Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (16 page)

Moreover, rule 5 did not
prevent the jiu-jitsu representatives from voluntarily dropping to the ground. While possibly a sound self-defense tactic, it did not facilitate a valid comparison of styles and as many critics pointed out, this was a considerable handicap for the capoeiras. Coronel later challenged George to a fight “
valer tudo
” [everything permitted] but George never responded.
30
Given the many complaints about the poor abilities of the capoeiras and the unfairness of the rules, it is reasonable to assume that they didn’t dominate the jiu-jitsu representatives.

Bluff

A week later, Capoeira instructor Mario Aleixo launched one more challenge at jiu-jitsu, but specified the rules of “real” capoeiragem.
31
Luta Livre instructor Manoel Rufino dos Santos also challenged the Gracies, calling their July 3 tournament a “bluff” [hoax].

Carlos apparently recognized Rufino as a voice that could be neither ignored.nor co-opted. Rufino was a respected
“sports man” and luta livre instructor. While most other “rivals” played by the the rules of pro-fighting promotion, Rufino had a personal dislike for Carlos. His challenges were not abstract “style versus style” confrontations. He was not interested in meeting “representatives”. He wanted Carlos personally.

Carlos claimed to be willing. As usual, he would negotiate hard for terms that suited him. The specific rules were not yet decided but Carlos
explained that “jiu-jitsu is a competitive sport and not a fight for life or death”.
32

It was not certain that the fight would happen.
Rufino and Gracie couldn’t agree on the rules. Carlos insisted on short rounds. Rufino wanted long rounds or no rounds.
33
Finally Rufino agreed to Carlos’ conditions.
34
As he later said, it was the only way he could get Carlos into the ring.

Rufino Santos promised to donate his purse, if he won, to charity (to
Nataldas Cria
nç
as Pobres do Fluminense
).
35

Put on the spot, Carlos eventually offered to donate 30%, if he won (making him look somewhat miserly, which might have intensified his antipathy to Rufino Santos).
36

Rufino continued to lobby for what he felt were more realistic ring conditions.
Carlos threatened that if Rufino didn’t fight him in the ring (under the rules that Carlos wanted), he would fight him in the street [
Se Santos
nã
o lutar comigo no ring luta
rá
mesmo na rua
].

Capoeiragem and jiu-jitsu instructor Mario Aleixo, like Rufino Santos, did not think much of Carlos
Gracie. Aleixo challenged on August 19, repeatedly referring to him as “sr. Gracil”.
37

Eugenio Bran
dã
o Duffressey was the referee [
juiz de ring
]. Carlos’ close friend and financial provider Dr. Oscar Santa Maria was one of the table judges, the others being Dr. Renato Pacheco and Dr. Rodrigues Vieira. There would be five 5-minute rounds with 1-minute breaks. The fighters could wear whatever they chose. Striking was not permitted. Points were not scored. The result would be determined by “tap out or knock out”.
38
Although it was not explicitly specified, a fighter could desist by simply leaving the ring or not returning to it if he fell or was thrown out of it.

The two men appeared to be evenly matched. According to
Diario de Noticias
“Manoel Rufino dos Santos is strong, agile, and smart, qualities which are not lacking in his rival” [
Manoel Rufino dos Santos é forte, agile e astuto, qualidades que
nã
o faltem ao seu rival
”]. The fight was billed as “luta livre contra jiu-jitsu. Rufino’s style was called “catch-as-catch-can” and Rufino was a “catch-catcher”.
39

Abandoning the Ring

The Gracie versus Rufino Santos show-down took place Sunday August 22, 1931 at Estadio de Fluminense, Rio, on rua Alvaro Chaves.
40

The
program began at 9:00
with three preliminary luta romana matches and three exhibition boxing matches.

The luta romana matches were
Manoel Lima versus Longmayer, Jayme Ferreira versus Benjamin Constant Azevedo (aka o “Bijoca”) and Tavares Crespo versus Alcino Pacheco. Brazilian lightweight boxing champion Joe Assobrab would fight three 2-round exhibition fights against Antonio Portugal, Mario Francsico, and Crespito, respectively.

Rufino Santos versus Gracie was the main event.

Correio da Man
hã
described the fight as follows: “The fight was violent and savage. The first two rounds were in Rufino Santos’ favor. Near the end of the third round, the fighters went outside the ring and the referee ordered them back to the center. Rufino Santos released his hold at which time Gracie took advantage to apply an illegal technique, which provoked a lot of disagreement. Carlos Gracie left the ring. At the requests of his friends, he returned. The fight was interrupted for more than an hour. The fight was re-started. Gracie left the ring again. Because of that, the referee awarded the victory to Rufino Santos”.
41

Diario de Noticias
summarized the fight as “
fracasso em 3 rounds
”.

“
Manoel Rufino had the advantage until the third round, when both fighters were up against the ropes and about to fall out of the ring. Gracie was above Rufino. The referee shouted ‘Center!’ and then Manoel Rufino let go of Gracie. Gracie used that opportunity to apply a “
gravata
” [headlock] on Rufino, who had been trusting in Gracie’s sense of fair-play and the referee’s vigilance. There was an argument and the fight was interrupted. Gracie felt that he won, despite the protests of the fans who severely criticized the method that he had used. After a long delay, Gracie refused to continue the fight and Rufino was declared to be the winner”.
42

Diario de Noticias
added a couple days later that “Neither Rufino nor Gracie were able to use the technique that they supposedly knew. Rufino applied holds on Gracie that didn’t seem to bother him.What happened to the ‘toe holds’, the ‘armlocks’, the ‘leglocks’? None were seen. For his part, Gracie used ‘scissors’ which Rufino defended well”.
43

A Noite
had a slightly different impression of events. When the referee attempted to separate the fighters and direct them to the ring center, Rufino relaxed his defense. Carlos applied a “
gravata
” choke and refused to release it when instructed to. According to one table judge, Rufino tapped out and then lost consciousness [
segundo um dos juizes Santos teria dado a signal convencionado de desistencia perdenda, a seguir, os sentidos
]. According to others, Gracie was in violation of the rules in not releasing the headlock when instructed by the referee. Santos was disoriented and almost unable to stand up [
Santos se levantado completemente estonteado em condi
cõ
es de mal poder se manter de
pé
].

