Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (43 page)

The Campeonato Aberto de jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre that had begun in May was still going on in October. On October 21, the finals were held. In addition to the amateurs from the three clubs and one academy that had signed up, professionals Jayme Ferreira and Mossoró had gotten involved. Antonio Marques (Gracie) met Marinho (Flamengo); Carlos Pereira (Gracie) confronted Max Wolf (Fluminense); Jayme Ferreira encountered Antonio Bueno (both representing Gracie), and Carnera (Gracie) faced off against the pro wrestler Antonio Mossoró. Carnera was the
nickname of Dr. Fernando Young, the novice who took part in the hyped up sparring session in March with “E. Bueno”, who was probably Antonio Bueno. From the July and October match-ups, it is unclear how this tournament was organized. Why were professional luta livre wrestlers matched against white belt amateur jiu-jitsu students, and so on? The significance of this event is also unclear. It provided competition experience for some amateur grapplers and publicity for the Gracie Academy (Fluminense and Flamengo were well enough known without it). Perhaps Ferriera and Mossoró participated in order to provide opponents for the two Gracie students Carnera and Bueno. Carnera and Bueno could have confronted each other again but the tournament directors may have decided that two matches were better than one.

Carlos Pereira eventually split from the Gracies and established his own
São Paulo centered lineage which continues to this day.
48

Goliath versus David

The George Gracie versus Oninho rematch was set for November 12, 1937 at Stadium Brasil. According to
Diario Carioca
“George has an enormous advantage in weight, and much more ring experience. The tiny Japanese is still new to the ring, but gifted with disconcerting aggressiveness”.
49

Oninho was absolutely confident of victory. He explained that he deliberately hadn’t submitted George quickly in the first fight because he wanted to demonstrate his technical superiority, which unfortunately gave George some openings. “George was lucky the first time, this time he will lose. I will liquidate him, but only after I throw him a couple dozen times, as I said”
.
50

The fight was even, according to
Diario Carioca
and George failed to establish control at any time during the 60-minute contest. The judges nevertheless awarded the victory to George.
Diario Carioca
felt that a draw would have been a more reasonable decision under the circumstances. The fans loudly rejected the decision.
51

Dead Chicken

Gracie academy student Ary Martini was scheduled to fight Maximino Grandi in the ring at Feira de Amostras in Bello Horizonte. On Saturday November 20 the day of the match, both happened to be at Café Academico when Grandi overheard Martini refer to him as “dead chicken” [
Gallinha Morta
]. One thing led to another and a dreadful brawl broke out. Takeo Yano coincidentally happened to be there and attempted to break it up. The injured athletes fled the premises when the police approached.
52 
It is unknown whether the “free preview” [
antecipação gratuita
], as
A Noite
labeled it, boosted attendance at the show later that evening.

36 Lessons

In addition to fighting, George shared his knowledge with the public. In December he was teaching jiu-jitsu and luta livre at O Club Universitario, on rua de Maio, 33 and 35, 4
th
floor (phone number 22-6394). The course lasted three months with three lessons per week.
53

The content of the 36 lesson course is unknown but judging by the limited training time allotted, it was probably an assortment of basic self-defense moves such as were depicted in the popular instructional manuals of the day.

Possibly it was similar or even identical to the curriculm of the Gracie academy in Rio, which also consisted of 36 lessons. The academy was founded in 1930 by Donato Pires dos Reis, so the curriculum may have been designed by him.“Rolling” was not part of the course in the early 1950’s according to those who trained at that time, and it is unlikely that it was part of the 36 lesson course in 1937 or any other time. Wrestling on the ground was not what people thought jiu-jitsu was at that time. Like his brother Helio, George trained fighters to fight, but the majority of their students were not fighters and did not fight.

Gastão Jr. concentrated on teaching. To recruit students, instead of fighting, he gave demonstrations. On Sunday November 14, he performed a demonstration at the gymnasium Oswaldo Cruz in the Parque Industria Animal, in
São Paulo, with the assistance of his best student Ennio Voss. It was part of a festival of physical education sponsored by the department of Agriculture and the Banda da Guarda Civil. It began precisely at 10:00 a.m.
54

Grillo

Manoel Grillo made his debut in Rio in October 5, 1935 against Geo Omori. He was said to be an expert at jiu-jitsu, having learned directly from Raku, whom he later fought and beat in Lisbon. He also beat the ex-champion Miyaki [Taro Miyake]. He had 25 years experience and over 500 fights under his belt.
55
Grillo had an astonishing agility [
espantosa agilidade
] for a man of 90 kilos, and impressive offensive and defensive resouirces. He approached every fight with the same aim, which was to win as quickly as possible.
56

After the Omori fight, Grillo focused on catch wrestling. That’s w
here the opponents and money was. But now the time was ripe for another confrontation with jiu-jitsu. Now it was time to renew his acquaintance with the local jiu-jitsu representatives. This time George Gracie was the opponent.

