Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1)
Page 38
Additionally, Jacy Moreira would meet Ovidio Silva in a luta livre match. Jack Russell would face Fritz Weber in a catch match.13
George and Yano were scheduled to battle for six 10-minute rounds, or less. The two were similar in size and skill, although one specialized in stand-up, the other in ground.
They had met in the ring at least six times before. They knew each other’s style well. Their fights were invariably close. This one was not an exception. It was not without close calls. A picture in A Noite showed Yano escaping from a George Gracie armlock. But the final result was a draw.14
In the preliminaries, Carlos Pereira choked Camillo Hollanda in the first round.
Jack Russell was not called the King of Fouls for nothing. He was disqualified in the second round for attacking the referee.
Jacy won by armlock in the third round.15
The popular Diario de Noticias sports columnist El Campeón was dissatisfied with the catch match to the point of hostility. In his column “Between the Ropes” [Entre as Cordas do Ring”] he didn’t mince words, using such phrases as “circus result” [“desfecho circo”], “ridiculous scenes” [“scenas ridiculas”], and “comic scene” [“scena comica”]. In his opinion, the disgraceful comedy was transparently “architected” by Empreza Brasil Box director Renato Gardini for the sole purpose of setting the stage for a reprise match [revanche]. He concluded that “The [fight] had the aspect of a tragedy in the sense that the paying public was so stupid as to take this blatantly insulting piece of anti-sportive choreographed comedy seriously”.16
He was even more disgusted with the final match between Yano and George. These were genuine athletes, fighters, not mere entertainers like Jack Russell and his clownishly comedic accomplices. Yano and George both deserved to be censured for the way they performed in the ring, El Campeón felt. The first ‘round’ was “catch wrestling.” The next five rounds were the noble Japanese sport, in which the fighters did nothing to try to win, not even using the minimum amount of force to finish their techniques or fight with conviction. Their match could not have been anything but a marmelada [fake], he said. Takeo Yano and George Gracie entered the ring with the prearranged plan to draw.17
El Campeón had no comment on the Carlos Pereira versus Camillo Hollanda or Jacy Moreira versus Ovidio Silva fights. That could mean that they weren’t faked or that they weren’t important enough to mention. The truth is probably both. They were not important enough to bother to fake. The preliminary fights, excepting the “catch” matches, were probably the most legitimate of the major public fights that took place during the 1940’s (and probably before as well.)
El Campeón insisted that fights should be “honest”, which meant that the fighters should fight to win [“os sports do ring devem ser praticados com honestidade, isto é, os lutadores…são obrigados a lutar pela Victoria…”].
Indeed various commissions had been set up to see that they were. But the economics of the fight business generally dictated otherwise.
Ironically, El Campeón identified the root of the problem. Referring to the Gracie brothers, he observed, “anyone who watches and understands jiu-jitsu, knows perfectly well that these brave and fearless Brazilian athletes [i.e., the Gracies], always fought for real, which made their fights boring”.18
Under the circumstances, El Campeón was probably referring indirectly to Helio Gracie. George was the target of his criticism, Oswaldo had also been involved in questionable fights, Carlos retired after his one fight in 1931, and Gastão Jr. never fought. Helio however had retired in 1937 after his jiu-jitsu match with boxer Ervin Klausner. Although he did not offer a reason, it seems extremely likely that the reason Helio retired (until 1950) was that he didn’t want to participate in exciting but worked fights, combined with the fact that fans did not want to pay to see his “real” but boring fights.
El Campeón’s diagnosis of the problem was accurate. What he didn’t have was a solution.
George Gracie and Takeo Yano had a solution. It wasn’t one that El Campeón liked.
Size Doesn’t Matter
Two weeks later Takeo Yano and George Gracie were back at Stadium Brasil, not facing each other for a change. George would be meeting the giant German Fritz Weber. It was their second confrontation. The 46 kilo weight difference between himself and Weber didn’t worry him in the least. He had beaten the German giant before. This time he promised to do it even more devastatingly.
George was absolutely calm and composed. Perhaps the fact that Weber would be wearing a kimono had something to do with it. The fight was a jiu-jitsu match. George was sure that Weber would adhere to the rules of the sport because Weber would be trying to win the fight, which he couldn’t do if he was disqualified.
