Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1)
Page 48
October 31 Takeo Yano vs. Jack Bagley
December 7 Y. Ono vs. Gigante de Memel; Pava vs. F. Borges
1947
January 9 Takeo Yano vs. Homem Montanha
January 15 Takeo Yano vs. Eduardo Bargach
January 18 Takeo Yano vs. Tarzan Argentino
January 22 Takeo Yano vs. Homom Montanha
January 25 Takeo Yano vs. Basilio Caduc
February 1 Takeo Yano vs. Homem Montanha
February 8 Takeo Yano vs. Kostolias
February 26 Takeo Yano vs. King Kong
March 5 Takeo Yano vs. Norki; Paulo Hollo vs. Salvador Cardia; Eduardo Galvão vs. Matsuoka
March 9 Luiz Tambucci vs. Salvador Cardia; Paulo Hollo vs. Giro Matsui; Antonio Silva vs. Jin Assahira 20
March 12 Takeo Yano vs. Aldo Bogni
March 19 Takeo Yano vs. Tatú
March 22 Takeo Yano vs. Homem Montanha
March 29 Takeo Yano vs. Juan Olaguibel
April 2 Takeo Yano vs. Homem Montanha
April 17 Takeo Yano vs. Gattoni,21 Godofredo vs. Omar
April 19 Takeo Yano vs. Eduardo Bargach
May 31 Takeo Yano vs Aldo Bogni22
July 6 Godofredo vs. Braz
July 18 Diré vs. Omar; Milton vs. De Maio; Braz vs. Miranda; Kian vs. Godofredo
1948
February 1 Takeo Yano vs. Pablo Aldecoa
February 14 Takeo Yano vs. Yerkos Strika
February 18 Takeo Yano vs. Nick the Policeman
February 21 Takeo Yano vs. Antonio Rocca
March 3 Takeo Yano vs. Ramon Cernadas
March 6 Takeo Yano vs. Rene Adorée
March 10 Takeo Yano vs. Zbysko Junior
March 14 Takeo Yano vs. Roberto Collado
March 17 Takeo Yano vs. Basilio Caduc
May 7 George Gracie vs. Olaguibel
July 31 Takeo Yano vs. Kid 1
August 31 Takeo Yano vs. Juan Kostalias
September 14 Takeo Yano vs. Juan Kostalias
September 18 Takeo Yano vs. Juan Kostalias; Carlos Pereira vs. Tanque Herrera
September 25 Takeo Yano vs. Gorila; Carlos Pereira vs. Kostalias
October 2 Takeo Yano vs. Alfio Baronti
October 9 Takeo Yano vs. Alfio Baronti
October 16 Takeo Yano vs. Alfio Baronti
October 23 Takeo Yano vs. Carlos Aurichio; Oka vs. Kid 1
October 30 George Gracie vs. Oka; Takeo Yano vs. Carlos Aurichio
November 4 George Gracie vs. Takeo Yano
November 6 Takeo Yano vs. Alfio Baronti
194923
Appendix 2 Notes
Appendix 3
Lineages
The evidence for a lineage varied from reliable to questionable. Reliable evidence would be (authenticated) diplomas, photographs, and the like, and testimony from the teacher himself or his students based on their own first-hand experience. Questionable evidence would be self-promoting and uncorroborated or contested claims made many years after the alleged relationship, particularly when the individual had a documented history of lying. In short, the quality of evidence varied and in most cases lineages should be considered possible rather than certain.
Kodokan Graduates in Brazil
Conde Koma前田光世 (1878-1941). Conde Koma’s main teacher was Sakujiro Yokoyama (who also taught Ito, Ono, and Satake). According to myth, Conde Koma’s style of fighting was aggressive. He would use kicks and punches to bring the opponent to the ground and then quickly finish with a “lock” or choke.1 However, all of the available evidence clearly indicates that Conde Koma’s fights in Brazil were conducted strictly according to conventional jiu-jitsu rules. Kimonos were always worn and striking was never permitted (see main text for details). Conde Koma declined to fight capoeiras, whose game was striking.