At this point there was confusion as to what had happened. Some people thought
Gracie should be declared the winner. Others thought the fight should continue to the end of the agreed five rounds. Gracie did not want to continue however and for this reason Rufino Santos was declared the winner [
Carlos Gracie que prefereiu nao proseguir, motivo porque a victoria foi dada ao seu adversario
].
44

What actually
happened in the match, technically, was not described in much detail, apparently because not a lot happened. One report mentioned that Gracie used “scissors” [
tesouras
].
Tesouras
at that time generally implied use of the legs for attack and defense (rather than for standing). More specifically it could mean what later became known as the “guard” position.

So Carlos used the
“guard position” in his first and only fight. However, Rufino Santos later said that “the ground holds no mysteries for a luta livre man”
45
which he proved by nullifiying Carlos’ guard game.

At the same time, Rufino
’s use of his own legs was less than effective. As one knowledgeable observer later commented, “Carlos Gracie had no difficulty escaping from Rufino’s head scissor”.
46

Carlos obviously also knew how to apply a
“
gravata
.” That was not surprising, as
gravata
[literally, neck tie] was the most commonly used technique by practitioners of both jiu-jitsu and luta livre. Partly, it was common because the term had a vague meaning. It could refer to any form of choke, but also to a simple “arms around the head” hold, in other words, a “headlock,” with or without effective pressure or control. One report implied that Carlos’
gravata
had some effect, in that it left Rufino Santos “groggy.” Only Rufino Santos knew how effective the technique was. But it is clear that Carlos was not able to apply his
gravata
until Rufino Santos voluntarily, if unwisely, let down his defense in the third round.

Despite winning the fight, Rufino Santos
’ performance was not much better, especially in view of his vast advantage over Gracie in ring experience.According to one source, Rufino Santos’ record was 73 wins and and one loss, by decision, in the USA alone.
47

The final decision was that Santos Rufino won the fight
because Carlos Gracie left the ring and refused to return. Rufino Santos won, Carlos lost. It was neither impressive nor satisfying, but with the possible exception of Carlos himself, it was a decision that was undisputed by anyone, including his brother George.

If Rufino Santos had left it at that, three of the
Gracie brothers probably wouldn’t have had to cool their heels in jail for a week in 1932, not to mention the time and money wasted in their effort (successful, it turned out) to avoid going to prison. But he didn’t. His personal dislike for Carlos wouldn’t let him.

The Rufino Santos versus Gracie fight was a bomb, but the other fights were apparently at least acceptable. Manoel Lima
defeated Adam Mayer [Longmayer] in the second round, with a “Nelson”. Jayme Ferreira defeated Benjamin Constant Azevedo in the first round with a “half-nelson”. Tavares Crespo and Alcino Pacheco drew.

In the best segment of the program [
melhor parte da noitada
] Joe Assobrab “proved his magnificent qualities as a boxer” in his matches with Antomnio Portugal, Crespito, and Mario Francisco.
48

Second-Rate

Carlos’ former friend, employer, and jiu-jitsu instructor Donato Pires dos Reis was asked to analyze the fight: Donato Pires was “a true practitioner of jiu-jitsu, who has a diploma from Conde Koma”.
49

Even before the fight, he didn
’t think much of Carlos’s chances. In his judgement “the jiu-jitsu fighters in Brazil today can’t be considered even second-class”.
50

Donato believed that Rufino Santos won due to his domination of the first two rounds, and also due to Carlos
’ illegal tactics in the third round. Donato praised Rufino:”Very good. A classical luta livre fighter. He applied his techniques with precision and tightness” [“
Muito boa…um lutador classico da luta livre. Aplica os golpes com perfe
i
ç
ã
o e segura
nç
a
”].

But for Carlos, Donato could not spare even faint praise.
“There aren’t even second-rate jiu-jitsu fighters in Brazil”
he reiterated, alluding to Carlos [
“No Brasil
nã
o existem lutadores de jiu-jitsu nem de segunda classe”
].

Assessing Carlos more frankly, he commented,
“He uses force and nothing more. His knowledge is rudimentary. He was unable at any time to apply any technique on Rufino Santos” [“…
um esfo
rç
ada e nada mais. Seus conhecimentos
sã
o rudimentares,
nã
o tendo em nenhum momento, conseguido impo-los ao adversario
”].

Donato also cast doubt on Carlos
’ claim that he had learned from Conde Koma: “Something that surprises me is how easy it is for unscrupulous people to claim to have studied with Conde Koma”
51

There was
probably only one person in Brazil who was in a better position than Donato Pires to offer an opinion about the quantity and quality of Carlos’ training with Conde Koma. That personwas Conde Koma himself, then living in peaceful semi-retirement in Be
lé
m. If Carlos asked Conde Koma to speak up for him, it is unknown what he said.

Donato agreed with some other o
bservers that the referee’s indecisiveness was the problem and blamed him for not being more authoritative. Only a rematch would clear things up, they suggested.
52