Mestre Pastinha On the Docks of Bahia

Mestre Bola Sete has written a number of interesting books and articles on capoeira. In his book, A Capoeira Angola na Bahia, he recalls some stories of the great old mestres, including Pastinha and Besouro Preto. The book also includes a catalogue of movements and capoeira songs (many attributed to Mestre Pastinha- the book is worth it just for those). Here's one of the stories:

I know many stories about Mestre Pastinha. Some of them I will pass on:

Antonio Maré, a famous capoeirista of the past and a great friend of Mestre Pastinha, once brought him [Pastinha] to play capoeira on the docks of Bahia where he [Pastinha] was known only by name. Arriving there, he knelt down at the “pé do berimbau” to play with one of the local capoeiristas. As they began their game, the other capoeiristas, friends who were playing with the mestre, yelled out “You’re going to clip this little chicken's wings, hey fulano?“ But to their surprise, the “chicken” [okay, one translation of the word] always had the advantage. At the end of the game, all the capoeiristas pressed Antonio Maré, who was well-known in the area, to tell the name of his friend. It was then that Antonio Maré revealed, “This is the famous Mestre Pastinha.” Upon hearing this, all the capoeiristas praised and congratulated the mestre, and one of the capoeiristas present stated, “Once I saw him, with that game and that manha, it could only be Mestre Pastinha.”

The book is great. You will really enjoy the stories (maybe we can sneak another one in) of the old mestres on the streets of Bahia and how capoeira was part of their everyday lives, not just in the academy or in the roda. You can find this book, A Capoeira Angola na Bahia by Mestre Bola Sete, in the FICA-Bahia library, but I am sure it is available other places, and most certainly with Mestre Bola Sete himself.

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