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

by Roberto Pedreira

  Omori’s confidence was misplaced. The lack of kimono hindered Miyaki, who fell prey to Ruhmann’s famous headlock. But Miyaki demonstrated extraordinary technique during his 26 minutes in the ring.23 In any case, Ruhmann was very strong [“Ruhmann é muito forte”], as Miyaki said after his loss. Ruhmann praised Miyaki’s skill. “I’ve never faced a man with such mobility” [“nunca estive na frente de um homem de tanta mobilidade”], he said. Miyaki wanted another chance, this time in a kimono.24

  Ruhmann earned a shot at George Gracie. Miyaki had acquired a little more name-recognition which would prove useful in the lead-up to his scheduled meeting with Helio Gracie in what would be billed as the first “jiu-jitsu versus jiu-jitsu” match in Brazil. That match would be held in May. Unless some unforeseen circumstance prevented it.

  Gracie Luta Livre

  Two of his luta livre students” introduced by Carlos Gracie in January were now ready to enter the rings, in preliminary fights to the Dudú versus Young Kid Mery “match de catch as catch can” at Stadium Riachuelo on Wednesday April 25.

  Ary Martini was making his debut against Peçanha (called “Big Jones” in some reports). Ary was something shy of 100 kilos, but in Rio in the 1930’s, 80 kilos was considered big. He was 175 cm. tall, and as agile as a “peso leve” [lightweight]. He was known as “o terror” due to his strength and aggressiveness [aggressividae e resistencia]. Peçanha (Big Jones), weighed 85 kilos and was said to be Dudú’s strongest sparring partner [o mais forte sparring de Dudú].25

  Two other Gracie representatives would be making their luta livre debuts, Edward Stone against Jose Soares, and Alberto Suleimã (74 kilos, from Syria) would meet the valiant Portuguese Mossoró. Suleimã, it was said, had alteady been the São Paulo jiu-jitsu champion.

  It wasn’t absolutely necessary to win a fight to gain from it. Miyaki lost to Ruhmann but made a positive impression.26 He and his black belt student Shigeo planned to perform a demonstration of jiu-jitsu during a program of boxing (Januario versus Horacio Velha; Ismael Haki versus Antonio Sebastião; Tapi versus Pires, and Lazaro Gil versus Acosta) at Stadium Brasil.27

  90 Lessons

  Oswaldo Grace inaugurated a “New School of jiu-Jitsu” [Nova Escola] located in room 204 of the Odeon Building in the center of the city, in the Cinelandia area, near rua Santa Luzia. The director-administrator was Dr. Mario Zagari, the well-known all around sportsman. Instruction took the form of private lessons. A complete course consisted of 90 lessons [curso de aulas individuaes de jiu-jitsu sob a direcao de Prof. Oswaldo Gracie. O curso é de noventa aulas].28

  The “Troupe”

  May 1934 was a pivotal point for fights in Brazil. It was the month that the international troupe of wrestlers came to Rio, led by former world champion Wladeck Zbyszko29 and his older brother Stanislau, the former world luta livre champion.30 It was also the point after which, according to one well-placed participant-observer, almost all fights were “combinadas” [worked]. It barely mattered. Fans were more concerned with entertainment than reality as long as the fakery was not excessively obvious, in just the same way that the general public preferred watching movies with skillfully staged and dramatically coherent fight scenes rather than chaotic and clumsy genuine fights. (Good stunt fighters provide what movie-viewers think a fight looks like, which they have learned from watching movie fights). In any case, the press was happy. More fighters meant more fights, and more news content. International fighters were even better. Since they were not locally known, they, their managers, or the press could say virtually anything. Every word they said or wrote might be true. But it didn’t have to be.

  The troupe and the sport that they represented was itself news. On Tuesday May 8 it was announced that the famous catch-as-catch-can champion Zbyszko would arrive the next day.31

  Catch as catch can (also spelled catch-as-catch-can, and often referred to simply as “catch”), was not entirely new to the Brazilian public,32 but was less familiar than luta romana. It was generally defined as “luta livre internacional americana”, or “lucta norte americana”, or something very similar. In any case, it was thought of as a uniquely North American sport (which, of course, could be practiced anywhere by anyone who chose to). Its most obvious difference from luta romana was that the legs could be used to attack the opponent, and as targets. The aim of the contest was not to throw the opponent to the floor, but to keep him there, or to force him to submit by reason of pain resulting from the application of pressure and torsion. Compared to luta romana, “catch” was exciting and violent [empolgante e violenta].

