Mestre King Kong

Nelson Luís do Carmo, known as Grão Mestre King Kong, is a pivotal figure in the transmission of Bahian capoeira angola to Rio de Janeiro. He earned his apelido "due to being large and strong" - a fitting name for a man who would become a pillar of capoeira in the city.

King Kong was a direct student of Mestre Inauá Mendes, who himself trained under Mestre Onça Preta (Cícero Navarro, 1909-2006) - one of the legendary angoleiros who survived the brutal Pedrito persecution in 1920s Salvador. This lineage connects King Kong directly to the old masters of Salvador: Samuel Querido de Deus, Pastinha, Aberrê, and others who shaped capoeira angola in Bahia.

He came from the capoeira rodas held at Quinta da Boa Vista - the famous public park in Rio de Janeiro that housed the National Museum. These rodas were described as places "where only those who knew how to play and had courage could enter" (onde só entrava quem sabia e tinha coragem). The Quinta da Boa Vista roda, along with the carnival roda at Central Station and the roda at the Nossa Senhora da Penha festivities, were among the most famous street rodas in Rio during the 1950s-1970s. It was at the Quinta da Boa Vista roda that Mestre Dentinho made history by being the first capoeirista to perform a somersault in a Rio roda in the 1960s.

King Kong founded Grupo Capoeirarte and serves as its president. Based in Engenho Novo, Rio de Janeiro, he dedicated his life to passing on the tradition he received from Inauá.

His first student to achieve the mestre title was Mestre Baia (Thiago da Silva Costa), who went on to found Associação Cultural de Capoeira Geração Nagô on November 30, 2013. The organization operates in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro and emphasizes "discipline, respect, friendship, cooperation and faith" (disciplina, respeito, amizade, cooperação e fé).

Despite being blind in both eyes today, King Kong remains in excellent health and mental clarity. He continues to be honored by his lineage and was visited by the Associação Cultural de Capoeira Geração Nagô, who documented his trajectory through a video interview directed by Mestre Baia and conducted by Professor Empadinha.