Inimigo Sem Tripa

Inimigo Sem Tripa was a legendary capoeirista of Salvador, Bahia, active during the late 19th or early 20th century. He is known from Mestre Pastinha's 1967 interview with Roberto Freire for Revista Realidade, where Pastinha recalled the great capoeiristas of the past.

In that interview, conducted when Pastinha was 78 years old and nearly blind, the father of Capoeira Angola listed fifteen deceased practitioners who had practiced "the pure Capoeira de Angola as I and these boys there do until today". Inimigo Sem Tripa was among them, alongside other colorfully-named figures such as Bigode de Seda (Silk Mustache), Américo Ciência, Bugalho, Amorzinho (Little Love), Zé Bom Pé (Joe Good Foot), Chico Três Pedaços (Chico Three Pieces), Tibiriçá da Folha Grossa (Tibiriçá of the Thick Leaf), Doze Homens (Twelve Men), Vitorino Braço Torto (Vitorino Crooked Arm), Zé do U, Zé do Saco (Joe of the Sack), Bené do Correio (Bené of the Post Office), Sete Mortes (Seven Deaths), and Chico Me Dá (Give-Me Chico). Pastinha also mentioned two women among these legendary practitioners: Júlia Fogareira and Maria Homem.

Pastinha remarked of these figures: "Digo a gente, lembrando os grandes capoeiristas do passado. Já estão mortos. Cada nome destes é uma história" (We speak, remembering the great capoeiristas of the past. They are already dead. Each of these names is a story). He emphasized that their nicknames revealed their character and fighting style: "From the nicknames alone you can know who they were, how they fought".

The apelido "Inimigo Sem Tripa" translates literally as "Enemy Without Guts" or "Gutless Enemy". In Portuguese, "tripa" (guts/intestines) carries connotations of courage or nerve, similar to the English expression "having guts". The nickname may have been ironic—perhaps given to a fighter so fierce he left his enemies gutless, or conversely, someone whose name belied his actual ferocity. The 1976 O Globo article quoting Pastinha's students used the plural form "Inimigos Sem Tripa" (Gutless Enemies), suggesting either a name variation or perhaps that multiple fighters shared this designation.

In that 1976 article, Pastinha's students stated: "Depois que Bimba morreu, só restou ele daquela geração de 'angoleiros' de briga" (After Bimba died, only he remained from that generation of fighting angoleiros). This confirms that Inimigo Sem Tripa belonged to the generation of "angoleiros de briga"—fighters renowned for their combative prowess in the pre-academy era.

No further biographical details have survived—no teachers, students, specific incidents, or documented appearances. Inimigo Sem Tripa exists as a name on Pastinha's list of the fallen, a reminder that behind each apelido stood a life now largely forgotten.