  The Zbyszko troupe consisted of 12 fighters.33 Eleven of them arrived May 9, at 10 a.m. on board the “General Osorio”. They were the Zbyszko brothers, Conde Karol Nowina from Poland, Andre Castanho from Spain, Jack Conley from England, Einar Johansen from Norway, M. Zicovich from Russia, Jack Russell and George Godfrey from the United States, and Emil Hochwald and Josef Nawrocki.34

  Empresa Pugilisitica Carioca (EPC) had prepared a reception for them. The fighters would proceed from the disembarkation point in a caravan of “cars” pulled by a band of trumpeters dressed up as Roman gladiators to the headquarters of the Association of Sports Columnists [Associação de Chronistas Desportivos].

  Members of the press were invited to attend as were any and all fans but especially members of the various “colonies” in Rio, such as Spanish, Poland, Russian, England, and German. The troupe had a champion for every national or ethnic group (and was ready to recruit other champions as needed).

  The plan was to introduce them to the public in a more naturalistic setting the following day (Thursday May 10) at Stadium Riachuelo. They would then rest up one day and make their ring debut on Saturday (May 12) at campo de Botafogo.35

  Previously, catch had been synonymous with luta livre, and both terms were somewhat context-dependent, as their names suggested. Wladeck Zbyszko and his troupe were introducing the latest version of catch, which was more blatantly theatrical. Being associated with North America, the home of “Dempsey” and “million dollar gates”, catch had built-in crowd appeal. Indeed, catch matches had even been staged at the mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden (Tex Rickard’s base of operations), “Catch-as-catch-can” was introduced as “a new and spectacular American sport in the American rings” accompanied by a photograph of a wrestler applying a hip throw on his opponent.36

  In fact catch was essentially luta livre, but calling it catch made it seem new and exotic. “Catch” and “luta livre” were generally used interchangeably but also at times to distinguish one from the other in some way. Possibly the primary difference was that catch simply seemed foreign and implied the participation of an international cast of enormous fighters, most of whom were champions of some kind. But writers, promoters, and teachers could use the words as they saw fit, and generally did. By distinguishing catch from luta livre, one could promote two different matches with the same two fighters, or offer to teach two different “styles”, as George Gracie’s student Ricardo Nibbon did in 1935. In other cases, catch was probably used rather than luta livre simply because it sounded North American and therefore cool.

  Jiu-jitsu did not disappear. Helio Gracie was scheduled to fight the Japanese Miyaki, whose name was variously spelled and misspelled. Despite Helio’s long period of inactivity due to his motorcycle accident, O Paiz was certain the the fight would be one of the sensations of the season.37 The match had been promoted since April. It would be Helio Gracie’s first jiu-jitsu fight, according to O Paiz,38 forgetting that he had squeaked out a technical draw against Namiki in 1932. Carlos Gracie again cautioned that it would be unwise to bet against Helio, despite his recent injury. Helio, he said, was going to prove that no one on the current scene could beat him.39

  After the usual false starts, the fight was scheduled for Tuesday May 15.40 But the next day it was announced that the match would not take place after all (não se realize mais a lucta Helio x Myaki). Instead of Myaki versus Helio, George Gracie woul
d meet Shigeo. Shigeo was Miyaki’s student. He was even more unknown that his teacher. The date was also moved from Tuesday to Wednesday May 16, 1934.

  Jiu-jitsu continued to cohabit with luta livre. More often then not, jiu-jitsu fighters participated in luta livre matches and jiu-jitsu and luta livre representatives happily cooperated whenever it was profitable to do so. It would be more accurate to say that professional jiu-jitsu scratched out a subsistance living in a minor niche in one corner of the luta livre world. Some jiu-jitsu people’s insistence on “keeping it real” often conflicted with the more compelling need to keep it entertaining, an area where luta livre had a decided edge.

  Exhibitions and demonstrations (lutas academicas) were not directly lucrative, and were part and parcel of marketing other fights, either specifically or yet to be arranged.