In October of 1939,Weber said that he wouldn’t engage in a jiu-jitsu match with a champion like Yassuiti Ono until he had mastered the game to the extent that the match wouldn’t be a “fiasco”. By April of 1940, he apparently felt that his abilities were adequate for the challenge ahead.
“Weber really is a giant,” George said with a malicious smile, “but that doesn’t mean anything. Size doesn’t matter [“Tamanho não é documento”]. I will put him to sleep like a baby listening to a lullaby sung by his mother, with the difference that Weber’s dreams won’t be as peaceful”.19
The fight was scheduled for six 10-minute rounds. George promised that it wouldn’t last that long. Weber would be crushed faster than he imagined [“será arrazado em menos tempo do que ele supóe”].
The management of Brasil Box either hadn’t tread El Campeón’s recent column, or didn’t care what he thought, or had a better grasp of what sold tickets. Cowboy Yankee Jack Russell was back. He would be meeting the Oriental Demon [demonio oriental] Sarquiz Budip.20
In the semi-final, Takeo Yano was matched against Carlos Pereira. Yano weighed 70 kilos, Pereira 76 kilos. The match was four 10-minute rounds. Some reports described it as jiu-jitsu, others as luta livre. Most writers viewed jiu-jitsu as a particular form of luta livre. If the fighters wore kimonos, it was jiu-jitsu, otherwise it was luta livre. Both fighters engaged in both luta livre and jiu-jitsu. The match could have been either. 21
Some observers felt that Yano and Pereira put on an entertaining show, drawing after four “lively” rounds.22 Others were less impressed, calling the fight as “a feeble display by both fighters” [“exhibição fraca de ambos os contendores”].23
El Campeón was ambivalent. The Yano versus Pereira match was more an exhibition that a fight, due to Yano’s overwhelming superiority. The only reason Yano didn’t finish Pereira was that he didn’t want to [O japonez demonstrado manifesta superioridade technica e se não venceu foi porque não quiz]. However, he thought that Pereira had great potential to one day become a good fighter [Alias o joven lutador brasileiro possue predicados excepionaes para, algum dia , chegar a ser um valor positivo do nosso sport].
George Gracie versus Fritz Weber was something of a joke, El Campeón felt. Weber wore a kimono so oversized that it looked like a straightjacket [Camisa de força]. Weber was even more clueless in jiu-jitsu than he was in catch and luta livre and was finally done in by his own exhaustion [atrapalhando-se com o seu propio cascação].
El Campeón thought that Weber weighed 126 kilos. He might have. Under the circumstances, the extra weight probably hurt rather than helped, if it mattered at all. George played with Weber [brincou com os 126 kilos de seu adversario] for two rounds before deciding to finish him in the third with an efficient and fatal armlock.
Jack Russell and Sarquiz Budip did not escape El Campeón’s scorn. The only reason their clown show [palhaçada] was not more successful was that Budip had not yet perfected the art of acting [ainda não ser um artista perfeito]. The performance featured some take-downs [quedas], nothing more [apenas isso, nada mais].
Unlike some writers who dwelled at length on the catch results, El Campeón had little to say. It seemed almost beneath him, as a serious fight reporter, with
his own column and byline, to dignify such shenanigans with straight-faced commentary.24
Catch matches could usually be relied on to offer some thrills, reasonably, as one opponent did nothing to prevent the other from attempting spectacular moves, and indeed would help him to do it. The problem was that the performers were too often inept.
Kodokan Judo versus American Catch
After the George Gracie versus Fritz Weber and Takeo Yano versus Carlos Pereira fights, Brasil Box prepared another night of thrills. It was a grand spectacular of “jiu-jitsu”. Yassuiti Ono and George Gracie took on Jack Russell and the Sarquiz Budip. Neither Russell nor Budip had ever demonstrated any knowledge of jiu-jitsu, but that didn’t matter. Wearing a kimono made it a jiu-jitsu match.
The first preliminary fight would be between two genuine jiu-jitsu representatives, Oninho (Naoiti Ono) and Carlos Pereira.
