Sinhôzinho replied again, mentioning that Akitaro Ono won many matches with a strong tesoura [“com a applicação da formidavel tesoura”]. It was not clear what his point was but it was evident that people were not unaware that the legs can be used for both defense and offense.47
Fukushima fought successfully several times and then faded away. Perhaps he had better things to do or perhaps the catch wrestling boom left smaller, less entertainment-oriented fighters out in the cold. He wasn’t the only one. Many fighters had to chose between fighting “combinations” and not fighting at all. Most had no choice and some probably found pretending to fight a less painful way of earning a dollar.
Controversy
As some cynics might have guessed, the controversial March 12 disqualification loss for Ruhmann at the hands of Geo Omori led to a prompt rematch. It was held on April 18 at Theatro Republica in Rio. This time, in was expected to be an extremely violent fight. The loser would go home empty handed.
History repeated itself. Ruhmann again lost by disqualification. Again Ruhmann disputed the result, insisting that he had defeated Omori according to jiu-jitsu rules (referring to Hancock’s book cited above) by pinning him for almost 20 seconds. He would have one more chance later that year to settle scores with Omori. He was so confident that he offered to fight Omori and Carlos Gracie both on same night.48
Dudú,
Orlando Americo da Silva, the new Dudú,arrived from São Paulo to Rio to challenge the Gracies, with or without kimono, Roberto Ruhmann under any conditions, and Manoel Fernandes or Geo Omori in either jiu-jitsu or luta livre. And anyone else who could draw a paying audience.
Dudú had more than 80 fights in luta livre and jiu-jitsu, he claimed. In addition to his 2 hour draw [empate] with Geo Omori, he defeated Ismail Maky [sic, Haki] in jiu-jitsu in 10 minutes, M. Gotto in 16 minutes, and Arthur Riquetto in 7 minutes, and in luta livre he defeated William Toupsou and Theodurio Antonelli, both within 3 minutes, and Archimedes Rogerio in 2 minutes.49 Unlike most challengers, Dudú was looking for more than 15 minutes of fame. He would be a fixture on the professional fight scene in Rio. He was an impressive presence in the ring, defeating jiu-jitsu super star Geo Omori and drawing with George Gracie, both in 1934. He allegedly broke Oswaldo Gracie’s leg in a rough sparring session.
Dudú never ducked the behemoths. But his toughest challenge came when he climbed into the ring with a skinny kid in 1935.
In the News
Roberto Ruhmann was in the news again, with a large double biceps pose picture in the eye-catching center of the page. He was responding to some critical remarks made by Helio Gracie. Ruhmann basically dismissed Helio however and focused his ire on Geo Omori and Carlos Gracie. He promised to beat both on the same night, jiu-jitsu versus catch-as-catch-can, providing that he could use all of the techniques permitted in his “modality” [“Lutarei com elles, e mais o Helio, na mesma noite, jiu-jitsu x catch-as-catch-can, isto é, valendo-me das cabaçadas, soccos e tudo que permitte esta modalidade de luta”].
He offered to fight Helio too, just for the heck of it. He had unkind words about Omori. Referring to their previous fight, he said Omori cried every time Ruhmann touched him [“chorava quando eu o tocava dizendo para o juiz: ve, sr. juize “o sr. juiz meu boca, meu dedo”]. Ruhmann mocked Omori for “forgetting” that he had lost by “KO” to Ruhmann in São Paulo.50 Ruhmann had grabbed Omori in a “gravata” (the headlock that was Ruhmann’s trademark move) and then twisted his arm [“peguei-ihe justo uma gravata e torci lhe o braço”]. If Omori and Carlos declined his challenge, it could only be for one reason: They were afraid of him.51 Carlos and Helio never did fight Ruhmann. George and Omori did however.
Jiu-Jitsu versus Capoeiragem
Oswaldo had been teaching several dozen young people at the Theatro Capitolio in Petropolis, operated by Empresa Roldão Barbosa, since February of 1932. He had earned some name recognition in November 1931, and took advantage of that now. It helped that his opponent on November 19, João Baldi, was well-known. Oswaldo was described as the same man who defeated the powerful Baldi in a spectacular fashion” [mesmo homem que derrotou, de modo espectaculo, o fortissimo João Baldi]. He and his brothers were dedicated body and soul and [corpo e alma] to the dissemination of the Japanese method of personal defense.52
By April he had found a more permanent location for his lessons, at avenida 15 Novembro, no. 856. He named his school “Academia Petropolitana de Jiu-Jitsu.” The school had been open about two months where he had been teaching the children of Petropolis’s elite [moços da élite petropolitana]. The school referred not to the physical location but to Oswaldo himself. In general, an academy referred to any place where a teacher taught (or offered to). Whether he had qualifications or students was a different matter.53
There were not many ways a martial arts school could get free advertising in the 1930’s. Demonstrations and fights essentially exhausted the possibilities. Demonstrations had the benefit of being planned so that they could be maximally impressive. Real fights had a different advantage. People were sometimes willing to pay to see them. If the opponent could be judiciously chosen, it was a no-lose deal.
