Capoeira Legends

Mestre Bimba Mandingueiro Cheio de Malevolência Era Ligeiro o meu mestre Que jogava conforme a cadência No bater do berimbau Salve o Mestre Bimba Criador da Regional

Mandingeiro (magician) Full of malevolence Was fast, my master Who played following the rhythm Of the beat of the berimbau Save/long live Mestre Bimba Creator of Regional

Manuel dos Reis Machado (born 23/11/1900 - died 05/02/1974), along with Pastinha is one of the "fathers" of all modern Capoeiristas. It was he that opened the first registered Capoeira Academy. His style, known now as Capoeira Regional, emphasized the fighting aspects, as well as modifying them, and downplayed the ritual. He was a charismatic leader and helped popularize Capoeira. [to be continued...]

Links

Capoeira NY Mestre Bimba page
Grupo Senzala Peterlee Regional page

Mestre Pastinha Quem desejar aprender Venha aqui em Salvador Procure o Mestre Pastinha Ele é o professor

Who wants to learn Come here to Salvador Look for Mestre Pastinha He is the teacher

Vincent Ferreira Pastinha (born 05/04/1889 - died 13/11/1981) taught a more traditional form of Capoeira than Bimba, which came to be called Capoeira Angola, after the mestre's belief that Capoeira came from Angola. He learnt from Benedito, an African who saw the young Pastinha being bullied. Mestre Pastinha opened the first Capoeira Angola School, The Academia De Capoeira Angola, in 1941, teaching Capoeira with all its playfulness, tradition, treachery, and ritual. He was a great composer and philosopher of Capoeira who lead the movement to preserve the traditional Capoeira, when Bimba's Regional became popular and threatened to overrun it. [to be continued]

Links

Capoeira NY Mestre Pastinha page

It is said that Besouro known as Besouro Cordão-de-Ouro (Golden Cord), Besouro Mangangá (medicine man) and Manuel Henrique, lived in Santo Amaro da Purificaçao in the state of Bahia, and was the teacher of his cousin, another famous capoeirista by the name of Cobrinha Verde (Raphael Alves França), who died towards the end of the 20th Century. Besouro did not like the police and was feared not only as a capoeirista but also for having his corpo fechado/closed body (almost complete invulnerability in the face of various weapons, gained through specific magic rituals). It was also said that if he was in danger, he would turn himself into beetles (besouros), which would scurry away and escape, although this probably just reflects how skilful he was at escaping into crowds and city streets.
He loved fighting the police and soldiers and took their weapons, returning them personally at their headquarters, saying, "Here bats! Take your weapons back." According to legend, an ambush was set up for him. It is said that he himself (who could not read) carried the written message identifying him as the person to be killed, all the while thinking that it was a message that would bring him work. His murderers found him and he was killed with a special wooden dagger prepared during magic rituals in order to overcome his corpo fechado. He was 27 years old.

Lampião É, É, É, Tum, Tum, Tum Olha a pisada de Lampião É, É, É, Tum, Tum, Tum Lampião desceu a serra É, É, É, Tum, Tum, Tum Pra buscar Maria Bonito É, É, É, Tum, Tum, Tum Pra ajudar fugir da polícia

Eh, Eh, Eh, Toom, Toom, Toom See the footsteps of Lampião Eh, Eh, Eh, Toom, Toom, Toom Lampião descended from the sierra Eh, Eh, Eh, Toom, Toom, Toom To look for Maria bonita Eh, Eh, Eh, Toom, Toom, Toom To help escape from the police

Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (born 1898 - died 1934), later nicknamed "Lampião" (Lamp) for the bright colour given off by his rifle when fighting, was born in the sertão (backlands), a dry area in the interior of the Northeast which is plagued by prolonged droughts and extreme heat and inhabited mostly by poor farmers. Early this century, the Northeast's extreme poverty, illiteracy, and social injustice, combined with inadequate government control, gave rise to lawlessness. Bands of cangaçeiros (often poor cowboys turned bandits) roamed the region, sacking small towns and farms. In the early 1920s, after his parents were assassinated, Lampião joined the cangaço (band of outlaws) with his brothers, and soon became leader of his own band. They would ride into a town and ask for things they wanted. If those things were given to them, they would throw parties for the townspeople and give generously to them. If they were denied, they would rob, loot, rape and murder the people of the town. Lampião was a man of extremes.
In the end, he and his wife, another outlaw, Maria Bonita were hunted and decapitated. He was a legendary figure who was feared by the rich and loved by the poor.

Links

Lampião page

Zumbi dos Palmares Zumbi foi rei no quilombo Capoeira Muito negro comandou Capoeira Depois foi morto á traição

Zumbi was king in the quilornbo Capoeira He commanded many blacks Capoeira Afterwards he was killed by treachery

The last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a kingdom formed by runaway slaves (mainly of Angolan origin) throughout the 17th Century. Palmares was the longest standing quilombo, and had its own complex social order and structure, made up of runaway slaves, native people, and those born free in the quilombo. Zumbi, a great leader and military tactician, is one of Brasil's greatest heroes, symbolizing the fight for freedom. It is even believed by some that Capoeira originated in Palmares. A slave, promised money and freedom eventually was tricked into betraying King Zumbi and Palmares. Zumbi fought against the quilombo invaders and in the end, rather than be captured, he leapt off a cliff and died. That day was the 20th November 1695, the date which was chosen for National Black Awareness Day in Brasil. As racial repression of Afro-Brazilians continues, the spirit of Zumbi lives on guiding the continuing fight for true liberty.

Links