 My story with capoeira begins in 1982 in Campinas, state of San Paolo, a city called home by more than a million people. I came here from a tiny city, in comparison, to find work, and study history at University. While trying to adapt to "city life", I came across a capoeira Academia on the first floor of a building on Rua General Ozorio. The name of the group that trained at this Academia was Coquinho Baiano, led by Mestres Godoy and Maya. Blue and white collar workers alike, students, musicians, and intellectuals all came to Academia de Capoeira Coquinho Baiano to learn the traditions and culture of capoeira of this region. Here, me too I would begin my search to try to understand this art-form deeply rooted in Brazilian tradition.
It was 1987 when I graduated from Pontificia Universidade Catolica in Campinas with a degree in History. In 1998 I enrolled in a specialization course in Oral History at the Universidade Statale in Campinas.
 After 8 years of active participation in capoeira, in 1990, I graduated to instructor. Using capoeira as a stimulus, I began to put together social activities for the communities in the favelas and inner city, as well as at the state school where I taught history.
In 1992 I left Campinas and moved to Juquei (sand that sings), a beach town far from the city, and at that time, very hard to reach. Juquei is situated in the district of Sao Sebastio on the north coast of San Paolo.
Here I began to teach both history, at the state school, and capoeira, with the main objective to inform my students about the changes occurring in this area as a direct result of tourism.
I learned that in the past, the community had had a capoeira academy led by an instructor, Dinho, a caiara (native from Juquei).  The first classes that I taught were held on the beach. The group consisted mainly of beginners and some intermediate students that had been taught by Dinho. I was later offered a space by Mrs. Tia Quida, who was by coincidence the mother of Instructor Dinho who had stopped training capoeira for health reasons.
We trained here for one year, but for economic reasons, the space was transformed into a dance studio. Tia Quida, however, offered us a part of her kitchen, which was very big. We were able to adapt to the space and trained here for 6 months.
Half way through 1993, the Municipality of Sao Sebastio offered a space to an instructor from the group Grupo Raizes Negra who had been teaching 60 km from Juquei and had never had any contact with anyone from the community. This caused an outcry from my students who began to protest and collect signatures, which in the end would allow us to use the space and continue our training.
Soon after, we would organize our first batizado and I would introduce to the community my Mestres and the group Coquinho Baiano di Campinas. At this batizado, I was graduated to Professor.
 1994 was a year of great growth, and the year that I would begin to teach in another community: Barradolina, Serto do Camburi, Boraceia.
1995 was the year of our second batizado and an affirmation that capoeira could be used both as an instrument of education and of tradition.
At the beginning of 1996, I left Brazil to come to Italy. I left my academy in the hands of the students who had been the most active in the previous four years: Felix, Paulo Sergio, Maguila, Gugu, Pepeca, Memeu Cuca, Jocimar, and many others.
I came to the medieval city of Perugia: home to many young Italian University students, as well as "The University for Foreigners", a language university that I myself would enroll in. At the time, capoeira was known by few in this community. This, however, did not stop me from putting on public shows and demonstrations in pubs and university spaces, as well as teaching lessons in the piazzas.
Student participation and involvement came to the point where we needed a space in which we could train. We first found ourselves in the Sala di Ponte Doddi which by day was used by the elderly and at night became our place of work.
 1n 1998, after two years of intense training and labor to make capoeira recognizable to the community, we had our first batizado. I was graduated to Contra-Mestre by my Mestre, Godoy. This made me one of the principle exponents in the group Capoeira Coquinho Baiano, in Italy as well as in Brazil.
With the growth and gradual recognition of capoeira by the institutional boards, in 1999 we obtained Palestra Oliveto by the municipality of Perugia. With the help of my students, we were able to transform the room from a semi-abandoned state to a cultural center frequented daily by adults, to adolescents, to children.
In the same year, we founded the Cultural Association Il Nagual, which operates with the objective to diffuse the artistic expressions tied to Brazilian culture using dance, music, and in particular, capoeira. Together with the Association, we opened the capoeira school at Palestra Oliveto. This is a true "Academia" just like in Brazil, that in Italy is one of the most representative centers of the practice of this discipline, in respect to the tradition, with various lessons taught daily. Musical instruments, educational material, photographs, and videos are all available to the students, too.
 As the years passed and with the help of the more experienced students, we were able to insert capoeira in the cities of San Sepolcro, Foligno, and Umbertide and develop recreational activities with children as well as mentally challenged individuals.
In 2001, with the collaboration of the Universita degli Studi of Perugia, we organized an event that tied together music and dance under the theme of popular Brazilian culture.
In October of 2005, we held our 8th batizado, which now are held every year in October. This event is also hosted by other Mestres from Brazil and Italy that, like us, work to hand down the traditions of capoeira.
Our Association has also been involved in many regional and international events and demonstrations.
In these years I have kept strong ties with my country, going back periodically and bringing with me my Italian students to see my country and train in the schools of San Paolo and Bahia.
In Juquei, my former academy has had many problems due to a lack of a reference point and the progressive dropping out of my veteran students after my departure. Between 2000 and 2003 I returned to Brazil various times, but was unable to reunite the old group.
In June 2004 I met with Jocimar, one of my first students who was able to get past economic hurdles and continue training with Grupo Senzala and Raizes Negra, other groups in the area.
 Together we have re-opened the academy and since 2005 have put on a batizado every year for the students who have been regularly training. In December 2005 we founded the Associao Cultural Areiacanta.
With our two associations, in Brazil and in Italy, we hope to construct a cultural center that will focus on the exchange of these two cultures through the common practice of Capoeira.
I am commuted to pass on to my students the fundamentals and traditions of capoeira and remain faithful to these beliefs that are far from using the art as a means to beautify the body, or as a form of aggression.
On October the 30th, 2005, at Coquinho Baianos VIII batizado, I was graduated by Mestre Paolo to Mestre. This has been a push for me to continue my training and search to better understand capoeira, which can never be complete.
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