Who is Mestrando Peixe Cru

The elite group of Mestrandos(as) in the ABADÁ-Capoeira sixty-thousand-member organization is comprised of only nine individuals (seven men, two women) who have made a life-long commitment to the art of Capoeira. Their enduring dedication has been instrumental in maintaining the distinctive technique and philosophy of ABADÁ-Capoeira. Led by the Mestres, these individuals oversee ABADÁ-Capoeira throughout the world, to ensure that our style, technique and philosophy is preserved, and above all, the art of Capoeira continues to expand without jeopardizing its essence.
The Mestrandos(as), together with the Mestres, are also responsible for the further enhancement of movements, norms and ethics within the organization.

Paulo Rogerio Yoneyama, Mestrando Peixe Cru was born in Sao Paulo in 9th January 1970.

He was only 11 years old when he saw Capoeira for the first time. On that same year, against his mum’s desire, he started training at Mestre Meinha’s Academy with his older brother Paixada.

In 1985 he was graduated as a “Tutor Junior” and in 1987 when Mestre Meinha closed his Academy, started teaching Capoeira with his brother Peixada. That was the beginning of his own Academy. During that time he was always travelling with his student to prestige events and batizados of other Capoeira groups.

In 1991 had his first contact with ABADA-Capoeira, where he met Cobra and other members of the group. The manner of playing and ABADA’s technique brought back the first feelings Peixe Cru felt when he saw Capoeira for the first time. On that same year attended to a course Mestre Camisa lectured in Sao Paulo.

He was very interested by the Group philosophy and technique, and through the next few years went to Rio de Janeiro several times to train and get to know the ABADÁ-Capoeira. In 1993 has officially joined ABADÁ-Capoeira, at that time he received an Instructor graduation, the “Purple” cord.

After that Peixe Cru had a prominent history in the Capoeira World, he won three times the 3° place on ABADÁ-Capoeira World Games (Jogos Mundiais) 1997, 1999 and 2001; in 1998 won the 2° place on ABADÁ-Capoeira Brazilian Games (Jogos Brasileiros) and 1° place on ABADÁ-Capoeira Sao Paulo Games (Jogos Paulistas) and in 2000 won the 1° place on ABADÁ-Capoeira Brazilian Games (Jogos Brasileiros).

Peixe Cru was recognized Mestrando in 2005 and is one of the responsible for the State of Sao Paulo ABADÁ-Capoeira work, supervising over 50 Capoeira professionals. He has traveled to several countries to spread his Capoeira knowledge to other ABADÁ-Capoeira groups around the world, between them are Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Swiss land, Italy, Belgian, Luxembourg, Austria, South Africa, Angola, Luanda, Israel, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Morocco.

This year is Australia’s turn to get a bit of Mestrando Peixe Cru knowledge, experience and tips about the most up-to-date Capoeira techniques, songs and mandinga, brought straight from Brazil. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to participate of the whole 4 days event. Make the most of each minute, I can assure you that every drop of sweat will be worth!

Next edition we will talk a bit about our Batizado special Guest Professor Eberson. We hope you have enjoyed the reading.

Cheers,

ABADA-Capoeira Australia Team

THE CAPOEIRA BATIZADO: WHAT IT IS & WHY YOU WANT ONE

Our very 1st Batizado is coming up and I am sure that you are wondering about a lot of things, I know I was excited when it was my time, so maybe we can address what Batizados are, what they involve, how they are important and what to expect now that you are having one.

At ABADA Capoeira São Paulo group, our teacher ‘Mestrando Peixe Cru’ does Batizados about once every year. The event was always very special and emotional for people like us that love Capoeira, and participating in the baptism of new students in our school, as well as having the opportunity to watch visiting teachers and graduated students play together, was a tremendous experience. It was also accompanied by a “Troca de Corda” (change of cord), where students would reach their new graduation level (or, on occasion, beyond that!) and get recognized for the hard work they had gone through all year. Everybody is happy at Batizado time, it’s a time of celebration, not a test.


So what should you expect if you’re about to have a Batizado? If this is your first such event, you are probably going to get a Capoeira name, or “Apelido”. This is the nickname that you’re known by throughout your Capoeira ‘career’. Apelidos are generally given out by someone of the group after we have got an idea of what you are like as individual. They are names like Cobra, Amarelo, etc, which represent an aspect of your character. You likely won’t get the nickname you expect though, I assure you that, and sometimes you might even be thrown off by what you are named. In these cases, you usually grow into it, so don’t stress.

It was different in back then, but in our case ABADA Capoeira Australia, that time of year is the only opportunity we will get to see a Mestrando live. Needless to say, this adds even more intensity to the few days we will have with him; we will have workshops where we will be taught directly by one of the best Capoeiristas of our school, get to speak to him at length afterwords, maybe even get to know him on a personal level. For a new student, particularly a non-Brazilian one with limited exposure to the roots of Capoeira, this is incredible. We would recommend taking every opportunity you can to go to every class during this period, since they don’t happen that often.

The story of the Batizado, like many things in Capoeira’s pedagogy begins with the creator of Capoeira Regional - Manoel dos Reis Machado, also known as Mestre Bimba. Mestre Bimba introduced the Batizado as a naming ceremony for beginner students who had been training for long enough to have partial mastery over a predefined series of movements. In the original Capoeira Batizado there were no sweeps; Mestre Bimba considered the rasteira too dangerous a movement for this level. After the Batizado a student was named and given a coloured silk scarf. The colours changed as the student moved up through Capoeira’s ranks, with the final colour being white and indicating Mestre. Why silk scarves? This was in homage to the sharp dressing Capoeiristas of old times who wore silk scarves around their necks to protect from razor slashes. Silk will stop a razor slash. Over time silk scarves became belts – “cordas”, then as Capoeira organizations formed and diverged so did their systems of belts. Today, each major group has its own system.

Next edition we will talk a bit about our Batizado special Guests Mestrando Peixe Cru and Professor Eberson. We hope you have enjoyed the reading.

Cheers,

ABADA-Capoeira Australia Team
Official website: www.abadacapoeira.com.au
ABADA-Capoeira e-mail: info@abadacapoeira.com.au