Mestre Carlos Senna

Carlos Senna was born on October 28, 1931, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He was a reservist of the 1st category of the Salvador Air Base and earned a degree in accounting from Fundação Visconde de Cayrú. Beyond these credentials, he pursued knowledge in school psychology, sports medicine, physical education, business management, massage therapy, personnel psychology, and scientific programming.

In 1949, at eighteen years old, Senna began his capoeira journey under the direct instruction of Mestre Bimba at the Centro de Cultura Física Regional. He proved to be a dedicated student, completing his formatura (graduation) in Capoeira Regional in 1950. During this period he earned the nickname "Senna Preto" (Black Senna) among his fellow students.

On July 23, 1953, Senna had the privilege of being selected to perform in Mestre Bimba's historic demonstration before President Getúlio Vargas at the Palácio da Aclamação in Salvador. This demonstration, during which Vargas declared capoeira "the only truly Brazilian sport", became a landmark moment in capoeira's legitimization. The performing group included fellow students Clarindo, João Veloso, Lessa, Sena Branco, Rosalvo, Eduardo, Pedro, Mario, Demerval, Gusmão, and Indiano.

Having earned Mestre Bimba's trust, Senna was appointed Technical Director of the Centro de Cultura Física Regional in 1954. However, he departed the following year to establish his own path.

On October 25, 1955, Senna founded the Centro de Pesquisa, Estudo e Instrução de Capoeira Senavox in central Salvador—the third capoeira school in history after Bimba's and Pastinha's academies. The name "Senavox" represented "the Voice of Senna", signaling his intention to develop an independent approach. This decision created tension between him and Mestre Bimba, with repercussions in the Capoeira Regional community.

At Senavox, Senna introduced several innovations that would influence capoeira practice worldwide. He researched and standardized the abadá—white clothing traditionally worn by carriage drivers, cargo loaders, and clothes collectors—as the official uniform for capoeiristas. He created the salve, a distinctive greeting where practitioners place their right palm over their heart while pronouncing the word "Salve". He also developed a structured system of classification and competition, including a belt graduation system using different colored cordões (cords).

Senna pioneered capoeira's entry into elite social spaces. Through his initiative, capoeira classes were introduced at exclusive Bahian sports and social clubs including the Bahiano de Tênis and the Associação Atlética da Bahia. He brought capoeira instruction to schools and to the Colégio Militar de Salvador, helping transform the art form's social perception from street fighting to respectable cultural practice.

He was the author of two proposals that led the Conselho Nacional de Desportos (National Sports Council) to proclaim capoeira as Brazil's national sport in 1972—a significant milestone in the art's official recognition.

In 1978, four years after Mestre Bimba's death in Goiânia, Senna joined Mestre Itapoan and Dona Alice (Bimba's widow) on a mission to retrieve Bimba's remains. With support from the Municipality of Salvador, they successfully transferred the body of capoeira's great innovator back to his home city.

In 1980, Senna published his first book, "Capoeira: arte marcial brasileira" (Capoeira: Brazilian Martial Art), as number 3 in the Caderno de Cultura collection, published by the Folklore Division of the Municipal Secretariat of Education and Culture of Salvador. He followed this with "Capoeira Percurso" (Capoeira Journey) in 1990, discussing the history and philosophy of capoeira with personal accounts of his own life in the art. He also established two capoeira journals for Senavox.

The same year, Senna founded the Associação Brasileira dos Professores de Capoeira (ABPC—Brazilian Association of Capoeira Teachers). In 1984, he was a principal mentor behind the founding of the Federação Baiana de Capoeira (FBC—Bahian Capoeira Federation), assuming the vice-presidency in its first administration.

He was a co-founder of the Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos de Capoeira (IBEC—Brazilian Institute for the Study of Capoeira), alongside fellow capoeiristas Arára, Itapoan, Acordeon, and Sacy.

In the competitive arena, Mestre Senna served as coach of the Bahia state team, winning two Brazilian championships. He organized two Bahian championships, three try-out tournaments to assemble the state team, and one Senavox Cup of Capoeira.

In a 1980 interview documented by Velhos Mestres, Senna—then 48 years old—expressed both dedication and frustration. His Senavox academy in central Salvador had approximately 30 students paying 400 cruzeiros for four weekly hours of instruction. He had spent over a decade writing to Brazilian presidents and ministers requesting government support for capoeira. "I'm already tired of saying that capoeira is a fight, it is to knock down the opponent", he stated, criticizing proposals from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro that he felt diluted capoeira's martial essence.

Mestre Carlos Senna passed away on November 4, 2002, at the age of 71. His legacy continues through his son, Mestre Yoji Senna (Yoji Macieira Valverde Senna), born April 6, 1963, who began capoeira in 1975 at the Colégio Militar de Salvador under his father's guidance. Yoji became youth champion of Bahia in 1977, introduced capoeira to Argentina in the 1980s, and in 1992 founded the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota—the first capoeira school in the Twin Cities.