João Catarino

João Catarino was a capoeirista from Santo Amaro da Purificação in the Recôncavo Baiano. He was the brother of Eutíquio Lúcio Góes and uncle of Mestre Gato Preto (José Gabriel Góes), making him part of the Góes family capoeira lineage that traces back to the African Oleriano de Góes.

João Catarino was a student of the legendary Besouro Mangangá, one of the most celebrated capoeira figures in history. Learning from Besouro before his death in 1924, João Catarino acquired the art from the same generation that had inherited it directly from African masters like Tio Alípio.

When Gato Preto's father Eutíquio stopped teaching his son around 1942—after the young boy delivered a powerful cabeçada that knocked Eutíquio to the ground—it was João Catarino who continued the boy's education. As Gato Preto himself testified: "Depois veio meu tio, João Catarino, aluno de Besouro, até que ele morreu de derrame, que a turma chamava de congestão" (Then came my uncle, João Catarino, a student of Besouro, until he died of a stroke, which people called congestion).

João Catarino also taught Mestre Léo from São Braz, who in turn taught Mestre Messias beginning in 1942. This establishes an important lineage: Besouro → João Catarino → Mestre Léo → Mestre Messias. Mestre Messias was formed as a mestre at age 20 in 1947 by Mestre Léo.

João Catarino died of a hemorrhage (stroke) at an unknown date, though before 1947 when Gato Preto moved to Salvador and began training with Mestre Cobrinha Verde. His significance lies in being one of the few documented students of Besouro Mangangá, alongside Cobrinha Verde, and in transmitting Besouro's teachings to both the Góes family lineage and to Mestre Léo's lineage.