Mestre Jurandir Santos

Jurandir Souza dos Santos was born into the heart of Capoeira Angola. As the son of the legendary Mestre João Grande—one of Mestre Pastinha's two principal heirs alongside João Pequeno—capoeira was woven into his life from the earliest age.

From childhood, capoeira was not a separate activity but an integral part of family life. His father would wake Jurandir and his brother Jorge early in the morning to train together in their backyard, instilling in them a deep connection to the art—not just as a practice, but as a way of life rooted in discipline, respect, and tradition.

This immersive upbringing gave Jurandir a unique understanding of Capoeira Angola's essence, learning directly from one of its greatest living masters in an environment where the art was passed on organically, as it had been for generations before the academy system formalized transmission.

In Salvador, Jurandir became one of the coordinators at the Academia de Mestre João Pequeno de Pastinha, located at Forte Santo Antônio Além do Carmo. The academy's administrative structure placed João Pequeno as Grão Mestre at the top, with coordinators responsible for different training periods. Jurandir, alongside Contramestre Aranha (Isaac Damasceno) who handled morning classes and Treinel Zoinho (Everaldo Santos), was responsible for training sessions in the evening period.

His role at João Pequeno's academy was particularly significant given that João Pequeno had been his father's partner at Pastinha's original school. Thus Jurandir represents a rare case of second-generation continuation through both primary lines of Pastinha's lineage—trained by his father João Grande while teaching at João Pequeno's academy.

Jurandir was featured in the documentary "Mestre Pastinha, Rei da Capoeira" (2019), which highlighted how Pastinha's legacy continues through subsequent generations of practitioners.

Today, Mestre Jurandir Santos lives in New York and continues to be active in the international Capoeira Angola community, participating in workshops and events organized by CECA affiliates and maintaining the connection between Salvador and the global diaspora that his father helped establish.