The event took place Saturday April 27, at Estadio Brasil. All three fights were six rounds of 10 minutes.25
The main event was Yassuiti Ono versus the “King of Fouls” [Rei dos Fouls], the gigantic Jack Russell. Russell promised to beat Ono before the second round. Ono guaranteed that it wouldn’t happen, for the very logical reason that Russell was going to lose [Ono garante que tal não aconteceir, pois o vencido será, forcosamente, o ‘gigante’]. The Japanese jiu-jitsu men were out-gunned in the hyperbole wars. As Geo Omori had said, they preferred to do their fighting in the ring. In consequence they needed people like Jack Russell and his fellow “artists.” Their fighting skills were dubious but they knew how to build up a fight.
Oninho previously choked out Manoel Grillo (December 25, 1937). The victory was significant because, not only was Grillo vastly bigger, he was also (supposedly) the jiu-jitsu champion of Portugal. He had (allegedly) studied with and then defeated the legendary Raku. He also (ostensibly) beat Taro Miyake. He wasn’t an ordinary catcher, at least not if the newspaper accounts were reliable. Oninho had proven his valor by beating a much larger and apparently equally skilled jiu-jitsu fighter. But then, Grillo was old and the quality of his opposition was suspect (Raku and Taro Miyake were also old when they confronted Grillo). Oninho in contrast was anything but an unknown quantity. His fights had been recent and in plain view. Most fans had probably seen at least some of them. And no one could question the quality of the instruction he had received. His teacher was his brother. There was no one better in Brazil in 1940 than Yassuiti Ono.
Like Manoel Grillo, Carlos Pereira was from Portugal. He wanted to avenge the insult to their national honor. Oninho wanted to prove that his victory over Grillo wasn’t a fluke. Pereira, from the Gracie Academy, planned to fight with his head [pra cabeça], or in the Rio slang, “spiritually” [espirituosamente]. His objective was to stamp a clear defeat on Oninho’s record.26
George Gracie was uncharacteristically quiet. Budip had little to say. The newspapers were generally silent. According to one, George Gracie was well enough known that nothing needed to be said, while Budip also was well enough known not to need introduction [não cansaremos o leitor com ‘biografias’]. It was enough to say that it would be one of the most electrifying combats of the evening [será um dos combates mais eletrizantes da noite de amanhã].
The Ono brothers were training at their academy in São Paulo on avendia Celso Garcia.27
Oninho’s and Pereira’s weights were not reported but Pereira weighed 76 kilos two weeks earlier, and Oninho generally weighed 56 kilos, give or take a kilo. Pereira’s 20 kilo weight edge was not enough to overcome Oninho’s skill and speed. According to Diario Carioca, it was only due to his weight advantage and the fact that Oninho hadn’t prepared well for the fight [falta de treino] that Pereira was able to avoid defeat.28
Reporters were not favorably impressed with Pereira, saying that he had evidenced a complete lack of knowledge of jiu-jitsu. But at least, unlike Russell and Budip, he was a genuine fighter. His lackluster performance was due to the fact that he had only been learning jiu-jitsu a short time.29
It was a weak exhibition that ended in a draw.30
George Gracie versus Budip did not prove to be as electrifying as some had anticipated. George weighed 70 kilos to Budip’s 108 kilos. Not surprisingly, Budip displayed rudimentary jiu-jitsu skills [conhecimentos rudimentares]. However, George did not allow him to turn the match into a farce. With no other option, Budip made a real effort to defeat George, using brute force [bruta força] and some catch techniques. But to no avail. The “Blond Cat”31 George Gracie, won in the first round by a armlock.32
Yassuiti Ono, weighing 68 kilos, and Jack Russell, at 118 kilos, put on a lively show. Russell, the “clown americano” however did not demonstrate that he had any business wearing a kimono in a ring with Yassuiti Ono. Ono finished him with an armlock in the third round.33
The fights probably entertained the fans. At least Brasil Box and other promotional companies must have thought so. The rest of the decade was dominated by fights exactly like them, if not indeed, even more clownish. Fight analysts however, did not like them, understandably. They were viewing them as sports, not as theater. As sports, they failed to measure up. All three fights were described as “tedious and uninteresting“.34
Another paper despaired that world of ring sports was falling apart, asking “From where will come the new leader of our ring sports? [“vamos dar nova orientação aos nossos sports de ring?”], and blaming the sad state of current affairs squarely on Brasil Box’s director Renato Gardini. Gardini was making a grave mistake in allowing clowns like Jack Russell to participate in fights, if they could be called “fights”. It was an insult to genuine fighters, like the inestimable Yassuiti Ono. The solution, Diario Carioca believed, was to have Jack Russell and others of his own “modality” “fight” each other. The few honest fighters still remaining should not participate in the sham fights.35
But as usual, the promoters were listening to the sounds of the cash registers.
