Black Combat Arts Institute.
HISTORY · FIGURES
Bimba Challenged an Entire City — Then Got Roasted for Winning
6 MIN READ
In a 1936 interview Bimba challenged all the capoeiras of Salvador, naming several by name — and, though victorious, was sharply criticised.
WHY THIS ARTICLE
Bimba's challenges are remembered as heroic. The thesis sets them in the ordinary practice of the ring — public challenges via the press — and notes that his victories drew heavy criticism.
A challenge in the press
In an interview in the Diário da Bahia of 6 January 1936, Bimba challenged all the capoeiras of the city, and named several: Samuel Pescador, Eugênio and Henrique Bahia — the last being his first adversary in the Parque Odéon. This was ordinary practice: in the Sudeste, pugilistic challenges were regularly thrown, directly or through the press; the first Greco-Roman and boxing champions of the late nineteenth century invited spectators to come and face them, and the Gracie built their fame by the same method.
A crowded field of challengers
Velludinho, the most active capoeira champion of the 1930s, challenged all his peers in 1932; a year later Kid Pepe addressed himself directly to André Jansen and Caio Mendonça; in Salvador, Riccardo Nibbon did the same against Jansen. And Bimba addressed himself to all the capoeiras. Backed by a manager, victorious — and, the thesis notes, sharply criticised.
Why it matters
Bimba's challenges were not singular heroism but a shared genre of the ring. And victory did not bring consensus: winning made him a target as much as a champion.
SOURCES
La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles (1905–1984), thèse de doctorat, Université des Antilles, 2020 (Part II: Bimba's 1936 challenge; Diário da Bahia, 6 January 1936; Velludinho, Kid Pepe, Nibbon).
IN THE CORPUS
→ Bimba Was Promoter, Referee, Rule-Writer and Fighter
→ The Verdict the Crowd Booed in 1931
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
MALO, Olivier. Bimba Challenged an Entire City — Then Got Roasted for Winning. In: Black Combat Arts Institute — Articles [online]. No. 84. 2026 [accessed date]. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/articles/bimba-challenged-an-entire-city-then-got-roasted-for-winning. Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis, Université des Antilles, 2020.