Cobra Mansa

Mestre Cobra Mansa (born Cinézio Feliciano Peçanha, 1960 in Duque de Caxias, Brazil) also known as Cobrinha and Cobrinha Mansa, is a mestre of capoeira Angola.^[1]

He is one of the founders and the guide of International Capoeira Angola Foundation, that supports 11 affiliated groups in the United States, Brazil and Europe.^[2]

Beside his play, Cobra Mansa is known for his knowledge and scholarship of the historical and cultural roots of capoeira.

He began his practice of capoeira in 1973 with Josias da Silva and Raimundo in the Rio neighborhood of Duque de Caxias. He played Capoeira in the Duque Caxias street rodas and was one of the founders of the Caxias Street Roda with Rogerio Russo and Peixinho de Caxias.

In 1974, Cobra Mansa became a student of Mestre Moraes, after saw him play in the roda of Central Brazil. Prior to dedicating his life to capoeira Angola, he worked in photography, as a street vendor in a circus (Circo Picolino) and even served as a police officer for 2 years in the state of Belo Horizonte.

In 1981, Mansa started with the Grupo Capoeira Angola Pelorinho (GCAP), aimed towards children and orphans with rough backgrounds in Salvador, Bahia. After years of fruitful collaboration, Cobrinha and Moraes had a difference over the direction of the school where they were both leader figures. The result was the departure of Mestre Cobrinha and several other members of GCAP as well as the formation of FICA.

Around 1994, on invitation from the Aussar Auset Society, Cobrinha moved to the United States and opened a school in Washington, D.C., which was solely dedicated to the teaching of Capoeira Angola. He later became an adjunct professor at George Washington University, and then eventually president of the newly formed FICA.

In 2004, he left the United States to make his home in Bahia, Salvador, Brazil to create the Kilombo Tenondé.^[3] This organization is currently split over two sites, one in Valença, Bahia. Quilombo Tenondé provides space for capoeira and permacultura (organic farming).^[4] The other site is a cultural center at Coutos in the suburb of Salvador.

In the 2010s, completed a journey to the west-central region of Africa to search for the African roots of capoeira. He spent time in Angola and Mozambique learning about the n'golo martial art and other local African cultural traditions that contributed to the development of capoeira. He also conducted a workshop in South Africa where he shared his knowledge and experiences.

As a result of his trip to Angola, the documentary Jogo de Corpo: Capoeira e Ancestralidade (2013) was created.^[5]

Mestre Cobrinha is known for his dynamic and dangerous style of play. His nicknames (Cobra Mansa - "tamed snake" and Cobrinha - "little snake") are apt descriptions derived from Cobra Mansa's graceful and deceptive style of play. His ability to transform situations through the use of innovative and acrobatic solutions has made him one of the most influential angoleiro (practitioner of capoeira Angola) of his generation.

Never one to avoid the complexity of Capoeira Regional, he has traveled in many non-Angolan circles and done a great deal to help mend old disagreements between the two. His style continues to be respected through both the capoeira Angola and capoeira Regional communities and he remains an inspiration to many younger capoeiristas.

• Assunção, Matthias Röhrig (2002). Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-8086-6.

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