Contra Mestre Cabana was born in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil. In 1990 he began to learn Capoeira with "Porto de Minas", the group of Mestre Niltinho, Mestre Negoativo and Mestre Ray. About 10 years later he started to teach Capoeira himself. Shortly afterwards he came to Germany for the first time for a few months to lead the Capoeira group from Porto de Minas, which is based in Cologne and Bonn. In 2004 he came back again and has lived and taught in Cologne ever since. In November 2010 Cabana celebrated its proud twenty year “Capoeira anniversary”.
As an experienced capoeirista, he founded his own group "Capoeira Mineira" in November 2011.
He chose the name “Mineira” in relation to his home town Minas Gerais, as people from Minas Gerais are called “mineiros” in Portuguese. The red triangle in the logo is also reminiscent of the flag of the state known for its gold and diamond mines.