  For example, when luta livre man Mossoró, a locally recruited member of the Zbyszko troupe, was scheduled to perform an exhibition with Dudú, Carlos Gracie took advantage of the publicity by announcing that his student Alberto Suleimã wanted to fight Mossoró.41 Whether a fight happened or not was almost incidental. Announcing a desire to fight someone was enough to get into the news.

  The promoters did not mark time before revealing the Zbyszko troupe to the fight-hungry Carioca public. To give fans an idea of what to expect, the rules of “catch as catch can” were explained Friday May 11 and various times thereafter.

  The prohibited attacks were (1) fingers in the eyes [dedos nos olhos], (2) punches with the closed hand, [socos com as mãos fechadas] (3) pulling the hair [puxar os cabellos] (4) hitting the neck with two hands together [golpes na nuca com as duas mãos juntas] (5) twisting the fingers [torção de dedos em separado] and (6) biting, knee strikes, and low blows [mordar, dar joelhadas, aplicar golpes que affectem os orgãos genitaes]. Almost everything else was permitted: headbutts [cabeçadas], straight kicks [ponta-pés], twisting the joints [torções], head-locks [gravatas], strangles [estrangulamentos], strikes with forearm or hand [golpes com o ante-braço, e com a mão], including slaps and chops [tapona e cutiladas], leg kicks [rasteiras], shoulders throws [balões], etc.42

  Victory could be obtained by (1) applying pain or pressure to the extent that the opponent gives up by tapping the mat three times or telling the referee that he doesn’t want to continue; (2) pinning the opponent’s shoulders to the mat for three seconds; (3) rendering the opponent unconscious for 10 seconds, and (4) throwing him out of the ring and he doesn’t get back in within 20 seconds.43 The judges’ decision was final. It was added that they would not be held responsible for deaths, emphasizing the great violence and excitement potential of the North American form of luta livre.

  The rules were not greatly disimilar to jiu-jitsu rules as described in previous chapters, including the shoulder pinning rules, which had always been part of Kodokan competition rules, whether called jiu-jitsu or judo (although the precise application differed).

  The issue about pinning may not have have arisen for marketing reasons but it had a profitable effect. It permitted any luta livre versus jiu-jitsu match to be extended into a series simply by having the jiu-jitsu representative lose by pin, protest the result, and then present another match without the pinning rule.

  The season of catch as catch can was set to begin on May 11with a “grande torneio internacional of catch-as-catch-can”.44 The first matches would be Jack Conley versus Mossoró, Zicof versus Dudú, Stanislau Zbyszko versus Johannsen, and Andre Castanho versus Jack Russell. Three boxing matches (one professional between Alvaro Santos versus Jaboty and two amateur) were also presented.45

  The status of Helio Gracie’s fight with Miyaki was more up in the air. On Friday May 11, 1934 Diario de Noticias over-optimistically announced that they would meet next week,46 while O Paiz more accurately informed readers that the fight had been postponed and moreover why it had been.

  The reason was allegedly that Helio did not feel ready to face Miyaki and wanted more time to train. The fight was accordingly postponed.On May 20 O Paiz revealed that the fight would be held the next Saturday may 26, at Stadium Brasil. To enhance his credibility, Miyaki was photographed showing a black belt [faixa preta] diploma to promoter Luiz Segreto.47

  Helio may in fact have needed more time to train. It is also possible that ticket sales were sluggish and some additional promotion was needed, such as displaying Miyaki’s diploma (something that Helio couldn’t do because he didn’t have one). Another factor was that the Gracies were waiting to find out what price they would be paying for their assault on Manoel Rufino in October 1932. A verdict was expected soon. Helio Gracie might possibly be in prison on fight night.48

  In May, Empresa Pugilistica Brasileiro (EPB) announced its slate of contracted fighters for the current season of catch wrestling and boxing. They were divided by nationality. First were Brazilians, then Portuguese, and finally those from other countries. The fighters included George Gracie, Dudú, Roberto Ruhmann, Jayme Ferreira, Miyaki, Shigeo, Renato Gardini and 31 others. With the exception of George, Miyaki, and Shigeo, all were either catch wrestlers or boxers.49

  Jiu-Jitsu versus Jiu-Jitsu

  Shigeo was a new face. Not much was known about him. Diario Carioca published an article on May 11 titled “Who is the fighter who we will see Wednesday at Stadium Brazil?”

