Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (41 page)

Takeo Yano was the jiu-jitsu instructor at the Club, but for this oc
casion he took off his kimono and engaged Jayme Ferrreira in one of the luta livre contests.
63

Catch wrestler João Peçanha had been challenging Geo Omori for years. He was modest, restrained, and monosyllabic, but his name was a household word in Rio fight circles.
64
Peçanha had just returned to Rio from a three month stint in Buenas Aires where he compiled a record of 14 wins (all by pin), 7 losses, and 5 draws and earned the admiration of the local press for his strength, durability, and agility.
65

Finally Omori accepted, despite Peçanha’s 25 kilo weight edge. The four 10-minute round fight was scheduled for
November 15, 1936 at Estadio Federal. Omori promised to liquidate Peçanha quickly [“
Liquidarei O Peçanha rapidamente
”]. Omori reportedly had more than 400 fights in Brasil, which paled in comparison to Peçanha’s more than 1,000 ring outings. Omori’s student Saburo Senda was set to face the aging boxer Tavares Crespo, who had already been quickly dispatched by Omori in 1932.
66
The match was postponed to Tuesday November 17.
67
The result was neither reported nor referred to subsequently, which generally meant that the fight was cancelled at the last minute.

Jiu-Jitsu
sem
Kimono

Takeo Yano and George Gracie battled to a boring draw in their 1935 jiu-jitsu match. Many observers had already arrived at the conclusion that the kimono, which could be a terrible weapon in the hands of a jiu-jitsu master against a naïve opponent, too often led to snooze-fests when two jiu-jitsu men met, especially if one of them was overly cautious on the ground. When more action was required, promoters implored jiu-jitsu fighters to take off their kimonos.

Technically jiu-jitsu could be
sem kimono
[without gi], and luta livre could be
com kimono
[with gi]. Such matches did sometimes take place and if so the only significant difference was the shoulder pinning rule. If that was also eliminated, there was effectively no difference―apart from the level of movement that the kimono either allowed or restricted. Essentially, jiu-jitsu without the kimono and shoulder pinning was luta livre, and indeed most writers viewed jiu-jitsu as a form of luta livre.

Accordingly, for their rematch, Yano and George took off their kimonos. The match was held
Monday November 30, in Bello Horizonte and probably for that reason did not receive much coverage either before or after. In any case, George won with a choke after 52 minutes [
Em uma partida de luta livre, que durou 52 minutos, Georges Gracie derrotou com chave de pescoço o japonez Zano
].
68
The lack of kimono evidently made a considerable difference.

The final match of 1936 that we have any evidence of was not a jiu-jitsu contest but it involved the participation of one of the most active jiu-jitsu fighters of the decade. He was the Arab Mastodon and
São Paulo champion Jose Detti. On Tuesday December 22, 1936 Detti was scheduled to meet Jose dos Santos in a lucta livre match at Cine. S. Luiz on avenida Celso Garcia, 771. It is unknown whether Detti added a victory over Santos to his list of triumphs.
69

.
Chapter 16 Notes

Chapter 17

1937

Many jiu-jitsu representatives were happy to engage in catch wrestling, no doubt for the same reason that the legendary judoka Kimura Masahiko later did. As he explained, pro-wrestling is easier and pays more than judo.
1
He was not trying to deceive anyone. He felt that it was obvious that pro wrestling was entertainment. As a form of entertainment, even in Japan, fans preferred pro wrestling to judo, professional or otherwise.

On Friday January 8, Oswaldo Gracie’s former student Dante Carvalho fought Torquato de Oliveira, also known as “Ex-Purple Mask” [
ex-mascara Roxa
]. Oliveira weighed 73 kilos. Dante weighed 70 kilos. It was a “no time limit” catch match held at Paisandú on rua Siqueira de campos in Porto Alegre. Rounds were 10 minutes with 4-minute breaks. Pinning [
encostamentos de espaduas
] was not permitted. The fight would go on until one man gave up or was knocked out or choked out
2

Oliveira revealed a lack of sense of fair play by punching Dante, contrary to the rules. Dante punched Oliveira in return. When Oliveira turned to complain to the referee, Dante took advantage of the opportunity and applied a “Chinese lock” [
chave chinêsa
], forcing Oliveira to give up.
3

Gol
pe Prohibido

Dudú and Helio Gracie had a reprise of their 1935 match. This time Dudú came out on top. The occasion was the Campeonato de Luta Livre, held in Bello Horizonte, on Thursday January 13. It was straight grappling contest, and as per the regulations of sports luta livre, striking techniques were not allowed. Helio applied a prohibited technique [
golpe prohibido
], as a result of which the referee awarded the contest to Dudú. Helio protested [
não se conformando com a derrota
] and challenged Dudú to a luta livre without time limits [
desafiou Dudú para uma luta livre sem tempo determinado
].
4
We will never know what might have happened if the two champions of their respective games had measured forces one more time. Fate stepped in and took a hand. Dudú and Helio never met in the ring again.