The Sound of Money
The Brasil Box troupe of fighters moved to São Paulo to open the “season” on Saturday May 11. The gymnasium of Associação Athletica São Paulo was chosen as the venue. Various delays were encountered. The featured fight was George Gracie versus Oninho. Sarkissi Budip was selected as Jack Russell’s opponent. Director Renato Gardini decided to substitute Yassuiti Ono for Budip. There would also be two matches of “Luta Greco Romana,” in which Hungarian ex-olympic champion Paulo Stern would participate. The opening day was postponed to May 18 and then again to on Saturday, May 25.36
By that time, the Temporada Internacional de Lutas had already been underway since May 18, when Charles Ulsemer of France defeated Spanish Andres Castanho at Estadio do Pacaembu, in a somewhat unsatisfactory way. Ulsemer’s victory was not the fruit of his superior knowledge of luta livre, observers complained, but rather the inadequate technical knowledge of referee Righetto (probably Arthur Riquetto, the jiu-jitsu man). Ulsemer’s next fight was scheduled for Saturday May 25, a six 10-minutes round contest against the Brazilian Martino Jose Dyonisio. There would also be five boxing matches.37
The Ono brothers were still training at their academy on avenida Celso Garcia. George was training at Academia Delauney on avenida Brigadeiro Luis Antonio. Russell was training with the Stern brothers at C. A. Iparanga.
The day before the fights, the match-ups were revised again. Now it was George Gracie versus Yassuiti Ono (replacing his brother) in a luta livre match of six 10-minute rounds. The original match-up of Santiago (Sarkissi, Sarquiz) Budip versus Jack Russell was back on and had been upgraded to the main event. Also on the card were Jose Gonçalves versus Antonio Cadete in a three round (of 2 minutes, with 3 ounce gloves) amateur boxing match, and a luta livre match between Maximino Bento and Luis Kian, (three 5-minute rounds). Reserve fighters were Fritz Weber, Takeo Yano, and Oninho.38
There obviously had been complications in getting the season off the ground. It finally began on fight night Saturday May 25. But not without controversy.
A fighter (or individual) named Jung Meri was hastily recruited to fill in for Yassuiti Ono, his brother, and Takeo Yano. Fritz Weber was also a reserve fighter but it is safe to assume that he was not asked to fill in.
George was declared the winner over Yassuiti Ono by “walk-over”. He then fought Jung Meri, defeating him by armlock in the second round. In this way, George notched two victories in one night. Ono lost without fighting.
In the other fights, Budip beat Russell by armlock in round 3. Maximo Bento and Luis Kian (whose name was also written Kiain) drew. Kian was described as “Japanese”. The referee was Jose Kian. Gonçalves defeated Antonio Cadete by points.39
George immediately challenged Budip saying that by beating Russell he proved that he was he was good fighter. George also believed that Budip would not try to avoid his challenge. He added that he hoped Budip would not imitate the Ono brothers who demonstrated their fear of him and also at the same time left a poor impression of their sportsmanship.40
Budip lost no time accepting the challenge. But he wanted five-thousand milreis [cinco contos, or 5,000$] to fight George.41
Jiu-Jitsu Denied
The fight was set up for June 8. George would face Budip (sometimes described as “gigantesco lutador arabe”). Angelo Orlando, from Italy, and Charles Ulsemer would face off. Takeo Yano had been scheduled to confront Jack Russell again, but didn’t feel that he was sufficiently recovered from his recent fights in Bello Horizonte.42 Dionysio, the Ebony Adonis [O Adonis de ébano] substituted for Yano.43