The school of Capoeira Angola Mato Rasteiro (ECAMAR) was founded by Mestre Roxinho (Edielson Miranda) on the 21st April 1999 in Salvador, Bahia with the aim of promoting and preserving both Capoeira Angola and Afro-Brazilian culture.

In 2000 Mestre Roxinho took ECAMAR to Lins, Sao Paulo where Capoeira Angola was still relatively unknown. He began the process of introducing Capoeira Angola and other elements of the Afro-Brazilian culture through the establishment of the school there. Various social and cultural projects were also held at the centre.

By celebrating and affirming African culture, the community was able to continue the process of reversing the social exclusion still suffered by the African community in Brazil. Mestre Roxinho initiated a series of open seminars to study and understand the value of the Afro-Brazilian culture in Capoeira Angola and conversely Mestre Roxinho worked towards the recognition of Capoeira Angola as an expression of African tradition and culture in Brazil.

He ran instrument workshops in which students built their own instruments such as Berimbaus, caxixis and reco-recos, while also learning the historical content connected to the instruments. The success of this initiative motivated the students of ECAMAR to extend their research to cover other subjects connected with the history and tradition of Capoeira Angola which gave rise to the idea of a library with the name “Centre of Study and Research Mestre Espinho Remoso”, dedicated to the founder of the school lineage.

At this time Mestre Roxinho initiated Project Bantu, classes for at-risk children and adolescents . The same project that started in Lins Sao Paulo is now underway in the various centres of ECAMAR in Australia. It caters to children and teenage refugees here who are having difficulty adapting socially and culturally to their new environment.

Mestre Roxinho is based in Sydney and he also coordinates ECAMAR schools in Melbourne , Alice Springs and Brisbane.