Mestre Preguiça

Waldenkolk Manoel De Oliveira, known around the world as Mestre Preguiça studied under the legendary Mestre Bimba in Bahia, Brazil, and graduated in 1963. Two years later, he moved to Rio de Janeiro and along with Rafael Flores Viana and Fernando Cavalcante Albuquerque (Mestre Gato), founded Grupo Senzala. In the late 60's there were very few competitions open to capoeiristas. The premier of these being the Berimbau de Ouro (Golden Berimbau). With the help of other capoeiristas, the group was able to enter the competition. On their first attempt, to everyone's surprise, the Senzala team featuring Preguiça and Gato won, and did so again the following year.

On their third attempt, the Capoeira Association prevented Gata and Preguiça from entering, claiming that only students were allowed to participate and not masters. Gato and Preguiça protested that they were not masters, only students. The Capoeira Association then responded that due to their record over the past two years they were being recognized as Masters.

Since Gato and Preguiça were unable to enter the Berimbau de Ouro, they began to train another team from Grupo Senzala to enter the tournament. This new team under the technical direction of Mestre Preguiça and featuring Mosquito and Borracha won the trophy for Senzala a third year in succession. News of this spread throughout the Brazilian Capoeira community. Many people traveled to see and train with this new group of capoeiristas, and the Senzala style of Capoeira soon became the predominant style all over Brazil.

In the 20 years that he spent in Rio, Mestre Preguiça graduated 10 Mestres. After touring 23 countries with the Brazilian Dance Company and receiving degrees in physical education in Brazil and Europe, Mestre Preguiça came to the San Francisco Bay Area to expand the art in the United States. In 1986, he founded Omulu Capoeira Group of San Francisco. Mestre Preguiça's work and dedication has now spread throughout the U.S. with branches in Amherst, MA, San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward, Torrence, Santa Monica, Chicago, Madison, New York, Seattle, and Minneapolis.

Mestre Di Mola

Mestre Di Mola has devoted his life to Capoeira for 30 years. His work is highly respected and his name is well known in the world of Capoeira. In 1998, Mestre Di Mola founded Capoeira Guanabara in Brazil. He wanted to develop capoeira even further, to improve the quality and mentality of the capoeiristas by infusing instruction with the roots of the culture. He has taught capoeira in this way throughout Europe, all over Brazil, in the US, and Asia. Today he lives in Sweden with his family where his group continues to strengthen.