Mestre Salário Mínimo

Mestre Salário Mínimo is a direct student of Mestre Bimba, the creator of Capoeira Regional. He trained at Bimba's Centro de Cultura Física Regional da Bahia in Salvador, becoming one of the many capoeiristas who carried forward Bimba's legacy after the mestre's move to Goiânia in 1973 and subsequent death in 1974.

His unusual apelido—meaning "minimum wage" in Portuguese—reflects the tradition of capoeira nicknames often given with irony or based on circumstances during training. The name stuck with him throughout his capoeira career.

In 2000, Mestre Salário Mínimo founded the group Abolição Capoeira, establishing his own school to transmit the Capoeira Regional he learned directly from Mestre Bimba. The group became active in the Arembepe and Camaçari regions of Bahia, where Salário Mínimo taught courses and participated in events. By 2008, documentation shows him facilitating Capoeira Regional courses at events such as the "I Ginga Arembepe" in December 2008.

Through Abolição Capoeira, Mestre Salário Mínimo built an international network. The group expanded to France through his students, maintaining the direct lineage to Bimba's teachings. The Associação Cultural Abolição Capoeira became recognized as a Ponto de Cultura in Bahia, serving approximately 1,260 people across eight locations in Camaçari municipality.

Salário Mínimo's most significant contribution to the capoeira lineage may be his role as teacher of Mestre Nenei—not to be confused with Mestre Nenel (Bimba's son). Mestre Nenei, in turn, became the father and first capoeira teacher of Mestre Kiki da Bahia, who brought Ginga Associação de Capoeira to the United States in 1996 and became the chief representative of Capoeira Regional in America. This lineage connection—Bimba to Salário Mínimo to Nenei to Kiki da Bahia—represents an important branch of Capoeira Regional's transmission from Brazil to the United States.