Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (7 page)

In the same program, Ruggerio faced Vervet. Unfortunately, the match degenerated from a “sport” into a “
tourada
” [bull fight], due to Vervet’s dirty tactics and recourse to illegal blows [
golpes prohibidos
] including
socos
[punches] and
rasteiras
[leg kicks, or leg sweeps]. Ruggerio retaliated in kind from the middle of match, finally dealing defeat to the French champion. Closing out the evening fights, Victor Hensch and Jules Jourdan fought by luta livre rules and drew.

The Grande Campeonato Internacional continued on Saturday May 5. Hensch and Jourdan drew again [
ainda não desempataram
] in their third match on Friday May 4. There was no other alternative than to have another match to decide who was stronger.

To arouse interest in another match between Raicevich and Fegelnhauer, Paschoal Segreto offered 2,000
reis
[
dois contos de reis
] to the winner.
28

The Street

On Friday May 2, on on rua Praia Pequena, near the corner of the estrada Bomsuccesso, 13 year Armando was playing with some friends. They said something to make Miguel Turco’s daughter cry. Miguel was an “
arabe
” and had a bad reputation [
homem da máos costumes
]. Miguel beat Armando to the ground and then “having satisfied his blood lust” [
instincto sanguiario
] he calmly returned to his home as though nothing had happened.

Witnesses to the savage beating detained him and brought him to the local police station.

The same day, Antonio Pereira de Christo, 14, resident of rua de S. Pedro, n. 55, was playing outside the business establishment of sr. Adelino Simões, at rua do Ouvidor, n. 45, when, oblivious to the danger that awaited, he yielded to the temptation to climb up an iron gate. The enormous gate fell and crushed the unfortunate boy’s head. Witnesses were horrified. The small body was removed to the police morgue where Dr. Morize Barbosa diagnosed the cause of death as a fractured skull [
fractura do craneo
].
29

Mario Aleixo

Mario Aleixo was teaching jiu-jitsu in Rio before Conde Koma arrived. He was teaching jiu-jitsu after Conde Koma left. He also mixed jiu-jitsu with boxing and capoeirgeam to form his own original style that, he claimed, was superior to and more “efficacious” than any of its three sources.

Mario Aleixo was an “
esgrimista
” [fencer]. He opened a program of fencing and jiu-jitsu in Rio at the Club de Regatas Boqueirão do Passeio on
September 8, 1914.
30 
He had already been teaching jiu-jitsu however, since 1913 in the suburbs (in the North Zone) at the Centro do Sportivo do Engenho Velho.
31
As everyone knew, Mario Aleixo was one of the most knowledgeable exponents of both fencing and jiu-jitsu in Brazil.
32
Students would certainly be in good hands.

With his background in fencing, it was probably inevitable that he would eventually try to synthesize the two games, throwing capoeiragem in as well, in an early version of Jeet Kune Do.

Between the rise and fall of Mario Aleixo, there was another jiu-jitsu master. His name was Mitsuyo Maeda, better known in Brazil as Conde Koma.
33

Conde Koma made his first appearances on the variety show stages of
São Paulo a yaer and a half after Mario Aleixo began teaching jiu-jitsu in Rio. Koma came to Rio in April of 1915 and left in May. His presence was impressive, but brief. Mario Aleixo maintained a lower profile, but he was a permanent fixture. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Mario Aleixo shifted his focus to capoeiragem. But he remained acknowledged as a master of jiu-jitsu in
Rio. At least until December of 1931.

.

Chapter 4 Notes

Chapter 5

1914

On
Wednesday September 23, 1914 residents of São Paulo were informed that the world champion Conde Koma and his famous troupe of Japanese jiu-jitsu fighters would soon be arriving. That was followed by a note explaining that “jiu-jitsu is absolutely different and very distinct from any other form of fight, and that it is the real art of self-defense and physical culture of Japan”.
1

The members of Koma’s troupe were not identified by name, but based on the results of the matches that took place over the approximately
three weeks of their engagement, they were Koma himself, Satake, Okura, Matsura, and Akiyama.
2

Conde Koma and his troupe made their first appearance at Paschoal Segreto’s Theatro Variedades in the Largo do Paysandu, in São Paulo, on Friday September 25.
3

They shared the bill with a bevy of international female singers (Vivian Hett, Martha Cotti, Jeane Jeoral, La Moyanito, Nelly
Bertti, Alexandra Vives, and Hedda), an Italian comedy team named Les Vallieres, and the ‘great attraction’ of the epoch, the “world athlete” [
athleta mundial
] Mr. Galant.
4

Theatro Variedades was one of the many theaters operated by Paschoal Segreto,
5
in São Paulo, in Rio, and across the Guanabara Bay in Nichtheroy [now spelled Niteroi]. Many presented fights in addition to the usual variety show acts. One of them was Pavilhão Internacional, where Sada Miyako performed in 1909. Segreto also ran the Theatro Carlos Gomes, also in Rio, where luta romana, luta livre, and luta de box Inglez were presented.

