André Jansen

André Jansen was the foremost fighter of Mestre Sinhozinho's first generation of students. A goalkeeper for Botafogo Football Club, he simultaneously held the title of champion of capoeiragem in Rio de Janeiro (campeão carioca de capoeiragem). The Rio press considered him "the absolute master of Brazilian fighting" (mestre absoluto da luta brasileira) and "the best capoeira of his time in Brazil".

Jansen traveled throughout Brazil during the 1940s demonstrating the effectiveness of his martial art. His reputation was such that he became one of the most recognized names in Brazilian combat sports of that era.

On October 30, 1935, Jansen participated in a landmark event at Parque Boa Vista in Salvador, Bahia. Promoters of a major boxing event invited him to inaugurate the presentations in a confrontation with Ricardo Nibbon, a student of George Gracie who held titles in jiu-jitsu and catch-as-catch-can wrestling. As a preliminary to Jansen's bout, Mestre Bimba and his students demonstrated their Bahian Regional fighting style (Luta Regional Baiana) to the public—one of the earliest documented public exhibitions of what would become Capoeira Regional.

This Salvador event represented a significant moment in capoeira history: the encounter between the established Rio de Janeiro tradition of capoeiragem carioca and the emerging Bahian Regional style. Jansen embodied Sinhozinho's combat-focused approach to capoeira—stripped of music and ritual, mixed with techniques from wrestling and boxing, and trained for effectiveness in actual fighting.

Jansen was among the prominent students who trained at Sinhozinho's academies in Ipanema, alongside names like Rudolf Hermanny (judo champion and World Cup football coach), Luiz "Cirandinha" Pereira Aguiar (weightlifter and capoeira champion), Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim (legendary Bossa Nova musician), and Olympic Committee president Sylvio de Magalhães Padilha.