In April it was announced that Oswaldo would face capoeira Octavio Alves “Dentinho de Catumby”, May 3 at Theatro Capitolio in Petropolis. The program of mixed fights [competições mixtos] would also include a capoeiragem match between Velludinho and Corisco (four 3-minute rounds), a luta livre match between Jose Soares and Jayme Ferreira (eight 3-minute rounds) and some demonstrations by students of the academy.54
Adepts of the national game did not regard Dentinho as worthy to represent them. José Brigado emphasized that point by describing Dentinho as a “’capoeira’ (?)” in quotation marks, followed by a question mark. He also quoted a previous letter by Manoel Rufino dos Santos complaining the the Gracie brothers were doing everything in their power to demoralize capoeiragem by setting up these sham contests. Luta livre people resented the Gracies’ campaign to eliminate the “shoulder pinning” rule in luta livre fights. That was a legitimate way to win in luta livre. Why should they give it up, they asked? Are the jiu-jitsu representatives giving up their best techniques, they rhetorically asked? The Gracie brothers simply wanted to stack the deck in their own favor by banning or ignoring everything that their opponents were better at doing, they alleged.55
On the other side, one could argue that when the rules are open to negotiation, the fight actually starts when the rules are negotiated. Carlos had few peers at that aspect of the game.
As the doubters had suspected, Dentinho did not put up a good fight. According to A Noite, Dentinho quickly showed that he didn’t have the elements to resist jiu-jitsu.
Oswaldo and Dentinho went to the ground early in the first round. Dentinho was saved by the bell. In the second round, professor Oswaldo Gracie applied an armlock that Dentinho couldn’t resist. He succumbed, clearly defeated. “The fans were not satisfied with Dentinho’s performance as he showed little capoeiragem capability”.56
However spectators enjoyed the demonstration of jiu-jitsu by students Roger Gouvéa, Roldão Barbosa Junior, O. Finkennauer, Sr. Gusmão, and a 6 year old child, as well as the two preliminary fights in which Velludinho defeated Corsico by points, and Jayme Ferreira defeated Soares in the 2nd round.
Fighters came out of retirement to challenge Omori, the Gracies, and others, and perhaps just hit the spotlight one more time. Salim Yossouf came to Rio in 1915 as part of a troupe of luta romana wrestlers. He had been away from the ring for five years. Now, in 1932, he wanted another go at it, and he didn’t want to start back at the bottom. Instead he challenged the best jiu-jitsu fighter in Brazil [o expoente maximo do jiu-jitsu no Brasil], Geo Omori, in a luta livre or jiu-jitsu match.57
Youssuf was from Syria and had been in Brazil 20 years. He was married and lived in Teresopolis, where he had a successful business. He wasn’t fighting for money, he said, he was simply complying with the requests of friends and fellow
Syrians who wanted to see him in action again. He invited anyone who wanted to fight him to visit his home on rua Particular n. 82, Varzea de Therozopolis.58 Unlike so many others, Youssouf’s challenge was not just hot air.
The Better Man
Roberto Ruhmann and Dudú had both fought Geo Omori. Now they would fight each other. Omori predicted that Dudú would win before the fifth round. Manoel Rufino predicted that the better man would win [“Ao melhor ha de vencer”] and thought that Ruhmann would be the better man.59
Their confrontation took place Saturday June 11, 1932. Ruhmann’s strength proved to be too much for Dudú’s luta livre and jiu-jitsu technique. Dudú desisted in the fourth round. Also on the show were other luta livre and capoeiragem matches, and Annibal Prior knocked out Bruno Spalla in a boxing match.60
Jiu-jitsu according to Irving Hancock was again in the news. Diario de Noticias published a two-part article by Fernando de Azevedo explaining the meaning and history of jiu-jitsu, Sunday, June 5, 1932, and Sunday June 12, 1932. It was replete with misconceptions, such as, to mention two, that all Japanese people, even geishas, trained jiu-jitsu, and that jiu-jitsu training was the reason Japan’s military defeated Czarist Russia. The article featured a picture of Geo Omori. Brazilians seemed to be learning about jiu-jitsu through the interpretations of (mostly) North American popularizers. Perhaps for this reason, a short time later, Geo Omori himself decided to write his own series of articles explaining what jiu-jitsu was.
