Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (17 page)

Despite the disappointing result for jiu-jitsu supporters, some people thought that Carlos was a better fighter than Rufino Santos. In fact, table judge Oscar Santa Maria, Carlos
’ friend, later victim, went even further and claimed that Carlos was a better jiu-jitsu fighter than Conde Koma [
como melhor lutador de jiu-jitsu que o famoso japonez
].
53

Fraud

Rufino Santos seemed to relish reminding the fight world that Carlos had given up. He claimed that Carlos was a fraud. “A striking example was demonstrated in Fluminense Stadium on the night of August 22, when my opponent abandoned the ring,” he said in an interview, his opponent of course being Carlos Gracie.
54

He wouldn
’t let it rest. He continued hammering at Carlos in 1932, referring to him as the jiu-jitsu practitioner who had fled the ring to the tumultuous jeering of the fans [“
o praticante de ‘jiu-jitsu
’,
fugiu do ring sob estrondosa vaia dos assistentes
”].

Rufino Santos asked Carlos
, “why didn’t Mr, Gracie want to continue the fight? Why didn’t he want to fight without a limit of rounds until there was a winner? Why didn’t he want to fight 20 minute rounds? Why did he want 3 minute rounds and only accepted 5 minute rounds when Mr. Palamenta insisted? [“
por que , sr. Gracie, o senhor,
nã
o quiz continuar a luta? Por que
nã
o quiz lutar sem numero de rounds, commigo, a
té
haver um vencedor? Por que
nã
o quiz os rounds de 20 minutos, quando lhes p
rô
puz?
...”]

“
Rounds de 3 minutos
!” Rufino Santos pretended to be shocked that a “fighter” would demand such short rounds. “Don’t you think that would be a clown act fight, Mr. Gracie?” he asked rhetorically [“
Que luta palh
aç
ada, hein, sr. Gracie
?!”]

He went on with more provocative
questions of the same type.
55

As if losing the fight in such a humiliating manner weren
’t bad enough, Carlos had to endure an unrelenting post-fight assault by his victor.

H
e wasn’t the only one who enjoyed sticking it to Carlos. George brought the example up from time to time as well.
56

The
day after the fight, Rufino announced a big event pitting representatives of luta romana, jiu-jitsu, boxing, and luta livre against each other. He indicated that he might enter himself and mentioned Carlos as a competitor.

It didn
’t happen. Carlos never fought again. His life-time ring record was one fight, one loss, and two no-decision exhibitions with Geo Omori, and one other possible but unconfirmed match of some type, which he also did not win.

Manoel Rufino also retired from the ring
after this fight. Carlos and Rufino would cross paths again, however.

Capoeiragem
Again

Probably to take advantage of the sudden interest in mixed fights, a match was announced between
George Gracie and family friend and business associate Jayme Martins Ferreira. As usual, George would represent jiu-jitsu. Ferreira would represent capoeiragem.

Ferreira had yet to
demonstrate any capoeiragem skills and the performance of his students in the jiu-jitsu contra capoeiragem tournament did not enhance his reputation. Another largely (or totally) self-taught capoeiragem professor, but one who was taken more seriously and later produced some outstanding students, Agenor Moriera Sampaio “Sin
hô
zinho” entered some of his students. Andre Jansen met Euricio Fernandes in a capoeiragem match.Caio Mend
oç
a facedMa
né
, and Ismario Cruz confronted Vico in catch matches.
57
The capoeiragem matches took place, successfully but the jiu-jitsu versus “capoeiragem” challenge did not.

Disgusted with the
results of the unqualified capoeiras taught by Jayme Ferreira, Mario Aleixo challenged Carlos Gracie.
58
Carlos accepted the challenge.
59
Somewhere along the way Carlos stepped aside and substituted George in his place. Aleixo, being a middle-aged man, complained but unwisely agreed to accept the substitution. The fight had been scheduled for early October but was postponed several times for one reason or another. Promoters drafted Jayme Martins Ferreira as a substitute.
60
Mario Aleixo objected, insisting that his contract be honored, saying that Ferreira was unqualified. Januario, who despite his age [
a despeito da sua idade
], was regarded as a skilled capoeira, was substituted for Jayme Ferreira. The fight was postponed to October 24. Oswaldo was added to fight Bahiano. Carlos was asked who he thought would win, George or Jayme Ferreira. He did not display complete confidence in his brother: “It’s hard to say who will win”, he answered [“
que veiu se dificil dizer qual sera o vencedor
”].
61
The event was postponed.

Easy Opponent

The fight took place on Thursday November 5, at rua do Riachuelo. Oswaldo weighed 64 kilos, Bahiano weighed 86 kilos.
62
The fight was action-packed up to a point but in the end failed to prove anything about which style was superior. According to one review of the fight ”Bahiano didn’t reveal notable qualities as a capoeira. He was an easy opponent for Oswaldo Gracie”.
63

According to another review, Bahiano seemed to have the best of it in the first round. At the start of the second round, Bahiano, having
already giving his best shot to win, had nothing left with which to resist Oswaldo’s” carotid choke that left Bahiano in a condition of semi-consciousness to the extent that he couldn’t stand up”.
64
However, the reporter added, it isn’t time yet to supplant the national game with the
efficiente meio de defesa nipponico
.

The main event was a five round mixed fight between George Gracie and capoeira Januario, the
“Terror de Villa Isabel”. Januario was a friend of Mario Aleixo. He was strong, fast, agile, and dangerous, a complete capoeira”.
65
He was also a “
veterano
” (i.e., old).

