Mestre Ciro · Where it began
Grandmaster Ciro, known in Bahia as Mestre Ciro, is identified in local reporting as Francisco de Magalhães Pinto. He founded Clube Itapagipano de Judô on 1 May 1966 in Baixa do Bonfim, on Salvador’s Itapagipe peninsula. This is the starting point of our academy’s family story: a judo club in Bahia, long before the Team Carvalho name.
A club and a family
In a 2025 feature, Bahia Notícias recounts that Ciro’s sons Ciro Carvalho Pinto, known as Cirinho, and Cristóvão were among the club’s first pupils, aged five and six. Alan Carlos identifies Mestre Ciro as the father of Edson and Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Carvalho’s grandfather; Bruno’s own biography also describes these family ties. The club’s story and the family’s story grew together.
A legacy in Salvador
Bahia Notícias describes the club as one of Salvador’s oldest judo academies, with a history predating the Bahia Judo Federation. In 2022, the judo publication Boletim Osotogari reported the launch of the book “Mestre Ciro – Um Expoente do Judô” at the club. In 2026, the club reaches sixty years since its founding. In a 2016 interview, Ricardo Carvalho recalls that his father studied under Kazuo Yoshida; this teacher connection is recorded here as Ricardo’s account.