Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (22 page)

Jiu-jitsu was practiced as an amateur sport by a minority of those who enjoyed competitive wrestling. On Sunday January 17, 1932, the
campeonato paulista de lutas
, promoted by
Empresa de Diversões Esportivos
, was held at Pavilhão Alceibiades, on avenida. S. João, 102.

There were two luta romana matches: Jose Sebber (70 kilos,
Germany) versus Guilher Orge (65 kilos, Spain), and Otto Rhode (60 kilos, Germany) versus Fernando Krauss (60 kilos. Germany).

There were two luta livre matches: Panthera Negra (78 kilos, Brazil.) versus Abrahão
Miguel (76 kilos, Syrio); B. Sardelli (92 kilos, Italy) versus Pedro Caipira (84 kilos, German). Sardelli also went by the name of “Gigante de Guarda Civil”.

The single jiu-jitsu match was Arthur Riquetto Filho (68 kilos, Brazil.) versus Jacomo Galdi (70 kilos,
Italy). Galdi was less skilled at jiu-jitsu, but was very strong [
menos conhecedor das “manhas”, entretanto fortissimo
]. Riquetto Filho in later years reported to have been been a student of Geo Omori. Roberto Ruhmann performed some of his patented feats of strength to ensure a good turn out.
26

The second day was Sunday January 24. There were three lucta romana matches, two lucta livre matches, and one jiu-jitsu match. The jiu-jitsu match was Saburo Senda (62 kilos, Japanese) versus Jackas
[Jacomo] Galdi (70 kilos, Italian).

The three lucta romana matches were: Francsico Ritter (72 kilos, German) versus Jose Magasarzky (72 kilos, Hungarian); Jose Weber (70 kilos, German) versus João Carner (68 kilos,
Lithuania), and Mascarado versus João Dix (Lithuanian), the later in a “
sem limite de peso
” [no weight limit] match.

The two lucta livre matches were Alberto S
uleiman (76, Syrio-Lebanese) versus Panthera Negra (78 kilos, Brazilian), and Abrahão Miguel (76 kilos, Syrian) versus Benedicto Peres Campos (78 kilos, Brazilian).
27
The campeaonato continued Sunday January 31.The two jiu-jitsu matches were Romeu Abelito (64 kilos) versus Joao Stilzender (71 kilos), and Arthur Santos (68 kilos) versus Arthur Riquetto (68 kilos). The lucta romana matches were Pedro Iddema (62 kilos) Luxemburg versus João Dugasse (63 kilos), and Victorio Carminati (79 kilos) versus Francisco Pakanisky (84 kilos). The lucta livre matches were Pacifico Cosignoni (96 kilos) versus João da Silva (79 kilos), and Benedicto Peres Campos (79 kilos) versus Panthera Negra (78 kilos).
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Oddly perhaps, Bendicto Peres Campos did not compete in a jiu-jitsu contest although he was described as the
São Paulo jiu-jitsu champion and a former Gracie student when he represented their jiu-jitsu academy in the July 3, 1931 capoeiragem versus jiu-jitsu tournament in Rio. More than anything, that may show that jiu-jitsu and luta livre were not very different, apart from the kimono (which was never absolutely necessary) and a few rules, precisely as Dudú (a luta livre man) and Donato Pires dos Reis (a jiu-jitsu man) said. Precisely because luta livre and jiu-jitsu were so similar, it was constantly necessary to emphasize their differences.

The campeonato continued. The next installment was scheduled for next Thursday,
February 4, 1932.

J
udging from the match-ups on subsequent days, it does not seem that it was an elimination tournament. In the jiu-jitsu matches for example, Galdi fought the first and second days, Riquetto fought the first and third days, and they did not meet each other. Saburo fought only the second day and Santos only the third day. In short, it is difficult to conclude what sort of campeonato this was, or rather how anyone would be declared the “champion”. Fighters, teachers, and promoters never hesitated to describe themselves or their clients as champions of one tournament or place or another. In the lead up to his fight with George Gracie March 11, 1939 it was reported that Riquetto Flho “years ago, won the São Paulo Jiu-Jitsu Championship” [
tempo atrás, conquistou o campeonato paulista de ‘jiu-jitsu
’], possibly referring to the
campeonato paulistas de lutas
.
29
One had many opportunities to be a champion, and “luta livre” and “jiu-jitsu,” were, for at least some purposes, interchangreable expressions.