Segreto had tried unsuccessfully to book Raku as a replacement for Sada Miyako in his Pavilhão Internacional campeonatos of luta romana and jiu-jitsu. Conde Koma was now in
São Paulo. Bringing him to Rio was the logical next step. By coincidence, Segreto would finally get Raku for his stages. Raku joined the Koma troupe in Rio.

The Koma troupe debut performance was an astounding success [
successo assombroso
].
6
But they had stiff competition. On the night of their debut and every night, Paulistas had abundant entertainment options. If they didn’t care for fights, they could see the operatta
A Gran duqueza de Gerolstein
at Segreto’s Apollo Theatro on rua D. Jose de Barros. They could watch a four-act play called “
Sherlock Holmes: O amador policial
” at the Palace Theatre (on avenida Brigadeiro Luiz Antonio, n. 69). They could watch
A Conflagração Europea
, and
Ciumes ma reprimides
, and
As duas maes
, at the Iris Theatre.
7
If that didn’t suit them, The S. Jose was presenting a variety of operettas and reviews. The Jockey Club Paulistano presented horse racing at Hippodromo Paulistano. The Frontão Boa Vista at rua Boa Vista no. 48 presented
Grande funcção Sportiva, Quiniela de Honra
. Football and target shooting [
tiro
] were also available.

People who had leisure time and disposable income did not have to go far to find entertainment. Performers from all corners of the world came to them. Mostly they came from
Europe and North America. Japan was still exotic and vaguely mysterious, including its scientific form of fighting, “jiu-jitsu” (invariably written with quotation marks). Conde Koma and his troupe of jiu-jitsu fighters were worth seeing, not just because they were national or world champions. Every fighter on the stages of São Paulo and Rio was a champion of some sort. That was taken for granted. But Conde Koma and his men were unique. There were so few of them.

Their game of defense may have been mysterious to Paulistas but their show was not hard to understand.

The Koma troupe’s shows in São Paulo were probably very similar to the shows they put on not long after, in Maranhão. A typical show involved (1) the monetary offer, (2) introduction of Koma and the troupe, (3) Koma’s invitation to spectators who wanted to test him, (4) demonstrations of self-defense techniques, (5) demonstrations of winning jiu-jitsu competition techniques, (6) demonstrations of prohibited techniques, and finally (7) a match between two troupe members.
8

The rules of a jiu-jitsu fight, or at least the rules used by Conde Koma, were also probably the same as those that were publicized a few months later for their
Rio appearances at Segreto’s Theatro Carlos Gomes.
9
They were as follows:

1. The wrestlers should be clean and cut their finger and toe nails
[
Todo lutador deverá se apresentar decente, com as unhas das mãos e dos pes perfeitamente cortadas
].

2. The should wear a kimono, provided by Conde Koma
[
Deverá usar trage kimono, que o conde Koma lhe facilitará
].

3. Biting, scratching, head-butting, and punching were prohibited
[
Não e permittido morder, arranhar, pegar com a cabeça ou com a punho
].

4. When using the foot, the curved part rather than the pointed part should be used
[
Quando se fizer uso do pé, nunca se fará com a ponta e sim com a curva
].

5. A fighter would not be considered to be defeated by pinning his shoulders to the mat
[
Não se considerá vencido, o que tenha as espaduas em terre ainda que tenha cahido primeiro
].

6. Fighters should indicate that they give up by tapping three times on the ground or the opponent’s body
[
O que considerá vencido, o demonstrará dando tres palmadas sobre o acolchoado e sobre o corpo do adversario
].

7. The referee would declare a fighter beaten if it appeared that he was unable to tap three times
under his own volition [
O juiz considerá vencido o que effeito da luta não se recorde que deve dar tres palmadas
].

8. Rounds would be
five minutes with 2-minute breaks between rounds. The referee would count the minutes in a loud voice so that the fans could hear [
As lutas se dividirão em rounds ou encontros de 5 minutos, por 2 de descanço. Tendo o juiz de campo que contra os minutos em voz alta para maior comprehensão do publico
].

9. If the wrestlers fell out if the ring they should obey the referee’s instructions and get back in to the center of the ring, standing up, facing the opponent
[
Se os lutadores cahirem fore do tapete, sem que nenhum delles tenha avisado, o sr. juiz deve obrigal-os a collocar-se, de novo no centro do acolchoado, em pé, frente a frente
].

10. The judges may substitute for the referee [
Substituirão em suas obrigacões, ao sr. juiz, os srs jurado
].

Desafio

Conde Koma would later publicly offer 5,000 francs to anyone of any size or weight who could defeat him, and (sometimes) 500 francs for anyone who could survive 15 minutes without “desisting”.
10
His shows in São Paulo were advertised and plugged in every, or almost every, daily edition of the
Correio Paulistano
between Wednesday September 23 and Wednesday October 20. Ads and news items announced match-ups for the day or next day.

