Ep. 71-Capoeira Angola Beyond the Roda—my conversation with Mestre Roxinho

In this episode, Mestre Roxinho and I discuss his childhood in Bahia, playing soccer and living on the streets. We talk about the strong sense of cultural identity instilled in him by his mother—his first hero and the rock of the family—which helped him navigate the extreme racism in Brazil. Metalworking, not capoeira, was what he learned first from his capoeira mestre. We talk about how they met, and about Roxinho's connection with African spirituality, Candomble specifically. His Capoeira Angola lineage is distinct from the Mestre Pastinha lineage; we talk about how it serves as a social political movement, and how the art of it saved him and showed him a positive way to live his life. He shares about his time teaching in Australia, and where he'd like to see capoeira develop in the future. Recent transgressions of some prominent mestres come into conversation, as does trauma and the process of healing. Finally, we discuss his latest book—Ginga of Resilience.