Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (27 page)

Despite his inability to beat Omori, one writer called Ebert “the best fighter to step into a ring in
Brazil”.
119
Carlos Gracie lost no time in challenging Ebert on behalf of his brother Helio.

Could Helio Gracie, in his
second professional fight, accomplish what Omori couldn’t? Carlos Gracie thought he could. Others were sure he couldn’t.

Ebert versus Helio Gracie was set for October 23. As usual, it would a fight to the finish, determined by “give up” or KO, with no time limit [
O combate deverá ser sem numero rounds fixado…desistencia ou inconsciencia
]. Techniques of “real luta livre” [
golpes da verdadeiro luta livre
], such as head-butt, shoulder pins, and others, were prohibited. It would be “winner-take-all” [
bolsa ao vencedor
].
120

The publicity machine went into high gear, sometimes in indirect ways. Irineu Maghres, a young Gracie student, perhaps acting on his own initiative, but more likely at the prompting of Carlos Gracie, accused Roberto Ruhmann of proposing a fixed fight, but with an agreement to draw, in order to have a tie-breaker [“
propoz um empate para haver, dias depois, um desempate
”].

But Irineu boldly declared that despite being the newest student at the
Gracie Academy, he was ready to confront the Jewish athelete (Ruhmann) and was certain that he would defeat him.
121

Ebert was new in town. He had never heard of the Gracies [“
não conheço os Gracie
”], he said. But he had heard Carlos’ grandiose claims on behalf of his young brother Helio, veteran of one amateur and one professional fight (Antonio Portugal and Takashi Namiki, respectively). Carlos asserted that Helio would defeat Ebert easily, even without a kimono and that Ebert woudn’t last two rounds. “He must be a phenomenon!” Ebert commented sarcastically.
122

Carlos also accused Ebert and Omori of having “worked” their fight. It was not an outlandish accusation and it wasn’t the first or last time Omori would be accused of fixing fights, nor was he the only one, far from it. In fact, no one was immune to this accusation.

Indeed some fights, perhaps many fights, actually were fixed. But in 1932, it had not yet become endemic.
123

The catch wrestlers did not necessarily need to work fights. They simply needed to avoid losing. If no one lost, there would be no winner
to “take-all.” Everyone could get paid without extreme fear that the Commission of Boxing would withhold the purses of both fighters (although that strategy was never fool-proof).

Ambush

Manoel Rufino dos Santos’ rivalry with Carlos Gracie was beginning to show signs of spiraling out of control. Perhaps Rufino had not read the reports of the January 14 attack on João Baldi. Perhaps he did not appreciate how effective his needling was in getting under Carlos Gracie’s skin. He would find out the hard way.

On Tuesday October 18,
Diario de Noticias
published a letter written by Manoel Rufino in which he posed 13 questions (actually, 15) for Carlos Gracie.

Among other questions, he asked why did Mr. Gracie [sr. Gracie] ask for a clause prohibiting Rufino from banging Carlos’head on the ground more than once? Why did Mr. Gracie insist on a rest between rounds, when Rufino wanted to fight until there was a winner? Why wouldn’t Mr. Gracie accept rounds of 20 minutes? Why wouldn’t Mr. Gracie accept rounds of 10 minutes? Why did Mr. Gracie ridiculously insist on 3
-minute rounds? Why did Mr. Gracie finally accept 5-minute rounds only at the insistence of the editor of
A Noite
? Why didn’t Mr. Gracie apply one of his 42 choke techniques [
golpes de pescoço
] as he had promised? Why did Mr. Gracie request to Dr. Renato Pacheco a month later that the fight be annulled? Why didn’t Mr. Gracie accept the challenge thrown down by Rufino’s student Manoel Lima? Why didn’t Mr. Gracie continue the fight when the referee ordered him to? It was because he was afraid, wasn’t it? [“
porque ficou com medo, não foi
?”] Why doesn’t Mr. Gracie accept the insistent challenges of Roberto Ruhmann? Why did Mr. Gracie challenge Ebert on behalf of his youngest brother (Helio) instead of fighting himself? It was because he didn’t want to risk his own skin, wasn’t it? [“
Porque tem medo de arriscar a pelle, não é
?”].