In theory, the fight business in Rio was regulated by the Boxing Commission [Comissão de Box; also referred to as Comissão de Pugilismo). The function of the commission, according to Chief of Police João Alberto, was to control all espectaculos [shows] of boxing, luta romana, luta livre, jiu-jitsu, and capoeiragem in “terra carioca” [Rio]. The effectiveness of the regulation depended on the qualities of the people who were appointed to the commission. The previous commission had been dissolved due the incompetence and dishonesty of its members, who brought ridicule into the sport which became populated by individuals with fictitious records [“classe de individuous exploradores que aqui aportam com carteis verdadeiramente ficticios”]. A new Boxing Commission was appointed, consisting of Ataliba Correa Dutra (president); Silvio Neto Machado (secretary); Leopoldo del Vale (treasurer); Inacio Loyola Daher (technical director); and Alberto Farini and Hugo Viana Marques (doctors). Tenorio de Albuquerque was also appointed due to his qualifications as director of the boxing section of the Fluminense F. Clube.61
In July Club Policial organized a rematch between Brazilan middleweight champion Tobias Bianna and Virgolino de Oliveira in Nictheroy. In addition to three other 10- round boxing fights, and one 5-round bout, there would be jiu-jitsu: A demonstration by the Gracie brothers, and an “academic match” [match academico] between Geo Omori and Namiki.62
Jiu-Jitsu versus Luta Romana
Former luta romana wrestler Youssuf had challenged Omori in March. Preparations had proceded smoothly and the two men were scheduled to meet July 9 at Colyseu Internacional. In addition, Mineyoshi Fukushima (the jiu-jitsu man who also trained capoeiragem) would fight Saburo Senda in a 5-round jiu-jitsu match.63 However, Omori suffered a serious accident while training with Namiki, it was reported.64 The injury was not so serious after all, because the fight was re-scheduled for Saturday July 16.65
The main event, Omori versus Youssuf, was a no time limit luta livre contest, to be decided, like most fights, by “desistencia ou perda dos sentidos” [give up or KO]. In addition to Mineyoshi versus Saburo, Dudú (88 kilos) faced Adam Meyer (93 kilos), Tavares Crespo (62 kilos) met Alvaro da Cunha (66.2 kilos), and Mauricio Levy of France (68 kilos) confronted Brazilian Roberto Coelho (66 kilos) in luta livre matches.66
Despite a 39 kilo weight advantage (105 kilos to 66 kilos), Youssouf was out of his league with the Japanese jiu-jitsu master. After three rounds of total domination, Omori put Yossouf away in the 3rd round by “gravata americana”.67 In the supporting fights, Crespo won in the 3rd round with a “spine press”[pressão da espinha], Dudú won by “trachea choke” [chave de estrangulamento na trachea] in 20 seconds, and Mauricio Levy defeated Roberto Coelho by “kidney scissors” [thezouras de rins]. Mineyoshi and Saburo, drew after five rounds of exciting action [apos 5 rounds bem movimentados e empolgantes empataram].68
Short Memory
The public had a short memory. In July columnist Jose Brigado felt that it was necessary to remind readers that the Gracies did not introduce jiu-jitsu to Brazil. Long before them, he wrote, there were Conde Koma and Sada Miako [sic] and others, among whom he cited Omori, Namiki, Saburo, Mineyoshi, and Fukushima. He specifically also mentioned Donato Pires dos Reis. Donato was the man, (he wrote) who some people swore was the teacher of the Gracie brothers.69
Brigado neglected to mention Mario Aleixo. Although Aleixo had verifiably been teaching jiu-jitsu in Rio, even before Conde Koma, his reputation didn’t survive his demolition at the hands of George Gracie the year before. Aleixo continued to teach physical education, but he was never mentioned again as an authority on either jiu-jitsu or capoeiragem.
Café Mouisco
In July an incident allegedly took place at Café Mouisco involving Carlos Gracie and Manoel Rufino dos Santos. Carlos was at the café and had put his hat on a chair. Rufino Santos came in later and without noticing the hat, sat on it. The following conversation between a by-stander and Rufino was overheard:
Bystander: “Acho conveniente que o senhor assigne immediamente esta apolice de seguro contra accidentes” [I think you should immediately take out accident insurance].
