Among the fundamental principles of this tradition are the struggle against oppression, the defense of a Culture of Peace, the preservation of the values ​​we inherit from the African diaspora, the care of children and young people, mainly through culture and education, hence the fight against racism and the fight against gender discrimination. Anti-racism is in the very nature of Capoeira Angola, which assumed that name as a strategy to protect the tradition from being reduced to mere ‘folklore’ or ‘sport,’ as national pressures impacted many afro-Brazilian art forms, though legalized at this time in history, were under pressure to support the myth of a racial democracy in Brazil.

The Angoleiros, as they are called, did not accept the effort to separate the physical movements from the cultural traditions. The Estado Novo promoted the transformation of capoeira to be taught as Physical Education, which minimized the of Afro-Brazilian tradition that was part of this practice for centuries in the communities of capoeiristas.

As for the fight against gender discrimination, the leadership of Mestras Janja and Paulinha encourage facilitative practices that create a space for equity and representation within the Nzinga Group, and Capoeira Angola. This explicit effort is necessary due to the fact that, despite the long and well-documented history of female capoeiristas, the trajectory of women in Capoeira is often disadvantaged in eminently male and sexist spaces.