Mestre 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 choose not to introduce new kicks in order to preserve the original art. He wanted his students to improve the principal techniques (ginga, cotovelada, joelhada, negativa, cabeçada, rasteira, rabo de arraia, chapa de costa, chapa empurrando, meia lua, meia lua de costa, cutilada de mão/hand strikes, corta capim, tesoura, and aú with rolê), that allow a proper jogo de dentro (inner game) or ''jogo de fora'' (outside 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 violence.
Two of Pastinha's principal disciples were mestres João Pequeno and João Grande.
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