Geo Omori大森瀼冶 (1892-1938). Earned his black belt [faixa negra] in 1909, when he was 17 from Kodokan, which he entered when he was 13, (1905). Omori’s main teacher was Conde Koma’s classmate Tokugoro Ito (whose teacher was also Conde Koma’s teacher, Sakujiro Yokoyama). Unlike Conde Koma, Geo Omori fought capoeiras and engaged in vale tudo fights. He also fought without kimono. However, he avoided boxers.
Yassuiti Ono小野安一 (1910-?). Ono’s main teacher was Kanemitsu Yaichibei (金光弥一市兵衛) in 1922. Ono immigrated to Brazil in 1929, when he was 19. Originally from Kumamoto, Japan. Ono fought with and without kimono. He did not fight strikers.
Takeo Yano矢野武雄 (1909-?).2 Like Yassuiti Ono and Masahiko Kimura, Yano was originally from Kumamoto, Japan (in fact, he attended the same middle school as Kimura). Yano fought with and without kimono. He did not fight strikers, although he challenged at least one boxer, and he fought numerous fake vale tudo “catch” fights.
Sada Miyako
Mario Aleixo
Conde Koma3
Bianor de Oliveira (Recife)
Donato Pires dos Reis (Belém)
Jacyntho Ferro (Belém)
Takeo Yano (Belém)4
Donato Pires dos Reis
Carlos Gracie
George Gracie
Geo Omori
Saburo Senda
Abrahão Gazal
Albino da Costa
Arthur Riquetto
Vincente Martins (student of Riquetto)
Carlos Equido
Gatti
Jose Barbosa
Alberto Torre La Faria (Al Faria)
Roberto Coelho
Carlos Gracie
Benedicto Peres Campos
Arthur Miele (student of Peres)
Jose Cayat
Manoel Azevedo Maia
Ary Martini
Helio Gracie
Carlos Pereira
Adão Mayer
Antonio Marques
Oswaldo Gracie
Mirando Neto
Jorge Saldanha
Dante Carvalho
Euripedes Dornelo
George Gracie
Ricardo Nibbon
Camillo Hollanda
Takeo Yano
Odemar Figueiredo
Eguti
Vincente Marques
Pinochio
Inhesil Marinho
Herminio de Oliveira
Antonio Marques
Waldyr Corbo
Gastão Gracie Filho
Ennio Voss
Dr. Adhemar Barbosa
Yassuiti Ono
Oninho (Naoiti Ono)
Luiz Tambucci
Braz Gomes I
Mazuko Tossio
Milton Ferreira
Udu Dorn
Vincente Lacerva
Jose Roberto Macedo Soares
Mario Shymada
Batiste Sarty
Salvador Cardia
Casimiro Tronscoco
It is likely that all of the fighters who participated in preliminaries to Ono’s fights were his own students (refer to appendix 2).
Augusto Cordeiro
Antonio Alfonso Alves
Floriano Cadeco
Luiz Alberto Moreira
.
Appendix 3 Notes
Appendix 4
Glossary
Styles
Capoeiragem, according to contemporary sources, was originally derived from, based on, and inspired by savate, and associated with slaves, former slaves, lower-class young males of color, and trouble-makers in general. It evolved into the “national game” [jogo nacional], and by that time was almost exclusively the art of kicking. Practitioners were capoeiras. Eventually, capoeiragem was toned down (razor blades removed) and dressed up (musical instruments and acrobatics added) and became capoeira, while the former capoeiras (practitioners) then became capoeiristas. The change did not happen monolithically or abruptly. By the time jiu-jitsu came to Brazil, capoeiragem/capoeira was the art of kicking and had many supporters among the nationalistically inclined ruling classes.