Rufino Santos wrapped up his lists of “questions” by saying that “Mr. Gracie knows nothing about luta livre” [“
o senhor não sabe nada de luta livre
”]. He also promised that if Carlos or any of his brothers could manage a draw with Ebert, he would consider the North American champion “defeated” [“
se o sr. ou qualquer irmão seu conseguir empatar com Fred Ebert, considerarei o americano derrotado
”].

The letter was specifically addressed to Carlos Gracie and mentioned Helio, George, and Oswaldo only as “any of the brothers” and in the context of their challenge to Ebert.

Later that evening, at 10:00 p.m., outside of the Tijuca Tennis Club.on rua Conde de Bonfim a Carlos, Helio, George, and Oswaldo waited in a car for Rufino Santos to arrive. When he did, three of the brothers ambushed him (Oswaldo remained in the car). In a reprise of the João Baldi incident in January, they used a “steel box” [“
box de ferro
”].

Unlike the João Baldi incident in January, reports this time were consistent, varying only in the amount of detail they included.

According to
Diario de Noticias
, on the evening of October 18, Tuesday, one or more anonymous persons telephoned the Tijuca Tennis Club several times and asked what time Professor Maneol Rufino dos Santos would arrive. When he did, At 20:30, a dark limousine was parked 20 meters from the entrance of the club. Several people called his name.

Helio was the first to attack, hitting Rufino’s head with the “steel box”
.

Taken by surprise by “the cowardly blow” Rufino staggered and fell where he was set upon by Helio, George, and Carlos with kicks and more blows from the box, which left him unable to effectively defend himself. After a while people came out from the Tenis Club and saw what was happening. The Gracies then broke off their attack and sped away in their limousine leaving Rufino bleeding on the street. Rufino was taken to the hospital, and then home. The police began criminal proceedings against the brothers.

The writer recalled that the brothers had conducted two almost identical attacks before. The first was on their former jiu-jitsu instructor Donato Pires dos Reis in front of the America Hotel, in Catete at 16:30 (he did not mention the date). Donato was attacked by Helio and George. The next victim was João Baldi. It is curious to note, the writer remarked, that in each case a “steel box”was used. [“
Em todas as aggressõe
s―
e curioso a nota
r―
o ‘box’ de ferro foi utilizado
”].
124

Diario da Noit
e wrote that “The Gracie brothers reunited to fight with the gymnastics teacher Manoel Rufino dos Santos. The fight was unequal and left the one who fought alone seriously injured. The fight was free, very free. There was no referee, no rules, and no honor on the part of the well-known jiu-jitsu professionals. The police didn’t approve of the method used by the Gracies and began proceeding s to prosecute them

It took three Gracies to defeat
Rufino and even then not without difficulty and a weapon. After a while Rufino faded and dropped. The Gracies continued their attack. Members of the Tijuca Tennis Club and passers-by witnessed the attack and recognized the assailants, who fled the scene. Rufino was taken by car to Posto Central de Assistencia, where he received treatment for severe injuries.
125

A Noite
reported that on the night of October 18, the three brothers, residents of rua Marquez de Abrantes 106, phoned the Tijuca Tennis Club asking when Rufino would arrive. They waited for him in a car. When he approached the entrance to the club, at 10:00 p.m., they surrounded him and initiated their attack. Helio wielded the box. All were charged with article 304 of the penal code. George and Helio were also charged according to paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 7, 13 of article 39, and paragraph 2 of article 41. The public prosecutor (
auxiliary de justiça pelo offendido
) was Dr. Claudiono Victor do Espirito Santo Junior. The Gracies’ lawyer [
avogado dos denunciados
] was Dr. João Romeiro Netto. The report explained that “after a festering dispute concerning questions of ‘sport,’ the brothers decided to resort to violence” [“r
esolveram os accusados levar a effeito uma aggressão como desforço
”].

