When he was eight years old, José Tadeu Cardoso (the now famous Mestre Camisa) began a life-long affair with Capoeira. At the time, it was one of several preferred childhood amusements, but Capoeira soon became the boy's passion. As a teenager, Camisa began studying Capoeira formally and by the time he turned sixteen, Capoeira had already become his career. Years later, after founding the organization ABADÁ-Capoeira and promoting his art around the world, Capoeira is Mestre Camisa's family, his life's work, his philosophy and-still-his enduring passion.

Mestre Camisa grew up in the interior of Bahia, with his family of 9 brothers and sisters in a small farm, the Fazenda Estiva. He spent much of his childhood watching local men play spontaneous games of Capoeira and listening to the older men in the area tell stories of the exploits of famous local capoeiristas. But the boy's first lessons in Capoeira came from his older brother, Camisa Roxa, who had left the family farm as a teenager to attend high school in the city, Salvador. Whenever Camisa Roxa would return to the family farm (around the 1960s), he would demonstrate the movements he had learned training Capoeira with Mestre Bimba to his younger brothers and cousins. The young boys would transform these small lessons into games, and would play them during the idle hours of childhood.

After his father passed away in 1964, the young Jose Tadeu went with his brothers to live in Lapinha, in Salvador. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would play Capoeira in street rodas and in the rodas of Mestre Valdemar and Traira, in the neighborhood Liberdade. Late one night, Camisa Roxa found his twelve-year-old brother (Mestre Camisa) playing alone in a street roda full of adult capoeiristas. He took his brother home and convinced their mother that the young Mestre Camisa should develop his passion for Capoeira inside a safer, controlled environment of Mestre Bimba's Academy. His mother consented, and Mestre Camisa enrolled as a student (but he did not stop playing Capoeira in street rodas around Salvador).

After training with Mestre Bimba for roughly a year, at the age of 14 in 1969, Camisa became an aluno formado, or graduate of the academy. Soon after, he joined his brother in a traveling folkloric group that toured Brazil and the world, “Olodum Maré”, performing in various numbers-most frequently those featuring the art of Capoeira. After a successful three month run in Rio de Janeiro, the group left for Europe with a new name, “Brasil Tropical”. Camisa remained in Rio, with a bus ticket to return to Salvador, where he was to continue, and complete, his studies. As soon as the boat carrying Brazil Tropical to Europe set sail, however, Camisa tore up his bus ticket and began what would become a long and prosperous career teaching Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro.

Poor and alone in a strange city, Camisa struggled to build a name for himself in Rio. He began teaching in various gyms, clubs, and schools, hoping to draw students and earn his daily bread, but also in order to avoid being alone.

In the decades of the 1980s, Camisa was already a well-known name in Capoeira for his superb skills, technicality, and innovative ideas.  While teaching in Rio de Janeiro, Camisa continued to participate in national folkloric events, which eventually led to international events, films, such as Cordão de Ouro in 1982 with Nestor Capoeira.

Mestre Camisa began developing and transforming what he had learned from his master, Mestre Bimba, thus developing his own teaching methodology and philosophy, and developing a following of students who believe in his vision.  
  
The idea for the organization ABADÁ-Capoeira grew out of Camisa's experiences teaching Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro.  Mestre Camisa envisioned forming an organization structured like a family, in which knowledge and traditions were passed on from one generation of capoeiristas to the next, as well as maintaining the art’s traditions while adapting to society's changes.  Years after arduous work and dedication to the art, Mestre Camisa formed ABADÁ-Capoeira in 1988, which today is the largest Capoeira organization in the world, with more than 40,000 members, and chapters in more than 20 countries around the world. Forming ABADÁ-Capoeira gave Mestre Camisa a chance to emphasize on the social contributions he thought could be done through the art of Capoeira, therefore, organizing social campaigns in favor of society’s less fortunate ones. 

Today, Mestre Camisa is one of the most respected figures as a Master and as a Brazilian citizen that has transcended frontiers in spreading the art of Capoeira throughout the world.  As a result, Mestre Camisa has received numerous awards and recognitions. In 2003, the city of Rio de Janeiro presented him with the Pedro Ernesto Award in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the city of Rio de Janeiro as an outstanding citizen.  This year, in addition to celebrating his 50th birthday at the V World Games and International Congress, Mestre Camisa received the highest attainable rank in the ABADÁ-Capoeira ranking system, the white cord.

Mestre Camisa leads the ABADÁ-Capoeira International Organization.  He frequently travels to oversee ABADÁ-Capoeira instructors, teach workshops, seminars and attend events throughout the world.