So, I’m watching a video of capoieristas (I assume that’s the proper term?) doing kata / floor exercises, and I’m thinking to myself, “Self, those kicks look pretty powerful, but they seem to be focusing on the acrobatic flips and the like… Now, I know it would hurt to be landed upon feet-first, but at the same time, that would leave the lander pretty much on his butt, wouldn’t it?”
I guess what I’m asking is, from folks that have knowledge and / or experience with said art, how does Capoeira stack up as an actual fighting art? And when fighting with it, how much of the flips and the like are actually left in, and why?
Only limited familiarity, but I believe not even practitioners really consider it purely a “combat” art. I believe it is generally considered equal parts combat, dance, fitness, maybe some other attributes.
Most people who know how to fight aren’t going to just stand there and wait for the capaerist to flip around to get in position to deliver his kick. They will either attack while he is setting up, or move such that when he delivers they are no longer where he thought he was. It is exxceedingly RARELY a good idea for fighters to turn their backs on their opponents.
Yeah the kind of flips and twirls you see from this and other martial arts are usually either just for show or modern additions for fitness, sport and similar purposes.
This is evident by the decided lack of twirls and flips in martial arts actually used in combat historically and the importance of proper balance and footwork in these truly Martial martial arts.
There’s one more important purpose for the flips and twirls in modern martial arts, at least in grappling styles: a flip allows you to relieve the pressure on your joints without breaking anything. You need the flips so that you can practice techniques that are intended to break people without running out of training partners. Unfortunately, some film directors clearly saw these, thought they looked cool, and inserted them into their fight scenes.
Also, consider the stamina required to dance around like a monkey the whole time you’re fighting. Bad idea.
That said, anyone skilled in the dance and acrobatic aspects of capoeira is going to be well-conditioned, flexible, and strong as hell. Those traits will serve them well if they fight in a less-showy fashion.
Plus it was developed as a way for African slaves in Brazil to train in fighting moves without letting their masters know what exactly it was they were doing; originally it was done in a “dance” circle with instrument accompaniment. Thus there had to be a lot of dance moves incorporated to avoid suspicion. The more showy bits are a traditional element but not fighting moves per se.
I recently discovered the PS-game series “Tekken”. The fun of Tekken is seeing different combat-styles contrasted and combined. Kung-fu versus tae-kwondo, streetbrawl versus sumowrestling.
One of the more popular Tekken characters is Christie, an expert Capoeira-fighter. If the moves in the game are any indication of the real moves, it is a beautiful, energetic combatstyle. Its main effect is that Capoeira allows for leg-kicks at surprising angles and heights.
Gross over-simplification follows:
I always thought one (of many) valuable element of martial arts training was practicing responding to various lines of attack. If something is coming at the right side of your head with a downward trajectory, your options for immediately responding are similar whether the incoming object is a fist, a stick, a chain, a knife, or a foot. (Tho - of course, the opponent’s choice of weapon will affect how you follow up.) This approach simplifies things. There are only so many gross angles and directions from which you can be attacked.
So, simply put, there really shouldn’t be any “surprising” angles or heights.
And generally, the most effective attack is the one with the shortest distance from the weapon to the target, because it is generally quicker and therefore harder to defend against. I.e., I have a better chance of landing a punch to your jaw with my lead hand (closest to your face) which needs to travel maybe 2 feet or less and can be delivered with little telegraphing, as opposed to kicking you in the jaw with my foot which must travel 6 feet or more and may require spinning, rebalancing, and/or repositioning my entire body.
So maybe you could be “surprised” that someone is taking the time and effort to kick you from an awkward angle, that gives you plenty of time to either pre-empt his attack or move out of the way. 
One of the main advantages of a punch over a kick is that the punch allows you to remain on two feet, while kick necessarily doesn’t. Two feet gives you more power and balance, and makes you less likely to be simply knocked over. That right there is a very good reason whiy real fights rarely include kicks, except in very specific circumstances.
I won’t even get into the advisability of doing handstands during a real fight.