The sport of Samba has a rich and glorious history - so much so that it transcends most of modern and ancient history. For instance we know that amongst the tobacco and turkeys sent back by Sir Walter Raleigh was a case of native american maracas, and that Genghis Khan was a key inovator of the “eastern blade” style of play.

A key aspect of a Sambaist’s repetoir is their Pose technique; over the decades many varients have become popular and hence standardised amongst players, as such over the next few weeks we will be bringing to you some of the key poses that have shaped the global development of Samba.

Its decriers may say it isn’t a sport, that we are a bunch of liars and it is a video game. We say that they are the liars. LIARS. And that their pants are most likely on fire.

POSE #1: The Monkey

In comparison to many other pose techniques The Monkey is not a cut and dried pose and as a result has several variations all of which originated first depending upon who you believe.  The earliest recorded use of a monkey pose was in Qinghai province of China, close to the border with Sichuan and Tibet in approximately 126AD.

This variation shown, originated by spiritualist, artisan and musician Xi Lau-Fawn was a much looser pose than what is classed as “The Monkey” today.  This version as a result is known as “The Orang-utan” due to its loose, long limbed form. It is claimed that Lau-Fawn’s subsequent attainment of enlightenment was a result of practicing this pose for seven hours a day seven days a week for seventeen years.

Additional variants include controversial pose “The Gibbon”, but this in itself has several sub-classes. Use of the “Funky Gibbon” was outlawed in 1994 following claims of use of illegal Funk doping at the USAS Championships by then defending champion Darryl Grayson. The “Punky Gibbon” (aka the “Punky Monkey”) was also banned in public places by police for several years during the 1970s.