Luta romana was the first foreign fight to arrive that was seen as a form of entertainment or, potentia
lly, sport. In its very first presentations, it was a sort of mini-drama, with men acting the roles of Roman gladiators. To heighten the dramatic tension, aspects of genuine competition were introduced. It was the game of upper body wrestling with some limited aspects of ground fighting (exactly as in modern day Greco-Roman wrestling). Practitioners were artistas or lutadores. (Luta was also spelled lucta).
Luta (lucta) = a fight, struggle
Lutadore (luctadore) = fighter, competitor
Lutar (luctar) = to fight, to struggle
Box (boxing) was the specialized art of punching by the rules of the Marquis of Queensbury. The game of punching was not new; that was a sub-game of savate, until punching, at least skilled punching, became associated almost exclusively with boxing. Boxing was box, boxe, o jogo Inglez [the English game], a arte do murro [the art of punching], o jogo do murro [the game of punching], among other names. Boxers were boxeurs, boxeadores, boxistas, and sometimes esmurradores [punchers]. A boxing match was a luta de box, a “match” de box (the word match in quotation marks) among other expressions.
Luta livre (lucta livre) was the Brazilian Portuguese equivalent for catch-as-catch can, or “free-wrestling” (implying lack of the luta romana restrictions). Livre did not mean “free” in the sense of “anything goes” [that was vale tudo]. The exact meaning was never clear or universally accepted. Some writers believed that luta livre and catch-as-catch-can were the same while some believed that they were slightly, but not very, different. Practitioners were either lutadores (luctadores) or in the case of catch, “catchers”, catcheurs, and “catch-catchers”, among other expressions. Catch-as-catch-can was occasionally described or defined as, “a sciencia do ‘agarra-te-como puderes’” or something similar, sometimes as luta (or lucta) americana, but often simply “catch”.
The transition from sports to professional wrestling in North America was virtually complete by 1939. Brazil followed the same course for the same reasons, which were well-understood. Promoters gave the fans what they wanted. The “revealed preference” of the fans was for fake wrestling.1 In time, “catch” referred mostly to staged pro wrestling.
Olympic free-style wrestling (Luta Livre Olimpica) was unknown in Brazil until 1949 [era um desporto completamente desconhecido no Brasil]. The biggest booster of this form of wrestling was the nephew of Paschoal Segreto, the man who originally brought luta livre and jiu-jitsu to Brazil. The first Campeonato Brasileiro de Luta Livre Olimpica was promoted by the same groups who produced catch shows, namely the Federação Metropolitana de Pugilismo (F.M.P) and the Confederação Brasileira de Pugilismo (C.B.P.). The two federations joined forces to promote a series of competitions designed to prepare a team for participation in the Olympic Games. It was difficult work because Brazilian wrestlers were accustomed to the rules of catch and “show matches” [“isso não custou pequeno trabalho, pois os nossos lutadores estavam habituados aos regulamentos do catch e ás lutas-exhibições”]. But the effort paid off. Around 10,000 people came to watch the competitions,2 which were held as segments within professional catch and capoeira shows.3
Jiu-jitsu was the secret, ancient, deadly, scientific game of the samurais and geishas. Sports writers, teachers, and practitioners generally viewed jiu-jitsu as a form of luta livre, the principle difference being the kimono4 and the techniques that the kimono facilitated (chokes and throws) and to some extent, the physical characteristics of the “representatives” (Japanese lineage, agile, and of small stature). Practitioners were “jiu-jitsu men”, jiu-jitsuistas, jiu-jitsuanos, among other expressions.