Undefeated

Portuguese greco-romana fighter Sebastião Victorino challenged Omori, to a jiu-jitsu match, but he didn’t want to wear a kimono. Omori had already said that he would accept such fights. Sebastião was undefeated in luta romana [
nunca foi vencido
] in his own weight class, but had never had a luta livre or jiu-jitsu fight. This would be his first.
30

It didn’t happen but he parlayed the publicity into other, more conventional, luta livre matches. Challenges were a form of self-promotion. Sometimes they led to fights. Usually they led to free publicity which might have been the purpose in the first place. Everyone seemed to understand that if they wanted to get in the newspapers, all they needed to do was challenge a famous fighter. The more famous the fighter, the more newsworthy the challenge would seem. If he didn’t accept the challenge, even better. It was proof that he was afraid, which in turn was proof that the challenger (or his style) was formidable.

Rules

Roberto Ruhmann was busy fighting in
Rio. On Saturday March 5 he fought Adam Mayer at Theatro Republica on avenida Gomes Ferreira.
31
In April (April 2) he defeated Manoel Fernandes in a luta livre match, in the fourth round by “
desistencia
”. On the same show, João Baldi, still winning at the age of 52, defeated Damayer in 7:30 of the first round. In between Ruhmann squeezed in another fight with Geo Omori (the second of four, and the first of two in 1932).

The second Geo Omori versus Roberto Ruhmann fight took place
March 12, 1932 at Theatro Republica.Ruhmann. Among the five preliminary matches (two boxing, one luta livre, and one boxing with luta livre) matches was a match of “
gallos cegos
” [blind-fold boxing] pitting Geraldo Silva aginst Jose Coutinho.
32

An article in
Diario da Noite
in January, reprinted in April, mentioned that Omori had been defeated by Roberto Ruhmann in a recent match [
a luta travada há pouco tempo
] at Theatro Republica [it was June 13, 1931].

It was, the article went on, fought according to the jiu-jitsu rules set for
th in H. Irving Hancock and Katsukuma Higashi’s book
Tratado Completo de Jiu-Jits
u―
Methodo Kano
,
(translated into Brazilian Portuguese by L. Ferrus and J. Pesseaud, 1909). Rules 2, 3, and 8 were most relevant.

According to rule 2, “A fighter will be consid
ered as defeated when his two shoulders touch the ground as the result of a take-down by the opponent”. Rule 3 said that the “pin” must be held for 2 seconds. Rule 8 clarified that if the man on the bottom assumed that position with the intention of bringing his opponent to the ground [or sweeping as we would say today], then he would not be considered to have been defeated.
33

A cartoon illustration in the article showed Omori on bottom, Ruhmann above. Interestingly, Omori’s legs were in what is today called the X-guard. However, if Ruhmann had forced him into that position, he would have been considered the loser, by the rules. But given that the first rule “each fighter must wear a shirt and belt” [“
cada lutador deve vestir uma blusa e um cinto”
] was not in effect, the match probably was a luta livre match rather than jiu-jitsu.

The luta romana wrestler Antonio Esper
’snicknamehad been Du
d
ú
.
That was a while ago. Now there was a new kid on the block using the name. He was Orlando America da Silva, more often referred to by his nickname. Next to the Omori versus Ruhamman article, the new Dudú explained that he fought Omori in a luta livre match, for two hours to a draw. He trained both luta livre and jiu-jitsu and in his view “
faco questão de frisar
” [the difference between luta livre and jiu-jitsu is a “matter of emphasis”].

He
was equally successful in both luta livre and jiu-jitsu, Dudú said. He fought Omori’s students Carlos Equido, Arthur Requietto, and Gatti in jiu-jitsu matchs and beat them all quickly. He also forced national luta livre champion Archemides Rogerio to surrender after 4 minutes [“
obriguei-o a desistir ao fim de quatro minutos
”]. Dudú probably wasn’t lying about knowing at least some jiu-jitsu, as he trained with George and Oswaldo Gracie. In fact, he sent Oswaldo to the hospital with a broken leg after a January 11, 1933 training session at the Gracie brothers’ academy in Rio.

Various authorities were interviewed about the fight. Jiu-jitsu expert Donato Pires dos Reis was one. Donato was uniquely qualified to comment, being the only man in
Brazil authorized by Conde Koma to teach jiu-jitsu [“
o unico homem no Brasil que possue um diploma de professor de jiu-jitsu passado pelo Conde de Koma
”]. His opinion had to be and was taken seriously. Donato thought that the techniques of luta livre and jiu-jitsu were identical, so it would difficult to predict the outcome.
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The fight did not live up to its hype.

