Mestre Maneca Brandão

Mestre Maneca Brandão was a pioneering figure in bringing Capoeira Regional to southern Bahia. A white man and son of Ubaldino, a former mayor of Itabuna, Brandão broke from the racial and class expectations of his privileged background to immerse himself in the Afro-Brazilian martial art.

Brandão traveled to Salvador where he trained directly under Mestre Bimba, the founder of Capoeira Regional, at Bimba's Centro de Cultura Física Regional. There he was classmates with Zoião, another important Bimba disciple who would later help him in Itabuna.

In 1958, Major Carlos Dória founded the "Academia Cultura Física e Capoeira Major Dória" in Itabuna—the city's first formal capoeira school. Dória recruited Maneca Brandão to serve as the primary instructor. According to the Cordão de Ouro historical records: "Na academia Major Dória que ministrava as aulas era o Maneca Brandão, aluno do Mestre Bimba, e seu companheiro de turma Zoião o ajudava nos treinamentos às vezes" (At the Major Dória academy, Maneca Brandão taught the classes—a student of Mestre Bimba—and his classmate Zoião sometimes helped him with training).

This academy represented a turning point for capoeira in southern Bahia. Before its founding, capoeira in Itabuna existed only in informal street rodas, practiced by marginalized communities. The establishment of a formal academy allowed practitioners from different social classes to participate, including young Reinaldo Ramos Suassuna (later known as Mestre Suassuna).

Brandão also participated in the street rodas alongside other prominent Itabuna capoeiristas including Mestres Sururú and Bigode de Arame. These informal gatherings were where young Suassuna first encountered capoeira around 1957-1958, before eventually training formally at the Major Dória academy.

Beyond his teaching, Brandão documented his experiences in the book "O Canto da Iúna – A Saga de um Capoeira" (The Song of the Iúna – A Capoeirista's Saga), published in Itabuna. The book includes his explanation of the Iúna—the mythical bird that inspired Mestre Bimba's famous berimbau rhythm—describing it as the "símbolo da sagacidade e da matreirice" (symbol of sagacity and cunning).

Historian Cláudia Viana, in her 2006 book "Capoeira: de luta de negro a exercício de branco no cenário grapiúna", explicitly honors Brandão's role: "Bimba, Maneca Brandão, Suassuna, são vários nomes que não podem ser esquecidos" (Bimba, Maneca Brandão, Suassuna—these are names that cannot be forgotten). Her research demonstrates how southern Bahia, not just Salvador and the Recôncavo, was crucial for capoeira's development in the state.

Maneca Brandão's legacy lives through his most famous student, Mestre Suassuna, who would go on to co-found Cordão de Ouro and become one of the most influential capoeiristas in history—spreading Bimba's Regional tradition to five continents.