Maloca

You may wonder “What is Maloca?”

We envisioned Maloca as a place to gather, share, laugh and of course play together. A place where we teach the art of Capoeira with passion and dedication, a place to learn from each other as human beings, a place that offers a space for people who want to join.

Maloca is a loosely governed, yet tightly knit community of people, welcoming like-minded people and also accepting others who may see themselves as somewhat different. A group of Individuals who feel less concerned about the rat race that sometimes drives our society.

Fundamental Principles

Maloca is born during the summer 2021 from the need of having non-hierarchical structures for our Capoeira communities. It is a house for the people to gather, laugh, play, share… live. We aspire to make Maloca a place for people to grow safely on their Capoeira journey and on their personal path to become better capoeiristas and better human beings thanks to compassion and empathy.

Each academy that bears the Maloca community logo is allowed to have their own independence and self-governance so long as they agree to follow the fundamental vision. They also have the responsibility to create a place for the students to grow and improve on their journey safely.

Within Maloca we recognize that every student or teacher comes with their own background, and we respect that: everyone is allowed to engage into Capoeira and/or activities of the community to the degree they want.

We also recognize that we are all in a constant learning process and we are human after all. Mistakes can happen to any of us. With that in mind, we consider that compassion and empathy are keys to address any questions and issues that may occur. We believe that any situation can and should be addressed with the greater good of the community in mind.

You will find Maloca communities in Shanghai but also in Beijing, Reykjavík (Iceland), you can find more about other Maloca communities on www.capoeiramaloca.com

So what about Maloca Shanghai?

Capoeira in Shanghai started in the year 2000s, but it is really in 2007 that the first Capoeira group in mainland China was founded, by Professor Diego “Guerreiro” and supervised by Mestre Marcelo Caveirinha (worldwide known for being the developer of Eddy Gordo’s movements at Tekken Game, one of the early students of Mestre Suassuna and founder of the international Capoeira Mandinga group, of Grupo Cordão de Ouro lineage).

We held annual batizados, workshops and invited international guests such us: ContraMestre Gugu, Mestre Papa-Léguas Mestre Xuxo, Mestre Primo, CM Janaina, Mestre Cabello (see here the list of previous events and guests).

Then at the end of 2015, the group was passed onto Instrutor Nico “Virtual” as Professor Guerreiro and his wife Instrutora Elisa “Princesa” moved back to Italy and are now leading Capoeira Mandinga Milano.

Since 2021 the group is co-lead by Nico “Virtual”, Tatiana “Muriçoca” and Ming “Gerente” and together with friends in Beijing and Reykjavík, decided to embark on a new journey by creating Capoeira Maloca.