Techniques
Techniques were described by sports writers who seldom were experts in the sport that they were describing. Even if they were, they were constrained to use terms that non-experts could understand. Striking was less confusing. The major techniques could be defined ostensively (by pointing), if that was even necessary. Everyone had some notion of what slaps, punches, and kicks looked like, and had probably even experienced them at some point in childhood or adolescence. Everyone could guess what cabeçadas, joelhadas, and cotoveladas were (cabeça is “head”, joelho is knee, cotovelo is elbow and the suffix -ada described a “blow” delivered with the object denoted by the root word). Describing grappling, especially jiu-jitsu, was more difficult. Thus, there were many expressions for the same limited number of techniques. The two most general were golpe, which could mean any technique or action that had some effect in potentially determining the outcome of a contest (among other meanings), just as the English equivalent “a blow” can be very general (as in “the liquidity crisis struck a fatal blow to the economy”, or some such). The next most frequently used was chave, a direct translation from French clef, meaning “key”, but in the context of grappling, a hold, lock, grip, or application of a hand or hands on the opponent for the purpose of manipulating or immobilizing him.
The following were used. What they meant depended on what the writer was trying to convey.
Grappling
Balão: Shoulder-throw, high throw.
Bananeira: Flipping the opponent by lying back, while lifting opponent with one’s own feet.
Cabeça presa nos rins: Pressing the kidneys with the head.
Chave de Braço Americana: American style armlock.
Chave de estrangulamento: Strangle lock, choke, estrangulamento usually implied use of a collar.
Chave de estrangulamento na trachea: Pressure on the trachea.
Chave de pé: Foot-lock.
Chave de pescoço: Neck-lock, or choke.
Chave de perna: Leg-lock.
Chave de pernas no pieto e torção de braço: Legs on the chest while twisting the arm, armlock from ground.
Chave de rin: Kidney lock, closed guard position, use of legs while lying.
Chave na garganta: Throat lock, choke
Clef au bras á terre (French): Armlock, writers sometimes used French words to clarify what a new Portuguese expression meant. The chave de braço that George Gracie used on Mario Aleixo was explained as a clef au bras á terre (lock of the arm on the ground).
Chave auto-collar: Choke.
Collar de força: Collar choke.
Chave de pé: Leglock.
Compresseão carotideana: Carotid compression, choke.
Cros en jambe ‘(French): Leg-hook.
Encostamento dos espaduas: Pinning the shoulders.
Golpe ao pescoço: Choke.
Golpe de asphyxiamento: Choke.
Golpe de estrangulação: Choke.
Golpe á garganta: Choke.
Golpe de perna: Leg attack.
Golpe de braço: Arm attack.
Gravata: Literally, neck-tie. This was the most widely used term. It could mean headlock, choke from any position, or simply arms around the head.
Gravata japoneza: Japanese neck-tie, choke.
Gravata com tesoura: Choke or headlock with legs around opponent’s body.
Gravata de um apache: Thug choke, forearm around neck from behind.
Gravata kimono: Choke with the kimono.
Guarda cerrada: Literally, closed guard.
Pressão da espinha: Pressure on the spine.
Prisão de braço com a tesoura: Armlock with legs over or around the opponent.
Prise (French): Prisão, or hold.
Prise de pieds (French): Leglock.
Queda: Take-down.
Rasteira: Trips, leg sweeps.
Tesoura: Literally scissors, use of legs for attack or defense, standing or lying.
Tesoura aos rin: Closed guard, could imply squeezing painfully.
Tesoura de rins: Same as above.
Tesoura de pernas ao thorax: Legs around the chest, closed guard.
Tombo: Take-down (tumble).
Torção de braço: Twisting the arm, armlock.
Torsão de perna: Twisting the leg, leglock.
Note that there was no expression for “triangle choke” [triangulo] despite the almost certainty that Yassuiti Ono knew about it (see Ch
apter 7, and Jiu-Jitsu in the South Zone, chapter 13, for details). A sports writer would probably have described the technique as a type of tesoura.
Striking
Bofetão: Slap, open-hand strike.
Chulipa: Back-hand slap, used by capoeiras.
Chute: Kick
Cotovelada: Elbow strike.
Cutelada: Open hand chop.
Joelhada: Knee strike.
Pisão: Stepping stomp kick, side kick.
Ponta pé: Straight front kick.
Savatada: Kick.
Socco: Punch.
Sopapo: Slap, open-hand strike.