Conde Koma’s offer to challengers was not included in any ad or item. That may account for why there were so few of them, in
São Paulo at least. In fact, there was only one, on October 5, when Conde Koma was scheduled to confront Miguel Jorge.

The troupe performed almost every day. As noted above, there were only five members in the troupe. Without amateur challengers, the performances would inevitably become repetitious and predictable. Results were not reported, except indirectly, when the match was a
desempate
[tie-breaker], or
desempate de morte
[tie-breaker of a tie-breaker]. Based on these limited results, it appears that most, possibly all, matches ended in draws. The matches that did occur were:

On Saturday October 3 Koma and Satake fought a
desempate
(tie-breaker). This means that they had fought to a draw sometime in the previous week.
11

On Sunday October 4 Conde Koma and Satake fought a
desempate de morte
[tie-breaker of a tie-breaker] indicating that the Saturday match had again been a draw [
empate
].
12

Koma was scheduled to face Turkish amateur Miguel Jorge on Monday October 5.
13
The result, if the match took place, was not subsequently mentioned.

On Wednesday October 7 Akiyama and Satake
squared off.
14

On Friday October 9 Koma confronted Akiyama.
15

Two matches were held on Sunday October 11. Matsura faced Satake, and Akiyama confronted Okura.
16

On Monday October 12 Akiyama and Satake fought a tie-breaker [
desempate
], meaning that their meeting on October 7 had been an
empate
[draw].
17

On Tuesday October 13 Koma and Akiyama fought a
desempate
, meaning that their October 9 had been an
empate
.
18

On Sunday October 18. Koma measured forces with Matsura.
19

There were no reports of anyone winning or losing a match. In fact, few results were reported. We can only infer some of them from the fact that subsequent matches were described as
desempates
or
desempate de morte
. Perhaps São Paulo was a test-run for Rio, or possibly the troupe was short-handed for the needs of an extended engagement.

A number of changes were made in the format by the time the re-constituted troupe arrived in
Rio. Conde Koma’s 5,000 francos offer to anyone who could beat him was conspicuously publicized and more challengers showed up to test themselves and take a shot at the prize money. Results of the matches were more often reported and were more often discussed and analyzed. Upcoming matches were previewed and discussed. And quite a few matches ended in “finalizations”.

The troupe stayed in
São Paulo for more or less three weeks. With 12 or more participants, luta romana tournaments generally went on for several months.

That was part of the key to luta romana and luta livre’s long-lasting popularity. There was no shortage of wrestlers. Jiu-jitsu fighters however were few in number. They had a virtual monopoly on the (jiu-jitsu) market. But there were not enough of them to keep a tournament under way for longer than a week or two.

Jiu-jitsu could not compete with the luta romana people in terms in number and variety of match-ups or local interest. Luta romana fighters hailed from many European countries, and each could be the “champion” of an expatriate community [
colonia
]. Any Brazilian of almost any background could dig into his roots to become a “foreign” fighter. Indeed, everyone retained their ethnicity unless or until they naturalized, at which time they would shift from being, for example, an Estonian fighter to being a “national” [Brazilian] fighter.

Moreover there were plenty of Brazilian lutadores romana. But all of the jiu-jitsu lutadores were, obviously, Japanese, and while there was a Japanese colony in
Brazil, it was not at that time ensconced in the heart of the city of São Paulo. Nor were the Japanese immigrants the sort of middle-class citizens who attended variety shows in large numbers. Unlike luta romana, which any big, strong man could try his hand at, jiu-jitsu, even in 1914, was a game of skill, which few if any Paulistanos had at that time.

Theatro Variedades was presenting several new acts on Tuesday October 13, including a group of Egyptian dancers Mora La Zoraida, and three new singers (Etna and Fyorina from
Italy, and Angelina, who was “international”. Other acts and attractions were Les Leger-Lia (a comedy team), Evaristo (a xylophonist), Gabv Darmovill (a French singer), MLLE. Gina, and short movies between acts.
20
The bill changed every day or every other day and included a half dozen or so acts, generally with afternoon and evening shows.

That same day, Tuesday October 13, Paschoal Segreto announced that he would be presenting a new Campeonato Internacional de Lucta Greco-Romana. He had already been signing up fighters from various countries (or representing various nationalities). Twelve men were needed and recruitment would end October 15. Cash prizes awaited victorious wrestlers. Medals [
medalhas de distincção
] and diplomas [
diplomas de honra
] could also be won. Conde Koma and his troupe continued their shows.

There were no ads for the Koma troupe in
São Paulo after October 21. The next news item appeared December 29, reporting that the troupe continued to draw large crowds for their performances at the Polytheama, in Ribeiro Preto in Northeast of São Paulo state, indicating that they had been there for some time.
21
No doubt they kept busy, but documentation for their whereabouts and activities is sketchy until they get to Rio.