Mestre Bimba, Manoel dos Reis Machado, was born on November 23, 1899. At different times in his life, Mestre Bimba had professions such as wagon driver, coalman, dockworker and carpenter.

In 1932, Mestre founded the first capoeira academy. During this time Mestre Bimba issued a public challenge and defeated all challengers! In 1937, his capoeira academy was registered with the Secretary of Education, Health and Public Services. Mestre Bimba also taught capoeira to the military and in 1942 he opened a second academy.

In 1953, Mestre Bimba gave a demonstration of his art form to President Getúlio Vargas, where he proclaimed capoeira as “Brazil’s only true national sport.”

In 1973, Mestre Bimba moved his entire family to the state of Goiás, where he and his family experienced great financial hardships.  On February 5, 1974 Mestre Bimba died of a stroke. He was buried in Goiânia. In 1978, his remains were transferred from Goiânia to Salvador, Bahia and were (and currently still) interned in the church of Santo Antonio Alem do Carmo.

On 12 June 1996, The Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) granted the title of Doctor Honorius Cause (post-mortem) to Manoel dos Reis Machado, Mestre Bimba, in recognition to his value as an educator, a personality from Bahia who by extrapolating the Capoeira, contributed significantly to expand the culture of Bahia in the national and international scenes.