Teaching

Gastão Jr. was the third of the five Gracie brothers. He wasn’t tempermentally suited for fighting and never entered the ring. When luta livre and other fighters challenged the Gracie brothers, they always specifed the “four” brothers. They didn’t need to name them. Everyone knew who the fighting Gracies were (Carlos, Oswaldo, George, and Helio). Gastão Jr. was not even in the picture as a “lutador”.

Teaching was his forte. He also focused his efforts on earning a living in more conventional ways than his brothers gravitated toward. He did his share to promote both jiu-jitsu and the family brand. Teaching famous people has always been a good way to do both. Famous people are newsworthy and if they are your students, so are you. One of Gastão Jr.’s illustrious students was
Deputado
[Member of Parliament] Dr. Adhemar de Barros. Gastão’s other students emanated from the elite of São Paulo’s best families [
as familias tradicionaes de elite paulistas
”].
5

Debut

Another of Oswaldo Gracie’s students, Barata (Miranda Netto) also had no issues with pro wrestling. He was scheduled to face the Portuguese catcher Moraes (Morais) on Wednesday February 3 at the Paisandú in Porto Alegre. Dante Carvalho was the best catch fighter [
o catcher numero um
] at Paisandú. Moraes had managed a draw against Dante and was expected to be a dangerous opponent for Barata. Who among the Porto Alegre ring fans would not want to witness the Paisandú debut of Barata, the only man so far who was able to defeat Dante?

Dante would also be making an appearance, against Stock in the semi-final. Franklin and Saraiva would supply the preliminary.
6

Muscles versus Agility

Roberto Ruhmann’s new jiu-jitsu knowledge didn’t help him much against George Gracie in 1936. As generally happened when a gi fighter met a no-gi fighter and lost, or vice-versa, a rematch was called for, using the rules preferred by the loser of the previous contest. Ruhmann wanted luta livre rules in the sequel, with pinning.

The match was held
Saturday March 13, 1937 in Bello Horizonte. This time Ruhmann prevailed. He beat George by shoulder pin in 5 minutes of the third round [
Aos cinco minutos de terceiro round Gracie foi vencido por encostamento de espaduas
].
7

After beating George, Ruhmann visited the major newspaper in his hometown of
São Paulo. According to the interview that resulted, Ruhmann had suffered only one defeat in his career of 698 fights (over 100 in Brazil). That was at the hands of George Gracie. Ruhmann justified his loss by explaining that at the time he didn’t know “judo” [
não conhencedo o ‘judo
’]. Consequently he began learning the Japanese game in hopes of one day turning the tables on George. Thanks to his new knowledge, Ruhmann defeated George Gracie, not once but twice, once in luta livre and once in jiu-jitsu [
obteve dois triumphos consagrados em jiu-jitsu e luta livre contra George Gracie
] and in the process became the first man to defeat George Gracie in both luta livre and jiu-jitsu [
Ruhmann foi o primeiro homem a vencer George Gracie em jiu-jitsu e luta livre
].
8

The luta livre victory occurred on March 13. No record of Ruhmann’s jiu-jitsu victory over George has surfaced.

Flamengo

Football is the national sport of
Brazil. It wasn’t always. In fact the famous Flamengo football [
futbol
] team was an addition to the original sporting focus of the club, which was rowing [
remo
]. Rowing was considered to be a manly sport, while football, was undignified at best, with all that running around, chasing a little ball.
9
Rowing is where Helio Gracie started his athletic career in fact.
10
In addition to football, other sports were incorporated into most clubs’ offerings. Boxing, luta livre, and jiu-jitsu were among them. Instructors, usually qualified, but not always, were recruited, invited, or allowed to teach the games. Festivals were periodically held.

On March 18, The Department of Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, and Luta Livre of the Flamengo Clube de Regatas
11
organized a night of jiu-jitsu and boxing. Participants were representatives of the Policia Especial, Flamengo, and the Gracie Academy. Pinochio met Saul; Hermes (Flamengo) met Marques (Gracie); Victor met Carlos Cruz (Gracie); the Catramby brothers faced Buenos and Rochedo (both Gracie); and Francez (Flamengo) confronted Marinho (Policia Especial). Carlos Cruz was described as the best student of the Gracie academy [“
o alumno numero 1 da Academia Gracie
”].
12

Multiple Opponents

On March 31 it was reported that George would go to Juiz da Fóra to take on three men in the same night.
13
It wasn‘t the first time George had taken on three opponents. He did it on June 23, 1936. He let one of them, Jose Amorim, slip through his fingers. Indeed, observers felt that George had lost. Perhaps he learned from that experience and wanted to try again. Unfortunately, the results were not reported. Nor were any details about the matches. It very well might have been a slightly glorified academy sparring session, such as had happened at the Academia Loanzi in April 1936, or the Carnera versus E. Bueno match at the Gracie academy in April of 1937. If the purpose was to get publicity, it succeeded.

