Mestre Mindinho
Mestre Mindinho is a capoeira mestre in Grupo Capoeira Brasil, in the lineage of Mestre Paulinho Sabiá. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he started capoeira as a child, was teaching as a teenager, built a school in San Diego and now teaches in Palm Springs.
Rio, the roda, and everything else
He found capoeira as a kid in Rio, and before he was out of his teens he was teaching it.
Along the way he trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, judo, wrestling, Ruas Vale Tudo and yoga, and he studied at the National School of Circus in Rio. All of it shows up in how he moves and how he teaches.
Outside the roda he studied computer science, produced documentaries and shows, and today he is studying music.
He built a school in San Diego, then moved to Palm Springs, where he lives and teaches today.
A living lineage
Mestre Mindinho teaches in the lineage of Mestre Paulinho Sabiá, one of the founders of Grupo Capoeira Brasil, and carries that lineage forward in every class.
His students grow through the same ladder he did. Some go on to open classes and schools of their own, and he keeps helping them after they do.
- StudentThe foundation
- MonitorFirst teaching steps
- InstructorIndependent classes
- ProfessorDeep technical mastery
- FormandoNear graduation
- FormadoGraduated leader
- MestreMaster of the art
Why he teaches the way he does
- Everyone grows their own capoeira
There is no single right way to play. Over time each person develops their own game, at their own pace. An athlete can chase top performance; someone else can come for the joy of it and slowly find skills they never thought they had. In Mestre Mindinho’s classes, both are the real thing.
- The easy path, not the peak
People see the acrobatics and decide it is impossible for them. The way Mestre Mindinho sees it, his job is not to show them the top of the mountain. It is to show them the first easy step toward it, and then the next one.
- The class fits the person
Before a beginner’s first class he wants to know what they are looking for: more fun, more challenge, fitness, music, friends. Then he plans the class around that.
Work with Mestre
M-Coach, the instructor network, or a workshop at your school.
Work with Mestre
Instrutora Valente
Instrutora Valente is Mestre Mindinho’s teaching partner. A longtime capoeirista and teacher, she is also a medical doctor and a dedicated yoga practitioner, and she brings that careful eye for the body to every class they teach together.