User:Ryt 007/Mestre Camisa

José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso (born Jacobina, Bahia, 1956), also know as Mestre Camisa, is a Capoeira master, most known for creating the organization ABADÁ-Capoeira. He is the head master and founder of ABADÁ-Capoeira. ABADÁ-Capoeira was founded in 1988, and ever since, Camisa has been at the head of many important philanthropy and martial arts movements all over the world.

History
Camisa's brother Edvaldo Carneiro da Silva, also known as Grão-Mestre Camisa Roxa, was the inspiration behind Camisa beginning his training in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira during the 60's. "Camisa moved to Salvador, going to live in the neighborhood of Lapinha, where he continued to practice Capoeira in street rodas, especially in the Mestres Valdemar and Traira, which were practiced in Rua Pero Vaz." Camisa Roxa found Camisa playing capoeira in the street rodas. He explained this to Camisa's mother, stating that enrolling in an academy would be much safer than playing in the street rodas. Camisa enrolled in the academy, and begin studying capoeira under Mestre Bimba in the style Regional. After about a year of studying under Mestre Bimba, Camisa became an Aluno Formado, a graduated student of Mestre Bimba.

In 1972, at age 16, Camisa accompanied his brother on a year-long tour of Brazil with the folkloric dance company Olodum Maré, which performed traditional arts including capoeira. At the end of the tour, instead of returning to his studies in Salvador, Camisa decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro to teach Capoeira.

He began to offer training in capoeira and slowly gained students. Camisa began to consider the need to design a formal structure for classes, to draw up a basic lesson plan, and to create a place for studying and teaching, a place to debate techniques and discuss concepts. He continues to research the methods of capoeira to this day. Currently, Mestre Camisa was training among a group and style of capoeira known as Senzala. As time passed however, he felt the need to give a family-like structure to so many people who had left behind their cities and their friends and families and moved to Rio to dedicate themselves to capoeira. This reason was the main impetus for the creation of a new organization that would, in 1988, become ABADÁ-Capoeira.

Teachings
Since the beginning of the 80's, Mestre Camisa had been drawing on his experience in Mestre Bimba’s Academy to develop his own style and build his school. However, Camisa also stays true to the old traditional way of capoeira, and continues to teach the Angola style, unrelated to Mestre Bimba. As stated by Lewis, Camisa "has for some time been reincorporating Angola teachniques into his instruction and seeking out old Angoleiros to honor and learn from."

Camisa's view on tournaments is that they are not the traditional ways of playing and expressing ones' self as a capoeirista. As Lewis describes, "He and the other masters of the association Grupo Senzala have refused to participate in organized tournaments in recent years, on the grounds that they are not the traditional way for a player to demonstrate his expertise."

Looking at capoeira from a more modern approach, some Masters believe it is the tournament style of fighting that can keep capoeira alive and sustained through appeal and athleticism. Lewis argues, "Such tournaments, either independent or sponsored by the Brazilian Boxing Federation, were formerly the hallmark of the new sport capoeira in the Regional approach."

"Mestre Camisa always emphasized professionalism of Capoeira, ever since his first student until today, he still lives each day doing what he most enjoys: teaching capoeira. Camisa has made it his mission to support humanitarian projects which have the potential to revert the situation of poverty and neglect occurring in poor communities. The ABADÁ-Capoeira association has the capacity to carry out professional work in public and private schools, universities, clubs, gyms, condominiums, and communities in need."

"Mestre Camisa uses the playful character of Capoeira so that the students discover their aptitudes, both physical and intellectual, and he teaches to sing and play instruments in a real lifestyle, where trickery is a cunning form of facing the difficulties of life in healthy ways. He is also considered one of the most technical capoeiristas in the world. His unique technique and methodology improved the martial aspect of capoeira, and established him as the leading capoeira master in the world."

CEMB
The Centro Educacional Mestre Bimba (CEMB), in English translated as "Mestre Bimba Educational Center", is:


 * a space idealized by Mestre Camisa and built in honor of Mestre Bimba who loved nature. The CEMB offers courses, training sessions, meetings, lectures, workshops, ecological hikes, climbing, horseback riding, soccer, local cultural demonstrations, experience with rural customs, opportunity for contact with animals, a taste of food cooked on a traditional wood-burning oven and lessons in environmental preservation. All these activities are adapted so Capoeira movements can be added to them. Following the philosophy that we should use what nature offers, a large training area was constructed, using sapê (a local thatch), eucalyptus and stones, where the activities take place. The CEMB is located in the interior of the State of Rio de Janeiro, in the city of Itaboraí, and offers sleeping quarters for 60 people and a camping area that can handle 100 tents.

The above text was taken as it appears from the website ABADÁ-Capoeira Hungary. CEMB was created and built entirely by Camisa. As stated above, it is a place for capoeiristas to congregrate, train, and help spread the awakening ecological projects spurred on by the Center.