Their decision to resort to street crime rather than sport was unquestionably triggered by Rufino’s letter in
Diario de Noticias,
the report commented.
126

The attack may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But when the police came to get them they realized that it was time for lawyers and public relations. Both were subjects that Carlos Gracie was familiar with.

The brothers (or Carlos) composed a letter defending themselves and mailed it to
A Noite
. According to the letter, they were merely defending the family honor because Rufino Santos had criticized them. Moreover, no one saw them do it because it was dark, it was raining, and the location was secluded. In fact, they didn’t even attack Rufino and even if they had, they wouldn’t need three Gracies or even two. When circumstances permitted, they would prove their innocence.
127

It was an almost childish attempt to avoid the consequences of their actions.
Carlos Gracie had overestimated the power of his persuasive skills. The legal system was not impressed. Rufino’s letter was entered into evidence. It was officially document number 25. It was obvious that Rufino Santos was criticizing Carlos rather than the family. Additionally, his criticisms were not slanders, but rather facts. Carlos felt insulted by them, which was obviously Rufino’s intention, but they were nevertheless facts. And despite the time of night and weather and locations, there were numerous witnesses. The Brothers had their backs against the wall. They seemed to realize that ganging up on a rival, using a “steel box,” wouldn’t work this time. They did the intelligent thing and hired a lawyer.

The matter did not go to trial until 1933, but possibly due to complications surrounding the incident, the Fred Ebert versus Helio Gracie fight was postponed to November 5. (The outcome of the case will be described in the next chapter.)

Gracie versus “Catch”

Helio was 19 year old “
menino”
[boy] with a total ring record of one victory in two fights, going up against an “authentic luta livre champion” [
authentico campãeo da luta livre
]. That didn’t bother him. Helio reiterated Carlos’ prediction that Ebert would not last two rounds.
128
Despite his limited record, Helio was described as “a master of the Brazilian rings” [
um mestre dos rings brasileiros
]. Helio’s confidence was more impressive when we remember that he would not have the kimono to “equalize” Ebert’s advantage in weight.

The fight was held at São Christivão Athletic Club (SCAC) on
Saturday November 5, 1932. It was fight with no limit of rounds, no kimono, and no points. And no striking.

There would be three other luta livre fights: Dudú versus Kid Walker, six 10
-minute rounds; Manoel Fernandes versus Laurindo Armando; and Tavares Crespo versus Manoel Parada, six 5-minute rounds.

The fight was considered a boring flop.
Correio da Manha
simply reported that “Fred Ebert drew with Gracie. There was no winner”.
129

A Noite
reported that the fight didn’t end, but instead, the police suspended it after 110 minutes [
O combate Helio Gracie x Fred Ebert não terminou. A policia suspendeu-o depois de 110 minutos de luta
].

The preliminaries also did not offer much exctitement. Tavares Crespo and Manoel Parada drew, Dudú defeated Kid Walker, and Manoel Fernandes defeated Antonio Rocque Filho, both by “
desistencia
” [give up]. Geo Omori gave a demonstration of throws with the aid of Dudú.
130

Diario de Noticias
provided more details about the fight. Ebert was the first to enter the ring. Both fighters appeared calm. Twice Ebert tried to throw Gracie out of the ring, but Helio grabbed the ropes to avoid that. Ebert fell out through the momentum of his own throw, but he immediately climbed back in eager to continue the fight.

The fight was not exciting [
não empolgou
]. There were too many limitations on the techniques that could be used. If the international rules of luta livre had been strictly followed, the public without doubt would have seen a more stimulating fight. Ebert would have attacked with
cuteladas
[chops],
joelhadas
[knee strikes], and
cotoveladas
[elbow strikes]. These were prohibited. Ebert’s big mistake was agreeing to that restriction. One time, Ebert applied a simultaneous
tesoura ao pescoço
[neck lock applied with the legs] with a
chave de pé
[footlock]. It seemed that Gracie would be finished. But sweat allowed the Brazilian to escape. Helio initiated his own attacks. He displayed audacity, bravery, agility, and calmness. Twice Gracie attempted his favorite‘armlock’ but Ebert easily nullified them.