The fight was set for Thursday December 9. The winner would qualify to face the English champion Dr. Len Hall.
57

Due to rain
it was rescheduled for Saturday December 11 at Estadio Brasil, fortunately for George, according to Grillo, because it postponed the painful fate in store for him. It would be a luta livre match of four 10-minute rounds with 2-minute breaks.

Grillo wanted to wager 5
contos
(five thousand
milreis
) with George on the outcome of the fight. He asserted confidently that the only way he might lose a fight was if it were fought with sticks in the traditional Portuguese way [
jogo do pãu
]. George accepted, but only on the condition that the fight was as violent as it could be, that is, permitting chops [
cuteladas
], punches [
socos
], straight kicks [
ponta-pés
], head-butts [
cabeçadas
], and everything except low blows and attacks to the eyes [
golpes baixos e nos olhos
]. He wanted a crushing victory that made his superiority over Grillo clear.
58

Grillo weighed 80.4 kilos, George weighed 66.4.
59

According to
O Imparcial
George dominated the first round and threw (or pushed) Grillo out of the ring. Grill rallied in the second round. At the beginning of the third round Grillo managed to pin George’s shoulders, and thereby won.
60

Judging by the aftermath to the contest, one of the rules had been inadequately clarified, namely the crucial
encostamento de espaduas
rule [pinning the shoulders]. After an action packed three rounds of battle, Grillo managed to pin George’s two shoulders to the floor, winning the match.

George and several fans immediately protested, saying that pinning had not been stipulated as a winning technique. George therefore rejected the result and demanded a rematch to efficiently decide the victory [
decider efficientemente a vitoria
].

Grillo instantly agreed to the rematch and requested Empresa Brasil Ring to make it happen and as soon as possible. He wanted to dispel any doubts about his victory.

Grillo also complained about the referee Armando Jagle.
61
Grillo felt that Jagle was biased in favor of George for patriotic reasons. He also thought that George was handed an undeserved victory over Oninho for the same reason. For the second match, Grillo wanted a different referee. Euzebio de Queiroz, Pillar Drummond, Gumercindo Taboada, Soroa, among others, would be acceptable, he thought.
62

The rematch was arranged for Thursday December 16, in accordance with Grillo’s request to waste no time. It was again held at Stadium Brasil. The semi-final was a boxing match between Loffredinho and Gabriel Pena.
63

The rematch was recognized by the Federation as a catch-as-catch-can exhibition rather than a regulation match.

The first round was active and entertaining. Both fighters were aggressive but neither was able to seize a decisive advantage. Grillo initiated the second round with a strong offensive that knocked Gracie out of the ring. Before George could climb back in, Grillo flattened him with a punch. The judge, Leonal Martins, awarded George the victory by disqualification, as specified in the rules.
64

C
atch versus Jiu-Jitsu

Due
partly to the shortage of qualified jiu-jitsu fighters, as well as the public’s obvious desire to watch giants in the ring, Yano increasingly confronted luta livre and catch wrestlers. On December 16, 1937 at Feira de Amostras in Bello Horizonte he faced the Greek catch wrestling champion Jim Atlas in a catch match of six rounds.
65

Despite Atlas’ weight advantage of approximately 30 kilos,
66
the match was even until Atlas applied a powerful neck-tie choke [
ponderosa gravata
] in the fifth round. Atlas held the choke for 2 minutes, almost suffocating Yano.

Four minutes into the
sixth round, Atlas applied a very powerful scissors hold [
fortissimas tesouras
], which knocked Yano out cold [
fóra de combate
]. Fortunately, Oswaldo Gracie, the referee for the fight, intervened in time to save Yano from being killed [
evitar a morte do lutador Japonez
]. Atlas was so focused on winning that Oswaldo had to punch him on the chin to make him release his hold.
67

Cold Canvas

After the first Grillo versus Gracie match, Oninho challenged the “Catcher Luso” [Portuguese catcher, i.e., Grillo].
68
He had already fought George twice, brilliantly, earning the admiration of the public. George was sometimes described as a “pygmy.” Compared to Oninho, George was a giant. Fight fans were always up for David versus Goliath confrontations, and Oninho versus Grillo would be one.

