Mestre Barbosa

José Barbosa da Silva, known as Mestre Barbosa, was born on November 1, 1945, in Recife, Pernambuco—his mother was from Paraíba and his father from São Lourenço da Mata. He learned capoeira from Mestres Artur Emídio and Valdir Sales, both important figures in the development of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro and the Baixada Fluminense. This placed Barbosa in a distinguished lineage descending from Mestre Paizinho of Itabuna through Artur Emídio.

In 1970, Barbosa founded the Associação de Capoeira Zum Zum Zum in Duque de Caxias. This was during the end of the AI-5 period of the military dictatorship, when founding associations was not officially permitted—yet Barbosa persisted in establishing formal capoeira instruction in the city. He taught at Academia Líder in the center of Duque de Caxias, an establishment that remains in operation to this day.

As he stated in a December 2003 interview: "Quem trouxe eu não posso te responder, mas quem organizou, uniformizou e produziu até hoje fui eu" ("I can't tell you who brought it, but who organized, uniformized and produced it until today was me"). This claim positions Barbosa not as the person who introduced capoeira to Caxias, but as the one who formalized and institutionalized its practice there.

Alongside Mestre Josias da Silva (who operated the Associação de Capoeira Josias da Silva), Barbosa was one of the two pioneer mestres who ran the first formal capoeira academies in Duque de Caxias. These two academies—though separate and possibly competitive—together formed the foundation from which the Caxias capoeira tradition emerged.

At Academia Líder, Barbosa trained several capoeiristas who would gain prestige in the famous Roda de Caxias, including Marcos Antônio dos Santos (Marcão PQD), Ulisses Ribeiro de Sousa (later Mestre Velho), Itamar da Silva Barbosa (later Mestre Peixe), Luislan de Oliveira (Luizão), and Jonas Rabelo (later Mestre Russo). Mestre Russo, who would become the legendary "zelador" (caretaker) of the Roda Livre de Caxias, began training with Barbosa in 1972 and continued until 1975-76.

On June 13, 1973, the young capoeiristas who trained at the academies of Barbosa and Josias took a dramatic step: during the Festa da Igreja de Santo Antônio, they organized a street roda in the church courtyard. This was considered "sacrilege" by the pioneer mestres who valued the structured academy environment, and it was risky during the military dictatorship when street gatherings could attract police attention. But from this inaugural roda emerged the Roda Livre de Caxias—the oldest street roda still in continuous operation in Greater Rio de Janeiro.

Thus Barbosa's legacy is dual: he was the organizer who brought formal structure to capoeira in Caxias, training the generation that would then break from the academy model to create one of Brazil's most important street capoeira traditions. His students—Russo, Peixe, Velho—became the custodians of that tradition.

Barbosa supervised the Projeto Griô in Duque de Caxias, overseeing three professors. He also taught at FeoDuque and maintained associations with Liga de Ouro and other capoeira organizations. After approximately 40 years of teaching, he remains recognized as one of Brazil's most respected capoeira masters, known for preserving the ritual, mystical, and historical dimensions of the art form.

In 2000-2007, Barbosa founded the Grupo de Capoeira Regional, continuing his work to formalize and structure capoeira practice.