Inexplicably, Ja
nuario didn’t show up. In compensation, George and Helio gave a demonstration instead. Caio Mendo
nç
a defeated Ma
n
é in a capoeiragem match, winning five of six rounds. In a five round (3 minutes each) luta livre match, Ismario Cruz and Vico drew [
empataram
]. Andre Jansen and Eurico gave a beautiful demonstrationof capoeiragem (both Sin
hô
zinho students). Thanks to Sin
hô
zinho and his students the program was not an absolute disaster [
fracasso absoluto
].
66

As a
demonstration of the superiority of jiu-jitsu over capoeiragem, the program left much to be desired. In terms of stimulating interest in one art over the other, capoeiragem seemed to come out ahead.

The jiu-jitsu people were not daunted however. Jiu-jitsu had one advantage that capoeiragem could not match. That was the promise that anyone can practice jiu-jitsu. Exceptional physical att
ributes, such as were required by luta romana and capoeiragem, were not needed in jiu-jitsu.

Geo Omori, accompanied by Carlos Gracie and
Paulo Miqui Tacassau Firota, visited the offices of one newspaper to testify that, “among the Brazilians, I haven’t seen anyone who can apply the techniques of the Japanese method of defense [jiu-jitsu] better than the Gracie Brothers“. He added, “with whom I will be working in the near future”.
67

In one masterful stroke, undoubtedly coached by someone else among the trio,
68
Omori was able to promote himself, the Gracies, and their imminent mutual productions at no cost to themselves, while providing the paper with useable content and readers with entertainment. No doubt Carlos Gracie learned a few tricks by reading accounts of American fight promoter Tex Rickard, who we know Carlos was familiar with.
69
Publicity was the name of the fight game as it was in show business. Working the press was the key.
70

Luta
Romana versus Jiu-Jitsu

Fresh off his
victory over Bahiano, Oswaldo prepared to meet his next challenger, the aging luta Romana champion, J
oã
o Baldi. Baldi was surprised to hear that he would be fighting Oswaldo. No one mentioned it to him. Nevertheless, he said, he was willing to fight any of the Gracies, but only with shoes and without kimono [
eu lutarei apenas com ca
l
ç
ã
o, sem kimono
].
71
He was confident. The Gracies had never before encountered an authentic representative of luta romana. Moreover the conditions of the contract allowed him to use all of the resources of luta livre, in which he was also well-versed.
72
He didn’t anticipated having much trouble with a 62 kilo mosquito like Oswaldo Gracie.

J
oã
o Baldi was a strong man. Had completed a one-armed snatch [“’
arrac
h
é’ de um braç
o
”
] of 60 kilos, breaking the previous world record of 58 kilos. He also unofficially snatched 120 kilos with two arms, 8 kilos more than the world record.
73
Baldi was strong, there was no question about that. But was he strong enough to resist jiu-jitsu? Carioca fight fans would soon get the chance to find out.

Baldi had been a luta-Romana specialist during the first decade of the century, beginning in
Sã
o Paulo at the Eden Theatro (Empresa J. Cateysson). Most theaters held championship tournaments [
campeonatos
] the winner of which would become the Brazilian champion or South American champion, or whatever champion the theater chose to call him.

In 1911 (
June 4, 1911), Baldi was billed by Paschoal Segreto’s Theatro Casino as the Brazilian Luta Romana Champion [
luta romana camp
eã
o brasileiro
]. Baldi weighed 100 kilos at that time. His opponent on that Sunday was the
Sã
o Paulo champion, F. Ricci, weighing 106 kilos.
74

In 1913 Baldi was the champion of
Sã
o Paulo.
75
In November 1913 Theatro Casino held the “
Campeonato Sul-Americano de Lucta Romana
,” involving a troupe of eight fighters (Jose Floriano Peixoto, Casario, Dicke, Giovannoni, Nero, Mantanha, Julian, and Baldi himself [Giavannoni was probably Giovanni Raicevich, the “world champion”]. Baldi may have become the“South American luta Romana champion” at this time or possibly after.

B
aldi was indirectly responsible for Jack Dempsey’s second “million dollar gate”. It happened at the Club de Mayo, on avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in 1916. There he met a gigantic young man (he would have been 22 at the time) who wanted to learn luta romana.
76
Baldi tried to explain the rules and show him correct technique.

But the youngster wouldn
’t listen. He simply tried to use his power to throw Baldi to the ground. Baldi gave him such a “lesson” that the boy spent three weeks in bed recuperating. The boy gave up luta romana and took up boxing instead. He was Luiz Angel Firpo, the “Wild Bull of the Pampas”, who later fought and almost dethroned Jack Dempsey on September 14, 1923.
77

By 1920 Baldi was disputing Antonio Esper [the first of several
wrestlers known as “Du
dú”]
for the title of “
camp
eã
o sul-ameriano”
in the
campeonato do Theatro Avenida
.
78
The match degenerated into a brawl and terminated without a “regular result” [“
regular desfecho
”].
79
However the next day, Monday April 19, Baldi was being billed as the
camp
eã
o sul-americano
.
80
for his match with international champion Gallant.

Those
triumphs were in the past. Baldi was 51 years old in 1931. He was also heavier, and the extra weight was not necessarily muscle. But the promoters exaggerated his size, he complained. He weighed only 125 kilos, not the 138 kilos claimed by the Gracies. Whatever his precise weight at fight time, he was a big man. His neck was 50 cm., his chest 125 cm., his biceps 46 cm., and his height 172 cm.
81

Baldi was unable to keep his luta livre skills polished in
Brazil. All of the Brazilian luta livre fighters were too small to provide worthwhile training. The result of this training insufficiency became evident in a pair of back-to-back matches with Romulo Antonelli in
Sã
o Paulo on Saturday August 22. The first was luta romana. Baldi took that one. The second was luta livre. Antonelli submitted him in the fifth round with a neck tie choke [
gravata
].
83