Rufino Santos: “Por que?” [Why?].
Bystander: “Porque o senhor está sentado sobre o chapéo do campeão de jiu-jitsu, Carlos Gracie” [Because you are sitting on the hat of the jiu-jitsu champion Carlos Gracie].
Rufino Santos: “Não se impressione. Offerecá a apolice ao dono do chapéo, que esta menos seguro do que eu…” [I don’t care. The owner of the hat should take out a policy. He needs it more than me].70
Rufino Santos must have been baffled by the description of Carlos’ as a jiu-jitsu “champion”. Carlos’ only documented public fight was the 1931 debacle with Rufino Santos, which Gracie lost. It was a luta livre fight. There is no record of him participating in a jiu-jitsu fight other than the 1929 and 1930 exhibitions with Geo Omori, which he also did not win.71 The only man that Carlos Gracie faced in a fight, a submission grappling contest, defeated him, and that man was Maneol Rufino dos Santos himself.
It might have seemed mysterious to Rufino Santos why he would need accident insurance for having accidently sat on Carlos’ hat (if it was an accident). Future events revealed that the advice was probably sound. Rufino Santos would have done well to take out a policy.
The fact that Rufino continually reminded him of his weak competition record must have annoyed Carlos―apparently enough to plan and conduct a criminal assault on him that earned him (Carlos) and two of his brothers sizeable prison terms (although they were eventually pardoned).
Omori was not merely the king of the hill who everyone wanted a piece of. He issued his own challenges and no doubt for the same publicity-seeking reasons. For example, he challenged Rufino Santos, who, although already retired, returned the challenge. Both were apparently ready to “measures forces”. It was typical of most challenges in that nothing came of it.72
Beginning in July and continuing in August, Omori, or a ghost-writer, contributed a series of newspaper articles explaining to his legions of fans exactly what jiu-jitsu really was, from the point of view of an authentic master and native of the land of its origin. Omori also had his new academy to advertise, at rua Conde de Irajá, n 142 in Botafogo.73
A Short History of “Jiu-Jitsu”
The four-part series was called “A Short History of Jiu-jitsu” [“Um Pouco de Historia do ‘Jiu-Jitsu’”] and appeared in Diario de Noticias Sunday July 24, Wednesday August 3, Tuesday August 23, and Wednesday August 31, 1932.
In Par
t 1 Omori explained that jiu-jitsu evolved from yawara and taijutsu over a 500 year period. A jiu-jitsu stylist named Kano Jigaro adapted techniques primarily from the schools or styles (ryu) of Hansuke Nakamura (Shibukawa ryu), Hikosuke Tozuka (Youshin ryu), Mataemon Isso (Shinyou ryu), and Tsunehei Iikubo (Kitou ryu). Kano molded them into what became known as “judo” (specifically Kodokan judo).74
In Part 2 Omori emphasized that judo was the new name for Kano’s system of jiu-jitsu [Noutras éras, o “jiu-jitsu” chamava-se “jiu-dou”….O jiu-jitsu passou a chamar ‘ju do’] and elaborated Kano’s role in shaping jiu-jitsu into a “way” [caminho]. He explained the history of the Kodokwan, the “sacred temple of jiu-jitsu” [templo sagrado do jiu-jitsu]. He described “Maeda de Koma” [Conde Koma] as a “grande mestre de jiu-jitsu.” He described other great fighters and teachers such as Maeda’s own teacher Sakujiro Yokoyama (aka O Diabo Yokoyama), Yoshiake Yamashita, Tsunejiro Tomita, Shigoro Baba, Hajime Issogai, Hideiti Nagaoka, and Shirou Saigo.
To the right of this article were two others, promoting Omori’s upcoming luta livre match with Manoel Fernandes, Saturday August 6. Fernandes had just come off a victory over Dudú, and was confident that he would beat Omori. Omori was equally confident that he would prevail. One thing was certain, the article said, was that the fight would extremely violent and one of the closest in recent history [“uma das pelejas mais renhidas dos nossos annaes sportivos”].75
In Part 3 Omori described the rank system invented by Kano (or rather borrowed from Japanese chess as way of handicapping practitioners for contests of skill). The belts, in particular the black belt (faixa negra, or faixa preta) was always mentioned in fight publicity as a way to legitimize a fighter who might otherwise be unknown. The public wanted to know the significance of these mysterious items of clothing.
Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) Page 19