About us

Our goal in the Austin area is to teach the traditions of Capoeira Regional, to help establish a good source for capoeira knowledge and allow the art to grow. We want to make an impact in our community by providing the best capoeira techniques, workshops, and shows while maintaining all the cultural aspects of this Afro-Brazilian martial art. You can take advantage of songs and all resources that are available to through this site to improve your capoeira skills and ability.

Capoeira Regional

Mestre Bentinho
Very little is known of this capoeirista. It has been said he was born in Africa and worked as a seaman in a shipping company in Bahia de Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints). Even the dates of his birth and death are unrecorded.

Manoel Dos Reis Machado

Mestre Bimba is one of the most important figures in capoeira history. He received training in traditional capoeira  from Mestre Bentinho and also studied the African martial art batuque with his father. This latter form included grappling and throwing moves. In the 1930’s, Mestre Bimba sought to create a more dynamic and effective technique, which he named Luta Regional da Bahia, usually referred to simply as Regional. Mestre Bimba also adapted a systematic system for teaching capoeira in an academy setting, which has since become the norm in both angola and regional styles. His work served to preserve and popularize the art throughout Brazil and the world and helped to save it from extinction. Mestre Bimba died of a stroke in 1975.

Group Lineage

Reinaldo Ramos Suassuna
Mestre Suassuna was born in Bahia and began training capoeira as an adolescent. After achieving the rank of mestre, he moved to São Paulo in the south of Brazil. There, in the 1960s,  he formed his influential group Cordão de Ouro. Mestre Suassuna is one of the most famous of contemporary capoeira mestres. He has traveled extensively throughout Brazil, the United States, Europe and beyond, participating in events, giving exhibitions and workshops. Mestre Suassuna continues to make his home and lead his group in São Paulo.

Jurema
Mestre Jurema (Ezion Medeiros de Castro) was a student of Mestre Suassuna. He studied in São Paulo for several years and after receiving his mestre title he moved to Campinas where he opened the “Academia de Capoeira Senhor do Bonfim” with Wilton Pereira.

Wilton Pereira
Mestre “Sapo” Wilton trained with Mestre Suassuna in São Paulo. After he moved to Campinas, Mestre Wilton studied under the supervision of Mestre Jurema. He was awarded the title of mestre in 1984 during a batizado in Campinas, São Paulo.