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Our Story & Lineage
Capoeira ATL is rooted in the traditions of Capoeira Regional and the lineage of Mestre Bimba. Our story is shaped by history, culture, and community, and continues through how we train, teach, and move together today.
The Roots of Capoeira
Capoeira emerged in Brazil through the lived experiences of Africans who were forcibly brought across the Atlantic and enslaved. Within conditions of extreme oppression, movement, rhythm, and strategy became tools for survival, expression, and resistance. Capoeira developed as a way to preserve identity, build resilience, and maintain community through embodied knowledge.
From its earliest forms, capoeira was never just about physical ability. It was about awareness, adaptability, and collective intelligence.
Community, Resistance, and Survival
Capoeira took shape in spaces such as senzalas and quilombos, where enslaved and freed Africans lived, trained, and protected one another. These communities carried forward traditions through music, ritual, and shared practice. Knowledge was passed from body to body, generation to generation.
The art survived not because it was written down, but because it was lived.
Outlawed, Yet Enduring
For many years, capoeira was criminalized in Brazil and associated with social unrest. Practitioners faced punishment for training openly, yet the art endured through dedication, secrecy, and cultural memory. What survived was not only technique, but a philosophy rooted in cunning, patience, and resilience.
Capoeira’s survival reflects the strength of the communities that refused to let it disappear.
Mestre Bimba and Capoeira Regional
Mestre Bimba transformed capoeira by developing Capoeira Regional, a structured teaching methodology that preserved tradition while establishing discipline, effectiveness, and ethical conduct. His work elevated capoeira from marginalization into formal academies, creating clear sequences, rituals, and standards of instruction.
Capoeira Regional honors the past while preparing students to train with clarity, intention, and responsibility.
Filhos de Bimba – Escola de Capoeira
Filhos de Bimba – Escola de Capoeira was founded by Mestre Nenel, the son of Mestre Bimba, to preserve and continue his father’s teachings. Based in Salvador, Bahia, the school maintains a strong commitment to historical accuracy, cultural responsibility, and educational integrity.
With schools throughout Brazil and around the world, Filhos de Bimba represents continuity and lineage within the global capoeira community.
Capoeira ATL operates as an official núcleo of Filhos de Bimba.
A Living Tradition
At Capoeira ATL, lineage is not something we display — it is something we practice. History informs how we move, teach, sing, and train together. Students learn capoeira as a complete system of movement, music, and culture, guided by respect for those who came before and responsibility to those who come after.
What we practice today is alive because it continues through community.
