The word Aruanda is a mutation of the place-name Luanda, a place African slaves were stolen from and hoped one day to return to. In Capoeira songs, Aruanda has come to be associated with a sense of freedom that would come with returning home. Mestre Borracha has chosen Aruanda as the name for his Capoeira group because of his desire for his students to capture this sense of freedom in their game, and to be versatile and adaptable jogadores (players). In 1997 Mestre Borracha left his homeland, bound for Sydney Australia. as a teacher with Grupo Capoeira Brasil. In 2005, Mestre Borracha & his associates established a new Capoeira group Capoeiracre, named after the Brazilian state in which he was born and raised. In 2007 he changed the name of the group to Capoeira Aruanda, and in 2015 Mestre Borracha was awarded his Master's belt by Mestre Boa Gente. Today Mestre Borracha leads an organisation that stretches across Australia, Germany, and Brazil.