Mestre Zé Grande

Zé Grande was one of the foundational figures in establishing the Bonfim capoeira lineage in Rio de Janeiro. A native of Bahia, he came to Rio de Janeiro in the early 1950s along with his brothers Irineu dos Santos and Deraldo—all from the dos Santos family, unrelated to their teacher Mário Buscapé despite sharing the same surname.

When Mário Buscapé began teaching capoeira at the Cavan company where he worked, Irineu was his first student. Through Irineu, Mário soon won other followers, including Zé Grande and Deraldo. On January 6, 1953, they founded the Associação Cultural Bonfim, also known as "Capoeiras do Bonfim."

The group initially occupied a small space in the neighborhood of São Cristóvão. As historian André Lacé wrote: "They didn't stay there for long, because the space became small due to the large number of students. They moved the academy to the neighborhood of Olaria, a spacious and pleasant place, and there they never stopped, training great capoeiristas, like the late Master Zé Grande, who stood out as their best disciple."

The Bonfim group, led by Mário Buscapé, became famous in Rio de Janeiro for training high-level competitors who often won the competitions that began being organized in the city from the mid-1960s.

In 1969, when Mário Buscapé returned to Bahia, Zé Grande and Deraldo took over leadership of the Bonfim group. Zé Grande served as president of the group, with headquarters later established in the Bonsucesso neighborhood. The group continued to flourish under their direction.

According to Mestre Gary (Mestre 22), who began training at Bonfim in 1957 at age 12, Zé Grande maintained strict traditional protocols in the roda: "Mestre Zé Grande, my mestre, would call for the toque de iuna and only mestres would play—this was the tradition. It was very beautiful to see."

Among the prominent capoeiristas of that era, Gary listed: "Zé Grande, Deraldo, Luiz do peito queimado, Zé Pedro, Mentirinha, Cilas, Touro, Travasso, Celso do Engenho da Rainha, Corvo, Bogado, Martins, Marlon—and myself, Mestre 22 da Bonfim." He described this period as a time when capoeira was "very dangerous," with no uniforms or cords—practitioners wore normal clothing and identified simply as "capoeira players."

Zé Grande, along with his brother Deraldo, Mestres Dentinho, and Mintirinha, is credited as one of the initiators of the capoeira roda at the Festa da Penha, which became one of the main street rodas in Rio de Janeiro by the 1970s.

At age 18, Mestre Soldado transitioned to training at the main Bonfim headquarters in Bonsucesso, where he studied under "Mestres Deraldo and Zé Grande (the president of the Bonfim group)." Soldado graduated from Mestre Deraldo in 1973.

Zé Grande trained and formed numerous capoeiristas including Mestre Gary (Mestre 22), who in turn trained Mestres Lébio, Rui Charuto, Mão de Onça, Toinho, Elias, and Mestra Marly Malvadeza—extending the Bonfim lineage to the present day.