Pastinha

Vicente Ferreira Pastinha (April 5, 1889, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil – November 13, 1981), known as Mestre Pastinha, was a ''mestre'' of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira and a codifier of the traditional capoeira Angola style.

Mestre Pastinha was a brilliant capoeirista whose game was characterized by agility, quickness and intelligence. He demonstrated that even in his seventies, he could engage in acrobatics and outperform much younger capoeiristas.

He chose not to introduce new kicks in order to preserve the original art. He wanted his students to improve the principal techniques (''cabeçada'', ''rasteira'', ''rabo de arraia'', ''chapa de frente'', ''chapa de costas'', ''meia lua'' and ''cutilada de mão''), which allows a proper ''jogo de dentro'' (inner game) to develop.

Pastinha was known as the "philosopher of capoeira" because of his use of many aphorisms. He made it his mission to clearly separate capoeira Angola from the violence.

Two principal Pastinha's disciples were mestres João Pequeno and João Grande.

Life

Pastinha was born on April 5, 1889, in Salvador. Little is documented about his family background, except that his mother, Maria Eugenia Ferreira, was a black woman from Bahia, and his father, José Pastiña, was a Spanish pedlar.

Pastinha's introduction to capoeira arouse from a need for self-defense. As a somewhat frail ten-year-old, he faced bullying from a larger boy in his Rua da Laranjeira neighborhood. Witnessing his predicament, an elderly African neighbor named Benedito, native of Angola, offered to teach him capoeira. After several months of training with him, Pastinha successfully beat the bully.

He continued his training with Benedito for two more years. Pastinha's teacher apparently did not use a berimbau, but only a drum, which seems to be common in Bahian capoeira at that time.

Navy School

At the age of 12, Pastinha began his apprenticeship at the Navy School in Salvador.

During his time in the Navy, Pastinha received instruction in fencing, jack-knife techniques, and Swedish gymnastics, in the Navy orchestra. Pastinha's own accounts suggest that he even shared his knowledge of capoeira with some of his fellow sailors.

At the age of 20, in 1910, he left the Navy.

Capoeira instructor

Pastinha made a living through various jobs, including shoe cleaning, newspaper sales, carpentry, and working as a casino bouncer. According to his interview, Pastinha wanted to live through the sale of his oil paintings, though this endeavor did not entirely materialize.

He established his first capoeira school in a bicycle workshop located on the Campo da Pólvora. After 1910, he began teaching capoeira to artisans and students residing in shared accommodations (''repúblicas'') in the surrounding neighborhood, although scant details are available about his early students.

In street rodas, Pastinha was always ready for any unforeseen circumstances. He frequently recalled that he carried a small sickle that could be affixed to the berimbau, effectively turning the instrument into a formidable weapon should a street fight arise. However, despite his initial acclaim, Pastinha completely withdrew from the practice of capoeira in the following years. According to his own writings, he withdrew from 1912 until 1941.

Capoeira Angola center

During the 1930s, traditional Bahian capoeira became known as ''capoeira de Angola'', opposing Bimba's ''capoeira Regional''. A group of old mestres held regular rodas in Gengibirra area, in black neighbourhood Liberdade, to preserve traditional style. Rodas was led by Mestre Amorzinho, a civil guard who offered protection from police harassment. According to Mestre Noronha, it was the first center for Capoeira Angola, founded by 22 mestres.

Accourding to Pastinha's account, one of his top students, Aberrê, visited Gengibirra and impressed the mestres there with skills, so they ask him for teacher. Pastinha eventually visited them on 23 February 1941:

In his memoirs, Noronha offered a slightly different version of the episode, suggesting that it was only after Amorzinho's death that the other mestres decided to pass the leadership to Pastinha. However, in 1941 Pastinha founded the ''Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola'', located at the Pelourinho.

Like Bimba, Pastinha formalized capoeira practice by establishing structured classes within a dedicated "academy". Students were required to wear uniforms during both training sessions and exhibitions. The uniform designs evolved over time, drawing clear inspiration from sports jerseys. From about 1950, Pastinha adopted the colors of his favorite soccer club, Ypiranga, yellow and black, which became the hallmarks of the Angola style he taught. His goal of imparting knowledge to the 'next generation' of mestres also led to the establishment of hierarchical structures within capoeira.

Pastinha participated with the Brazilian delegation of the "First International Festival de Artes Negras" in Dakar, Senegal (1966), bringing with him João Grande, Gato Preto, Gildo Alfinete, Roberto Satanás and Camafeu de Oxossi.

Twilight years

Pastinha worked as shoeshiner, tailor, gold prospector, security guard at a gambling house and construction worker at the ''Porto de Salvador'' to support himself financially so that he could do what he loved the most, to be an ''Angoleiro''.

Eventually Pastinha's academy fell on hard times. Pastinha, old, sick and almost totally blind, was asked by the government to vacate his academy for renovations, but the space was never returned to him. Instead it became a restaurant and entertainment outlet. Pastinha was left abandoned in a city shelter (abrigo D. Pedro II - Salvador).

Pastinha played his last game of capoeira on April 12, 1981. He died at the age of 92 on November 13, 1981.

Two of his most learned students, João Grande and João Pequeno continued to share capoeira Angola with the world.

On capoeira

According to Pastinha, good mestre should watch the game not to become violent and not to lose rhythm:

For him, capoeira Angola is not a fight for victory over an "opponent". Pastinha appealed to participants "not to aspire to fight our ''comrades'' (companions)". Capoeiristas should play:

Pastinha stressed that a good capoeirista should always remain calm and decent:

He emphasized, in particular, the role of capoeira music and singing:

For Pastinha, capoeira Angola is more than a simple sport but a philosophy and a sacred legacy he ardently aimed to protect. His insistence on loving capoeira Angola mirrored a deep devotion akin to religious faith. As his friend, sculptor Mário Cravo, noted, "Pastinha was a mystic because he lived capoeira with intensity and made his own interpretation of the mystic universe."

Lineage

In Capoeira Angola, lineage represents the chain of teachers (''mestres'') and students that define one's role in the community and shape a school's teachings. Styles evolve uniquely through various teachers who pass them on to their students. Pastinha's school in Pelourinho was influential in shaping Capoeira Angola. Many mestres in this tradition trace their lineage back to him.

Literature

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See also

* Capoeira Angola
* Mestre Bimba
* Mestre Waldemar
* João Grande
* João Pequeno

References

External links

Mestre Pastinha

Neves e Sousa's drawing of Pastinha's academy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastinha, Mestre (Vicente Ferreira)
Capoeira mestres
Afro-Brazilian people
Brazilian people of Spanish descent
1889 births
1981 deaths
People from Salvador, Bahia
Capoeira Angola