  Shigeo was young [jovem], flexible [elastico] and as agile as a cat [apresenta uma agilidade feline]. He was dangerous [perigoso, temivel] and unpredictable. No one knew what he would do [nunca se sabe o que elle vae fazer]. He was inexpressive [impassivel] and had an odd face [rosto esquisito]. People who knew him said that he would be a difficult opponent for George Gracie and was capable of great things.50

  The description could have been applied to almost any Japanese fighter. There was no mention of any ring experience. On April 21, Shigeo engaged in a self-defense demonstration [demonstração de defesa pessoal], which served as the “prova de sufficiencia” [test of competence], that most fighters were required to undergo. Shigeo’s partner in the demonstration was Miyaki, who was said to be Shigeo’s professor. According to slightly earlier reports, Shigeo had a black belt [faixa preta].51

  A Noite’s article the same day was equally bereft of meaningful information. Although Shigeo was new on the scene, he was always dangerous, at least, based on his only public appearance, the demonstration with Miyaki.52

  Originally, it was Miyaki who challenged George, who had obviously never heard of him and wasn’t impressed. He wasn’t convinced that Miyaki was a genuine “black belt” or that he had fought in North America. George accepted the challenge anyway and said he would be ready to fight within 48 hours.53

  It didn’t happen. Instead, Miyaki fought Roberto Ruhmann (April 14) and lost. George instead geared up to meet Shigeo (Helio would confront Miyaki in June).

  All five of the fighters were under contract to Empresa Pugilistica Brasileria.

  The Shigeo versus George Gracie match was scheduled for three 30-minute rounds at Stadium Brasil. Striking was not permitted. George had a slight weight advantage, 63 kilos to Shigeo’s 61 kilos. The referee was the ex-boxer Kid Simões.

  George was confident, as usual. “I will win”, he said, “it won’t last long” [“vencerei…não durará muito”]. His condition couldn’t be better, he added [“Creio que as minhas condicões não podiam ser melhores”]. Shigeo was also abundantly confident [Shigeo revela enorme confianca].54

  That was normal. It was unusual for a fighter to admit that it was even a possibility that he might lose. Geo Omori was one of the few exceptions when he said that “he would do his fighting in the ring, not in the newspapers, and win or lose, he knew how to be a good sportsman”. Jiu-jitsu matches had the potential to be boring, as promoters knew from experience, so they generally booked luta livre and boxing fights to guarantee some excitement. Accordingly, a boxing match (Gabriel Pena versus Mario Francisco was included on the bill, and a luta livre match between Bergomas and Baxter, who was described as the Canadi
an catch-as-catch-can champion.

  On Wednesday May 16, George and Shigeo locked horns. As often happened, the fight was boring. According to O Paiz, “The fight, like most jiu-jitsu matches, was monotonous. There were four throws, and various attempts at chokes, with the two men rolling around on the ground, wrapped up in their kimonos. Gracie, more fortunate than Shigeo, managed to get the choke”.55

  In any event, George’s prediction was partially true. He won, by choke. Whether it did or didn’t last long depends on whether one thinks that 18 minutes is long, because that is how long it took him to finally catch Shigeo.56

  One observer sarcastically commented that “the famous and efficient Japanese sport has hundreds of techniques, what we have seen in the rings in Rio so far has been only two types of attack. One is to trip to opponent and the other is to wrap the kimono around his neck and suffocate him”.57

  The comment was not quit correct. Armlocks of various types and footlocks too had been applied by jiu-jitsu representatives (and by luta livre men as well).

  But what he was saying, seen in context of entertainment, made sense. Compared to the range of moves that active collaboration made possible in catch, jiu-jitsu was a limited game. It may have been as intellectually stimulating as chess for those with a high level of technical knowledge, but chess is not a mass spectator sport. What made jiu-jitsu effective for self-defense also tended to make it boring as entertainment, particuarly if, as they were, throws were ignored or minimized.

  A solution to that might have been to reward effective throws. That was considered and even tried in a limited way. The Gracie brothers did not want to match throws with the Kodokan trained people and lobbied against deciding fight outcomes based on throws (apart from one that resulted in a knock-out, which was highly unlikely in a padded ring and when one opponent could simply sit down to avoid being thrown).