see
This project showed that programmes like ours are very important for getting young people interested in developing future skills. By using sport, it’s possible to attract those who are traditionally hard to reach and help them see new possibilities, aim higher, grow, and make a big difference in young people’s lives.
We believe policies should support and fund these kinds of programmes so more youth can benefit. We also want schools, youth groups, local authorities, and other agencies to more proactive at reaching out and partnering with groups like ours.
To enable this change, our community needs:
- new partnerships and collaborations
- funding
- networks.
Find out more
Get in touch
If you have any questions about QMC School of Capoeira, you can get in touch at [email protected].
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