Mestre Inauá

Mestre Inauá Mendes was a pivotal figure in the transmission of Bahian capoeira angola to Rio de Janeiro. He was the direct student of Mestre Onça Preta (Cícero Navarro, 1909-2006), one of the legendary angoleiros who survived the brutal Pedrito persecution in 1920s Salvador and later helped establish capoeira in Rio de Janeiro.

Onça Preta moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1959 and worked for many years as a servente (orderly) at the Hospital de Puericultura. He lived on Ilha do Governador, an island in Guanabara Bay, where he trained Inauá in the traditional Angola style he had learned from the old masters of Salvador - Samuel Querido de Deus, Pastinha, Aberrê, and others.

Through his dedication to the art, Inauá maintained Onça Preta's lineage by training the next generation, most notably Mestre King Kong (Nelson Luís do Carmo) and Mestre Cláudio São Bento. Mestre King Kong would go on to practice at the legendary Quinta da Boa Vista roda - described as a place "where only those who knew how to play and had courage could enter" - and later founded Grupo Capoeirarte.

Inauá's lineage continues today through Associação Cultural de Capoeira Geração Nagô, founded November 30, 2013 in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro by Mestre Baia (Thiago da Silva Costa), who was the first student of Mestre King Kong to receive the mestre title. The organization carries forward the Angola-influenced contemporary style, emphasizing discipline, respect, friendship, cooperation and faith.

Mestre Inauá is remembered "em memória" (in memory) by his lineage, confirming his passing. His exact dates of birth and death remain undocumented, but his legacy lives on through the practitioners who continue to honor the lineage from Onça Preta through him to the present day.