On Thursday April 29 it was announced that George Gracie would confront Henrique Helio in a jiu-jitsu contest on
Saturday May 1, 1937, at Feira de Amostras, in Rio. Results were not reported.
14

In May Carlos and Helio kep
t active, giving a series of demonstrations in Flamengo. George did not participate.
15

Desempate

The Gracie academy invited a reporter from
Diario da Noite
to observe a sparring session and demonstration involving two beginning students. The session was described as a “fight” [
luta
], possibly to make it seem more dramatic than it was. It caused a sensation, it was reported. Former luta romana champion, business partner, and family friend Jayme Ferreira also attended. The new students reportedly revealed a great variety of techniques and fought valiantly and skillfully to a draw, in view of which an even more sensational “tie-breaker” [
desempate
] might possibly be arranged. Shortly after the sparring session, Carlos posed for a picture with the two students, Dr. Fernando Young (“Carnera”) and E. Bueno.
16

Campeonato Aberto

The
Federação Brasileira de Pugilismo
[Brazilian Pugilism Federation] promoted a tournament on May 15 that stretched out over a five-month period. It was “Open Championship of Jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre” [
Campeonato Aberto de Jiu-Jitsu e Luta Livre
]. By May 6, 18 amateur luta livre fighters and 16 amateur jiu-jitsu fighters had registered to compete.
17
O Imparcial
described it as “Um Fla-Flu Pugilistica” implying an ancient and magestic rivalry between titans, having enormous national significance.

In fact it was small affair between a handfull of members of a few sports clubs. The several installaments of the tournament were held in different locations. On
Saturday July 3, 1937, beginning at 9 p.m., the Academia Gracie was the site of the action. Representatives of the Gracie academy, Club de Regatas do Flamengo (C.R.F), and the Liga de Sports da Marinha, (L.S.M) and Fluminense Football Club (F.F.C) participated. There were five luta livre matches and one jiu-jitsu match. The luta livre matches were Elysio Gentil de Aguiar (F.F.C.) versus Luiz (L.S.M); Joaquim C. de Mello (L.S.M) versus Saul D. Ferreira (C.R.F.); (3) Max W. Filho (F.F.C.) versus Heleno Rosa Valies (C.R.F.); Carlos Pereira (Gracie) versus Pinsheirinho (C.R.F.); and Daniel Estvam (Gracie) versus João Vital da Silva (L.S.M.). The jiu-jitsu match was between Antonio Marques (Gracie) and Oldemar Muniz Figuereido (C.R.F.).
18

Jiu-Jitsu Supremacy

Yassuiti Ono arrived in Rio on Tuesday August 31 for his contest with George Gracie to decide the supremacy of jiu-jitsu in Brazil. He hadn’t lost his ambition to beat a Gracie. He failed twice against Helio, first in 1935 and again in 1936. Ono conceded that he had problems with Helio’s defense. “Helio’s guard is a terrible enemy” he said [“
aquella guarda de Helio e uma inimiga terrivel
”].

Now George had been selected to taste the bitter flavor of defeat. Ono believed that George, unlike Helio, would bring it on. And if George did, Ono was confident that his dream of beating a Gracie would become a reality.
19

The match took place
Saturday September 11, 1937, at Stadium Brasil. The match was scheduled for six rounds of 10 minutes each with 2 minutes rest between rounds. There were four ways to win: Points, give up, KO, or disqualification [
pontos
,
desistencia, perda de sentidos
,
ou desclassificção
]. On the card also were the final matches in an amateur campeonato of luta livre and jiu-jitsu, and two amateur and two professional luta livre matches.
20

Ono promised that there wouldn’t be a draw. It would be a duel to the death [
será um duelo até a morte
].
21

No one died but Ono’s prediction was on target. There was no draw. There was a winner and a there was a loser. Ono was the winner, George was the loser. There might have been a moral for those who scoffed at the
“efficiency” of throws. George was knocked semi-unconscious by one and rendered unable to defend himself against Ono’s choke attack in the third round.

George could have given up after the throw, being alert enough at least to grasp the gravity of his situation [
Poderia ter evitado a derrota em cima da ring desistindo depois da queda
].

But with his brother Carlos obviously in mind (specially his “abandonment” of the ring and consequent loss to Manoel Rufino on Saturday August 22, 1931), George explained, “I could have avoided defeat in the ring by stopping after the throw. But between losing fighting and running like a coward, I prefer to fight until I have nothing left”
.
22

According to
A Noite
, Ono left no doubt about his profound knowledge of the secrets of jiu-jitsu. His victory was indisputable.
23

But doubt remained. George was injured by a throw that left him almost unconscious [
quasi desacordado
]. If not for that throw, would George have been defeated? George thought not. “I’m defeated, but not convinced”, he said, almost poetically [“
vencido, mas não convencido
”]. He felt sure that the outcome would have been different if he hadn’t been injured by Ono’s throw [“
Se não fosse a queda que soffri
”].