Mestre Polaco

José Roberto Rocha, known as Mestre Polaco, was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1949. In 1956, at approximately seven years of age, he was introduced to Mestre Paraná (Oswaldo Lisboa dos Santos) and became his disciple. From Paraná, he received the apelido "Polaco" (Polish)—likely a reference to his physical appearance.

Polaco trained under Mestre Paraná's tutelage in the famous backyard academy in Bonsucesso, where Paraná's wife Tia Maura helped care for the many young students. He was one of several students who later became mestres under Paraná's guidance, alongside Mestre Mintirinha, Mestre Bira, Mestre Wilson Malhado, Mestre Indio Aranha, Mestre Pé de Valsa, Mestre Denis, and Mestre Marreta.

In March 1972, Mestre Paraná died of a cardiac arrest at his IPASE workplace. That same year, Polaco opened his own academy in the Ramos neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. He surprised the capoeira community by pioneering instruction for hearing-impaired students—a remarkably inclusive initiative for that era, leveraging capoeira's inherently visual and kinesthetic nature to enable deaf students to participate fully.

Also in 1972, Polaco was asked to assume responsibility for the Grupo Capoeira São Bento Pequeno, the folkloric group that Paraná had founded in 1950 (later 1956 according to Polaco's own account). Under his leadership, the group continued Paraná's legacy of presenting Afro-Brazilian culture at various events and maintaining the São Bento Pequeno tradition that would later influence the formation of Grupo Muzenza.

Throughout his life, Polaco assembled an important collection of historical photographs documenting Rio de Janeiro capoeira history. This archive, known as the "Acervo Mestre Polaco", preserves images of Mestre Paraná at rodas, meetings of Paraná's students including Mintirinha and others at the Terra academy, and iconic photos of Paraná with musicians and artists including Maria Bethânia.

In his final years, Polaco was recognized alongside Mestre Genaro (1934-2022) as one of the two great "guardians of the history of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro". Both gave testimonies for the documentary "From the Ring to the Stage" (Do Ringue aos Palcos), a film about Mestre Artur Emídio de Oliveira. Polaco clarified historical details in his testimony, including the fact that Artur Emídio never worked at a pharmacy but rather lived in a room at the back of one.

Tragically, the filmmakers were unable to secure resources to finalize the documentary before the passing of these old masters. Mestre Polaco died on April 10, 2021, preceded by his testimonial contribution but not by the completion of the film. Mestre Genaro followed him on February 28, 2022. Their deaths marked the loss of irreplaceable "libraries" of Rio de Janeiro capoeira history.