It promised to be a close fight [
certeza de ser renhidissima
]. Grillo had size and experience on his side. Oninho had youth and impetuosity on his.
69

Diario Carioca
emphasized Oninho’s technique, in an indirect way. Oninho was Japanese. So was Conde Koma, who even in 1937 at his advanced age, in Pará, was capable of defeating men much heavier than himself. Oninho, despite his youth and miniscule size,
Diario Carioca
stressed, was a very dangerous for any opponent. Oninho was faster and more agile than Grillo and had the major advantage of training with his older brother Yassuiti, a true master. “Oninho is capable of beating Grillo,” the paper concluded.
70

The story appeared side by side with two others. From
Bremerhaven, Germany, Max Schmeling declared that he wouldn’t fight Joe Louis in New York. Schmeling shook up the boxing world when he knocked Louis out in the 12
th
round on June 19, 1936. Louis had been regarded as unbeatable. Schmeling noticed a flaw in Louis jab and took full advantage of it that night. Louis regrouped and took the heavyweight crown from James Braddock in 1937, but needed to avenge his loss to Schmeling in order to be accepted as the “real” champion.
71

On the other side of the planet,
Japan had not given up its plan of hosting the 1940 Olympic Games, in spite of the negative press it had gotten from its invasion of China.

Bad things were brewing but that was still a few years and two oceans away.
Brazil was only peripherally involved. In 1937 Cariocas were more concerned with whether Oninho could beat Manoel Grillo.

It turned out that he could.
72
Oninho left Grillo unconscious on the cold canvas [
deixando-o descordado na lona fria
].
73

.
Chapter 17 Notes

Chapter 18

1938

The Yassuiti Ono versus George Gracie rematch hadn’t been entirely satisfying, due to Ono’s inexplicably dishonorable rule violation. Prior to the fight, George had been dominated by his desire to completely re-establish himself, something that could only be possible with a decisive victory over Ono [
esta dominado pelo a sua desejo de obter uma rehabiliatção completa, que so poderá ser conseguida com uma victoria decisive sobre o seu vencedor
].

George wanted to be able to use
cuteladas
[chops] in the rematch. Ono replied that “chops are techniques of jiu-jitsu. George should to try to beat me under the same rules that I beat him” [“
cutelada não é golpe de jiu-jitsu. George deve procurar vencer-me nas mesmas condições foi derrotado
”]. Opinions were divided on the issue. Some felt that Ono’s position was reasonable, others thought that he was afraid of George’s chops.
1

A win is a win, but it wasn’t the complete rehabilitation that George was hoping for. In the meantime George had fought Manoel Grillo twice, neither time with an ideal outcome
, losing the first and winning the second on disqualification when Grillo, emulating Ono, punched George’s face. Ono had been out of action but by January 9 was ready to take on any comer.
2

A new company named Empresa Brasil Ring, or Brasil Ring for short,
3
quickly set up a “rematch of the rematch” for Saturday January 15. It would be a luta livre match, to ensure more action. Often, one paper complained, in jiu-jitsu matches the fighters grab each other’s clothes and wait for a chance to apply a technique. Without kimonos they have to be more active and apply more techniques and combinations of techniques which would make the fight more exciting.
4
George insisted that pinning not be allowed.
5
But prevailing opinion held that with or without kimono, it would be difficult for George to avoid another defeat.
6

The day before the fight, Ono’s manager Antonio Lins announced that Ono had received an injury in training. He would fight, but only in kimono. That was unacceptable to the promoters, Brasil Ring, who cancelled the fight, and effectively terminated the luta livre “
temporada
” [season].
7
The boxing matches (Loffredo versus Gabriel Pena; Antonio Soares versus Gaucho; and Loffredinho versus Virato Monteiro) were postponed to Saturday January 22.
8

Ono didn’t fight again until October. George went to Bello Horizonte to prepare for a possible match with Takeo Yano.
9
Apparently nothing came of it. It was never unusual for fights to be announced and then be indefinitely postponed and simply forgotten. Everyone got their names in the paper and that was worthwhile in itself. It might have been the point in the first place.

A third match between Geo Omori and George Gracie was scheduled for
January 29, 1938. However, on the day of the fight it was announced that the fight would be postponed.
10
Unfortunately, Omori would never fight again.