The fight was weak, uninteresting, monotonous, and insipid [“
R. Ruhmann e G. Omori fizeram uma luta fraca e desinteressante e inegavelmente monotono…Insipidez
”]. The fighters seemed afraid of each other. In 40 minutes they only went to the mat twice! [
Leveram perto de 40 minutos lutando e apenas duas vezes foram ao tapete
!].

R
uhmann was disqualified [
desclassificado
] in the 3
rd
round by one judge, Manoel Rufino dos Santos, for hitting Omori in the face, and both were disqualified for “passivity” [
falta de combatividade
] by another judge, GumercindoTaboada, an act that was applauded by the fans. Ruhmann’s manager Kid Pratt however argued that the decision lacked moral force [
força moral
] because Ruhmann had neither given up nor lost consciousness as was required by contract for a decision. The referee and judges disagreed. Although both men were disqualified, Omori was declared the winner.
35

Two days later, Kid Pratt complained that
“Ruhmann was defeated by the referee” [“
Ruhmann foi vencido pelo juiz
“]. He argued that Omori fouled Ruhmann but was not penalized, but when Ruhmann fouled Omori (accidently, he insisted) he was summarily disqualified and deprived of victory. On top of that, Pratt said, Ruhmann did not have the 10 kilos weight advantage claimed by Omori’s camp, but on the contrary was lighter. He weighed 67.5, while Omori weighed 68 kilos.
36
Under the circumstances, perhaps another fight was in order?

Ruhmann and Omori were only half-way through their series. There was more to come.

Challenges were the order of the day. On Wednesday March 16, the masters of jiu-jitsu were informed that sportsman and luta livre stylist Oswaldo Cherem wanted to confront one of them―he didn’t care which one [“
quer enfrentar um dos mestres do jiu-jitsu
”]. Although Carlos immediately and gladly accepted the challenge [“
acceito o repto, gostosamente
”], nothing happened. It wasn’t headline news, but it kept the Gracie name in at least one newspaper for one day.
37

The Gracies were not the only masters of jiu-jitsu being challenged. A luta livre fighter from
São Paulo named Roque Dolei apparently was not impressed with either Omori or Ruhmann. He challenged both of them.
38
As frequently happened, nothing came of it.

In addition to being challeng
ed, Ruhmann issued challenges, his latest addressed to the Gracies. Ruhmann’s challenge was more specific than most. He proposed two luta livre matches, followed by two jiu-jitsu matches.

Carlos replied that the proposal was absurd and added, “we will fight him one, two, or more matches, it doesn’t matter how many” [“
lutará elle com qualquer de nós jiu-jitsu contra jiu-jitsu em dois, tres ou mais combates, não importa a numero
”]. Carlos insisted that Ruhmann first defeat a Gracie in jiu-jitsu, and if so, they would then fight him in a luta livre match.
39

There was considerable talk about a Helio Gracie versus Ruhmann match. It also didn’t happen. But George fought Ruhmann, once in 1932, and several times later. And not on
ly George, but Oswaldo as well.

Credentials

In boosting the merits of jiu-jitsu, the Gracies succeeded to a limited extent in making it popular. But, despite their desire to do so, they could not monopolize it. There was only one Brazilian with formal credentials qualifying him to teach jiu-jitsu and he was not a member of the Gracie family. He was Dontao Pires dos Reis. Omori was not Brazilian but he had impeccable credentials both on paper and in the ring. He opened a school in Rio in April, close to the Gracies in fact, in Botofogo on the ground floor of rua Conde de Irajá, 142.
40
The fact that he could not speak Portuguese didn’t seem to be a problem. Donato did not teach, after exiting or being eased out of the academy that he directed in 1930, at least not in Rio and not until 1939. Since there was demand for jiu-jitsu instruction, inevitably, people would emerge to supply it. Some had legitimate lineages, for example, Riquetto, who studied with Omori, to cite one example. In other cases, the legitimacy of the instruction was unknown. On Sunday April 10, at 4:00, Kid Simões opened Academia Brasileira e Sports, located at rua de Assembléa, no. 95, 2
nd
floor. Instruction was offered in boxing, luta livre, capoeiragem, and jiu-jitsu. Milk and cookies were provided to guests who attended the grand opening.
41