Formado Ermival

Ermival was one of ten children born to the Carneiro family at Fazenda Estiva, a farm in the interior of Jacobina, Bahia. His eldest brother, Edvaldo Carneiro e Silva, would become the legendary Grão-Mestre Camisa Roxa, considered the best student of Mestre Bimba.

When Camisa Roxa's father died around 1965, the twenty-one-year-old eldest brother became the family patriarch. He took on the responsibility of educating his younger siblings and providing for their welfare. Under his guidance and example, three of his brothers—Ermival, Pedrinho, and José Tadeu—followed him to Salvador to train capoeira with Mestre Bimba.

Like his older brother, Ermival joined Mestre Bimba's academy in Salvador, likely in the mid-to-late 1960s. Along with Pedrinho and José Tadeu, he completed the rigorous training regimen and graduated as an aluno formado—a formally graduated student of the Academia de Mestre Bimba.

The Carneiro family of Jacobina represents one of the most significant capoeira dynasties of the 20th century. While Camisa Roxa became one of the pioneers who brought capoeira to Europe, and José Tadeu (Mestre Camisa) went on to found Abadá-Capoeira in 1988, Ermival's role in this family tradition—though less publicly documented—was part of the foundation that made this family legacy possible.