Zé I

José Custódio dos Santos, known as "Zé I" (newspaper spelling: "Zéy"), was a capoeirista active in Salvador, Bahia, in the 1930s. He is remembered as one of the four opponents defeated by Mestre Bimba in the famous 1936 challenge series at Parque Odeon in Praça da Sé, Salvador—and notably, the only one among the four specifically identified as a "fellow capoeira master".

In 1936, Mestre Bimba issued an open challenge through the newspapers to fighters of any martial art style to test his Capoeira Regional. The fights were held at the newly inaugurated Parque Odeon under boxing-like rules developed by capoeirista Aníbal Burlamaqui. A point-scoring system was used: cabeçada (headbutt) takedowns worth 2-3 points, meia lua and armada strikes worth 1 point, tesoura (scissors) takedowns worth 2 points, and a headlock (gravata) worth 6 points.

José Custódio stepped into the ring against Bimba on March 18, 1936. According to the Jornal A Tarde article from March 16, 1936, Bimba won the match decisively with a score of 15-2. Bimba himself later stated: "I won fifteen points to two, and not as it was reported". The newspaper noted that "Zéy did only one meia lua and armada hit and one tesoura hit"—accounting for his two points.

As a fellow capoeirista facing Bimba, José Custódio's defeat was particularly significant for Bimba's project of proving Regional's superiority. While the other three opponents may have come from various fighting backgrounds, Zé I was explicitly a capoeira practitioner, making this a direct test of Bimba's new methodology against traditional capoeira.

The apelido "Zé I" (Zé Primeiro/Zé One) likely distinguished him from other capoeiristas named José in the Salvador scene—a common practice when multiple practitioners shared the same first name.

José Custódio was one of four opponents Bimba faced that night—alongside Henrique Bahia, Vítor Benedito Lopes, and Américo Ciência. Bimba won all four matches, earning the nickname "Três Pancadas" (Three Hits) for his devastating efficiency.