Between Life and Death

Disturbing news came from Bello Horizonte that Omori was in grave condition [
gravamente enfermo
],
11
somewhere between life and death [
entre a vida e a morte
].
12

Expecting the worst,
A Noite Illustrada
published a report on February 22, titled “
Omori: O Campeão que Eulogueceu
” [“Omori, the champion who has become mentally incapacitated”]. According to the report, Omori’s friend, the wrestler Antonio Mossoró went to visit him. He found Omori stretched out motionless, unresponsive, on a bench. He learned from Omori’s co-workers that he had been like that for more than six hours. He was taken to the Instituo Raul Soares.

The director, Dr. Galba Moss Veloso was at a loss to diagnose the problem. Omori’s wife Cetuko
13
said that he had been worried about money and had been having increasingly severe headaches. Therapeutic modalities were to no avail. Omori was blind, dumb, deaf, and unresponsive.

When he came to
Brazil after an unspecified period of time in the “land of dollars” [
terra dos dollars
], the United States, he had accumulated as much money as he needed. He was tired of fighting and wanted to rest. He opened a tropical fish store [
casa de peixes raros e de fantasia
] in São Paulo. But the store didn’t prosper. He returned to fighting and became a Brazilian legend. Eventually, as happens to all fighters, he grew older. Younger rivals appeared to claim their share of the spotlight. His name appeared in the press less and less. His financial situation deteriorated. He had a wife and young daughter named Kimika
14
to support.

Desperate to restore his shakey finances, he traveled around the Brazilian states performing in
lutas avulsos
[uncontracted fights] and
lutas a combinar
[faked fights]. Finally, he found a job as a care-taker [
zelador
] at the aquario da Feira Permanante de Amostras de Bello Horizonte, which suited him tempermentally. In his youth in Japan, he enjoyed working with tropical fish. They didn’t talk and he didn’t have to either.

The problem was money. The monthly salary was 1
,400$. He could barely scrape by. For a man who had once been a super-star, it was a serious let-down.

At one point about seven days after he was hospitalized, Omori seemed to be making one last attempt to pull out a victory of some sort. He was able to mutter a few words. His mental condition was still poor, but it gave hope that he might somehow pull through. One of the attending physicians, Dr. Nagib Abdo, was optimistic. Journalists asked him if Omori would be able to return to the “rings”
.

“I don’t think so”
, Dr. Abdo said. “Even if he completely recovers, he will never fight again. The damage he has suffered so far has already been severe. It is only his remarkable physical constitution that has allowed him to survive even this long”.
15

The next day it was reported that Omori’s condition was improving [
vae melhorando
].
16

It was a false hope.

Death of a Superstar

Omori died at
4:40 p.m., Friday afternoon, March 2, 1938.
17
His wife Cetuko and four year old daughter Kimika and faithful friend Takeo Yano were there with him.
18
He was 46 years old.
19

Doctors had been baffled by Omori’s symptoms. Psychiatrist Neves Manta speculated that they might have been caused by injuries suffered in the ring, or possibly auto-intoxication or hetero-intoxication.
20
Takeo Yano was not a doctor, but he was sure fighting wasn’t the cause. Omori had had about 600 fights, he said. But, he added, that was normal in Japan, where fighters fight every day.
21

Like so many fighters, Geo Omori died broke.
22
Compatriots, friends, and fans contributed money for Kimika’s education. The first to donate were N. Touzuki, W. Miyazaki, K. Hizumi, Abelardo Moreira, and one anyonymous person, who donated 10$000 each. Dr. Motto Ohno offered 20$000.
23
The Queirolo brothers, good friends of Omori since he joined their circus in 1928, donated 1,750
milreis
.
24

The Geo Omori era was finished. For everyone else, life and fighting went on.

Open Challenge

Alberto Suleiman taught jiu-jitsu at Academia Kid Pratt in
São Paulo although, like many others, his jiu-jitsu qualifications were obscure. On April 3, he accepted Yassuiti Ono’s open challenge to all São Paulo based luta livre and jiu-jitsu fighters,
25
and had been preparing to fight him as late as April 21.

By April 23, Oninho had taken his older brother’s place. On
May 1, 1938, Suleiman and Oninho inked a contract to “measure forces” on Saturday May 7 in the gynasium of Associação Athletica São Paulo.
26
The fight would be 10-minute rounds without limit of rounds, with 2-minute breaks, the winner to be decided by give up or knock-out. There would also be three amateur jiu-jitsu matches of either four or six 5-minute rounds.

The contest was only six days away. Both fighters were already in excellent shape, they guaranteed. In an interview Oninho said that had been training three years, fighting constantly, had never lost (in fact however, he had lost twice to George Gracie), and most of his fights were at Circo Queirolo.
27
Few, if any, of Oninho’s fights at Circo Queirolo were significant enough to merit press coverage.

