Mestre Zoião

Adyjolvã Anunciação Couto, known as Mestre Zoião, was a student of Mestre Bimba and an important figure in the transmission of Capoeira Regional to southern Bahia.

Zoião trained at Mestre Bimba's Centro de Cultura Física Regional in Salvador, where he became classmates with Maneca Brandão—another formado who would play a crucial role in spreading Capoeira Regional beyond the capital. Like all of Bimba's students, Zoião was subject to the mestre's legendary discipline. In his book "Arte da Capoeira (História e Filosofia)", he recalled: "Ai de quem comparecesse na aula de uniforme sujo" (Woe to whoever showed up to class with a dirty uniform).

When Major Carlos Dória founded the Academia Cultura Física e Capoeira Major Dória in Itabuna in 1958—the first formal capoeira school in the city—Maneca Brandão was recruited as the primary instructor. Zoião, his classmate from Bimba's academy, sometimes helped with training sessions. This partnership brought Bimba's methodology to southern Bahia, and it was at this academy that young Reinaldo Ramos Suassuna (later Mestre Suassuna, co-founder of Cordão de Ouro) received his foundational training.

A historical photograph documented at velhosmestres.com shows Zoião alongside three legendary figures: Mestre Vermelho 27, Mestre Bimba himself, and Mestre Pastinha. The presence of both Bimba (founder of Capoeira Regional) and Pastinha (icon of Capoeira Angola) in the same frame with Zoião speaks to his recognized standing within the capoeira community.

In 1999, Zoião published "Arte da Capoeira (História e Filosofia)" through Gráfica Santa Helena in Salvador. The book addresses the history and philosophy of capoeira, offering firsthand testimony of training under Mestre Bimba and contributing to the documentation of Regional's early development.

Through his role as Bimba's student, his assistance in establishing capoeira in Itabuna, his participation in the historical record alongside the greatest mestres, and his authorship of a book on capoeira history, Zoião represents an important link in the transmission of Capoeira Regional.