Mestre Gato has almost 50 years of playing capoeira. It has been a well know figure in the capoeira scene and has in this time played an important role on the development of capoeira, organizing many meetings in Brazil and through out the world.
Mestre Gato, (Fernando Albuquerque) began studying Capoeira in 1964, at the age of 16 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began training with the Flores brothers at the Laranjeiras. Continue reading “Mestre Gato”
Mestre Pedro has been training and studying Capoeira for over thirty years with Mestre Gato one of the founding members of Group Senzala in 1963. Since his arrival in Scotland in 2000, Pedro’s been working with the main dance and arts schools in Scotland such as:
Northern College in Dundee, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the Scottish Youth Dance in Glasgow and Dance Base in Edinburgh. Continue reading “Mestre Pedro”
Christos has trained in a number of styles of martial arts over the years including taekwondo, kick boxing, Thai boxing, Aikido and knockdown sport budo (to name but a few!)
He first encountered Capoeira while training for open martial arts tournaments, now known as mixed martial arts. The initial attraction for taking Capoeira on as his main style was the high cardiovascular workout and not sporting black eyes at work every week. However what really kept Christos captivated was the complexity and variety of the game, the rhythm, the mental aspect as well as the physical. Continue reading “Christos (Espirro)”
Myles came across capoeira at the age of 9 after trying many different sports. He was attracted to Capoeira’s more relaxed approach and the many different elements there were to work on. Professor Christos has shared his knowledge and guided Myles for several years. He regularly takes classes in Grantham and unexpectedly received his adult grey cord in 2022 at the Grantham Batizado after helping to run the event. Myles’s capoeira has taken him all over the UK and even to events abroad in France and Spain. Myles traveled to Rio to participate in the 60 years anniversary event of Grupo Senzala.
Andy first saw capoeira while watching the incredibly cheesy film Only the Strong at his Grandmother’s house with his cousins, they couldn’t wait to try it so immedietly went into the back garden and began trying to copy the ginga and a few other moves, they tried to find classes nearby but couldn’t find anything. Continue reading “Andy (Menino)”
Esquilo started training Capoeira with Senzala Leicester in 2005 under Mestre Gato through the guidance of Tim and Christos. He had never tried Capoeira before, but was warmly welcomed into the group and has been training regularly ever since. Guided by Mestre Pedro, he now runs the Northampton classes alongside Menino. Continue reading “Glyn (Esquilo)”
Christina (Mochila) started training Capoeira in Utrecht with Mestre Picapau (Cascadura Capoeira) in 2011. Back then, it seemed the only reasonable university sport, with step aerobic and Zumba as the only alternatives. But she loved it so much that in fact, the first thing she looked up when offered a PhD position in Leicester in 2013 was whether there is any capoeira. This is how she came to Grupo Senzala. Having lived ‘abroad’ for shorter and longer stints of time since living in the UK, she has trained in Austin, St Petersburg and Barcelona, of course whenever travelling, and she has joined Mestre Pedro several times for Capoeira trips to Iran. Christina teaches classes in Leicester, and when she does, you never walk away without some good flexibility/mobility work-out – as a certified yoga teacher, she just can’t help it.
Neil (Noodle) has been involved in training and teaching various martial arts including karate, aikido & kung-fu since the mid 1980’s and dance including salsa, tango & swing since the early 2000’s. But having found capoeira with Professor Christos back in 2004 he was impressed by the many aspects contained within this diverse art and this has led to capoeira becoming his main focus for martial art training. He received his grey corda back in 2014 and since then when leading classes draws on his other skills to help students progress. His training has taken him around the UK and Europe and as far afield as Brazil & Bali with Mestre Pedro.
Jason has been training Capoeira since 2005. He first saw Capoeira when the Leicester Group did a demo at a cultural evening (Jason was attending) on a Saturday and he went to the class on the following Monday. He has been hooked ever since. In fact, he enjoys Capoeira so much that whenever Jason travels he checks where the nearest Capoeira group is so he has played Capoeira in: Ireland, Wales, China, Ghana and Israel. He plans to play in many more countries and ultimately in Brazil. Continue reading “Jason (Poeta)”
Tim is not actively teaching capoeira at the moment due to other commitments but he will always be part of the Senzala Midlands family.
Tim (“Caboco”) started training and studying Capoeira in 1999 and joined Group Senzala in 2001. He co-founded group Senzala Leicester, which was the first Capoeira group in the whole of East Midlands at the time. With the help of his friends and students, Tim dedicated a lot of his time in building the group from the ground up with the other co-founder Christos, making it into a well known group around the UK! Continue reading “Tim (Caboco)”