Suleiman was equally confident and with good reason. He had dedicated the preceeding nine years of his life to fighting. In more than 64 contests, he had never lost.
28
He clarified later that he had been held to a draw four times and won 60 times.
29

Oninho weighed 56 kilos, Suleiman 72 kilos. It appeared that Suleiman had a considerable advantage in both weight and experience. How relevant his experience was remained to be seen. Many, if not all, of his fights were luta livre matches with the likes of Jayme Ferreira, Dudú, and Herminio.
30

Suleiman’s edge didn’t pay off for him. Oninho put an end to Suleiman in just a little over one minute, applying four violent and technical “blows” and forcing Suleiman to concede.
31

In the amateur matches, Braz Gomes (70 kilos) defeated Sinssuke Yamada (51 kilos) in the
fourth round; Sadayuki Sugo (52 kilos) defeated Geraldo Falção (68 kilos); in the third round. It is unclear from the description (
vencendo este
) whether Gomes (52 kilos defeated Jose Roberto Macedo Soares (60 kilos), or vice-versa.

Rage

Abrahão Gazal (also known by the name of “Rage”) was one of Geo Omori’s first and best students in São Paulo [
um dos primerios e melhores alumnus do fallecido Geo Omori
]. He was of Syrian descent, but born in Brasil. Following his teacher’s recent death, Abrahão had maintained a respectful silence. On May 26 he broke his silence and publically accepted Ono’s challenge. However he wanted to fight Oninho rather than Yassuiti. He was said to be very experienced and had defeated reputable opponents [
disputou numerosas lutas, vencendo bons adeversarios
]. Most of his fights had been in small shows in Barretos, in the interior of São Paulo State where he lived, A few of his appearances had been in São Paulo, but apparently not against any big name opponents.
32
He weighed 63 kilos, about 6-8 kilos more than Oninho, which might have increased his chances of winning, although it didn’t help Alberto Suileiman. It appears that the fight didn’t happen after all. There was more money in fighting giants and that is where Oninho directed his attention. Next in his sights was the former Gracie student (or associate) Benedicto Peres.

Impetuosity versus Experience

Oninho had problems, relatively speaking, with light, fast opponents like George Gracie. Larger opponents seemed more vulnerable to his advantage of speed. Suleiman was the most recent. Next, Oninho took on an even bigger foe, Benedicto Peres.

Peres had participated in the Geo Omori exhibition match with Carlos Gracie in January on 1930. He also took part in the controversial Gracie organized jiu-jitsu versus capoeiragem show on
July 3, 1931. At that time he was described as an “old student” [“
antigo alumno
”] of the “Academia de Jiu-Jitsu”, as the Academia Gracie was originally called when it was established by Donato Pires dos Reis in 1930.
33
Clearly, he was very experienced. He also had a substantial weight advantage.

The fight was set for Saturday June 11 at Gymnasio da Athletica in
São Paulo. It would be a jiu-jitsu match of ten 5-minute rounds, with 2-minute breaks. Oninho weighed 57 kilos, Peres weighed 84 kilos.

Three other jiu-jitsu matches would be presented: Dudu Dorn (50 kilos) versus Sadayuki Sugou (52 kilos); Braz Gomes versus Arthus Miele, (both 68 k
ilos) and Ono student Milton Ferreira versus Sadao Ishio (both 69 kilos) in four 5-minute round matches. There was also a boxing match.
34

Oninho prevailed once more over a bigger, more experienced adversary. How was not reported, but it clearly must have been either give up or knock out, because the fight ended in the
third round. The three other jiu-jitsu contests also ended in give up or knock-out: Gomes over Macedo Soares (who had replaced Miele) in the third
round
;
Sugo over Dorn in the fourth
round, and Milton over Ishio in the third round.
35

Cowboy Yankee

The “cowboy Yankee” Jack Russell arrived in 1934 as a member of the Zbyszko troup of international catch-as-catch-can wrestlers.
36
Like all of the catch wrestlers he was well into middle-age. He was allegedly a boxer as well as a catcher.
37
His grappling skills may have been eroded by time because he relied on dirty tactics to the extent that his nickname was “king of fouls [“
rei do fouls
”] and most of his matches were described as being “full of irregularities”. He was also known as the “
palh
aç
o
” [clown] of the troupe.
38
He played the role of “heel” in any match. He was also from Texas and therefore big. He was the ideal opponent for a jiu-jitsu representative.