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Marcos "Barrão" DaSilva was born in Recife in 1961 into a state of poverty. He displayed an early talent for the drums with which he earned his keep as a lad. At the age of 13, Mestre Pirajá (who was taught by his brother, a student of Mestre Bimba) took young Marcos under his wing and started to teach him Capoeira. An academy capoeirista by trade, Mestre Pirajá taught Barrão the techniques and discipline of Capoeira.
After three years of training Barrão, Mestre Pirajá left on a sabbatical and Mestre Teté took over. Mestre Teté taught him the ways of the Street Capoeirista. It was through this training that Mestre Barrão learned the cunning needed to survive in a Capoeira and how to effectively apply his techniques to any roda.
Mestre Barrão began to enter tournaments and was crowned the Brazilian Champion in the National Capoeira Championships in Rio de Janeiro. He opened his school, Grupo Axé Capoeira, in 1982, passing on his vast knowledge and experience. In 1987, he was given the honour and rank of 1st Degree Mestre by Mestre Pirajá. He moved to Vancouver and opened an academy there. In 2007, he launched an academy in his hometown of Recife and currently resides there.
Mestre Barrão has been invited to teach, conduct workshops and conduct Batizados all over the world and is the recipient of many awards. He was instrumental in re-introducing a dance known as Coco de Roda.
Currently, he has dedicated his life to being at the forefront of the evolution of Capoeira and passes on this philosophy to all 20,000 members of his school.
Mestre Barrão has two sons who are prominent in the capoeira and MMA world: Marcos Aurelio (Lelo - Professor Barrãozinho) and Marcos Vinicios (Instructor Ossoduro). Professor Barrãozinho has one of the fastest official MMA KOs in a "North American Challenge" match with a meia lua de compasso.