Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (35 page)

According to
O Paiz
, the fight was short but intense [
curta mas intensa
]. The action started with Zbyszko easily taking George to the ground with himself on top. George calmly tried to repel him with his legs but Zbyszko was too heavy. Zbyszko went for an armlock [
chave de braço
] which George avoided. Zbyszko grabbed George’s elbow and lifted it to twist it. George skillfully unbalanced him [
habilmente desequilbrou-o e Zbyszko voltou a cair sobre elle
] but Zbyszko returned to his previous position. He managed to bend George’s arm, forcing him to give up.
114

Gazeta de Noticias
was less impressed with the George versus Zbyszko fight, describing it as “absurd and monotonous” [
luta absurda e monotona
]. It was no surprise that Zbyszko won, because this time he fought for real, unlike in his previous fights, especially with Helio Gracie, the cynical reporter wrote.
115
A Federação
and
Diario Carioca
reported that George held out for 10 minutes,
Diario de Noticias
thought that it was 2 minutes less [
George Gracie desistiu aos 8 minutos do 1.º round
] but both agreed that the end came with a violent armlock [
violento chave de braço
].

George did not make excuses. He had never trained as hard as for this fight, he said. He was in excellent shape. But Zbyszko was too big. When he inserted grips for an armlock, he was too heavy to disengage from. For anyone of my weight to fight Zbyszko without a kimono, is suicide, George declared.
116

Despite
Diario de Noticias
’ suspicions, there was no evidence that Zbyszko “worked” his fight with Helio Gracie. The results of both fights were consistent with the conditions of the fights (kimono versus no kimono), the Gracie brothers’ different strategies (defensive versus aggressive), and probably the fact that Zbyszko modified his strategy after the first fight. Interestingly, the
O Paiz
report indicates that Zbyszko was in George’s guard throughout and applied the fatal armlock from that position.

Porto Alegre
 

Oswaldo Gracie and a
Gracie Academy student named Olyntho Miranda Netto, also known by the nickname of “Barata,” went to Porto Alegre in Barata’s home state (he was from a
familia gaucha
) of Rio Grannde do Sul in September to spread jiu-jitsu. Their first order of business was to visit the offices of the local newspaper
A Federação
.

Oswaldo informed reporters that he and his brothers Carlos, George, and Helio had never lost a fight [
Nunca formam derrotados! Nunca perderam
!]. They had competed not only in jiu-jitsu but also in luta livre and had defeated capoeiragem masters. He mentioned that his brother Helio in only his fourth professional fight, had confronted Wladeck Zbyszko, veteran of 2,000 fights over a twenty-year career. Yet Zbyszko wasn’t able to beat Helio.

In 1931, the Gracie brothers introduced jiu-jitsu to
Rio, Oswaldo said. There, in Rio, they proceeded to face representatives of every martial art, of every race and color, white, black, red, and yellow. The Gracie brothers vanquished all of them. Brazilian blood and intelligence triumphed over everyone who stood in their path [
O sangue brasileiro e a intelligencia triumpharam em toda linha
].

Even the Japanese masters of jiu-jitsu bowed before the supremacy of the Gracie Brothers, Oswaldo asserted.
117

Oswaldo may have forgotten that Donato Pires dos Reis had established the first jiu-jitsu academy in
Rio in 1930 and that two of his first students were Carlos and George Gracie. Perhaps he was unaware that Mario Aleixo had been teaching jiu-jitsu in Rio since 1913 or earlier, and that Sada Miyako and Conde Koma had introduced the Japanese game to Rio in 1909 and 1915, respectively. It was surprising given that Oswaldo and his brothers had studied with Conde Koma for several years in Pará. Or so he claimed.

On Saturday October 8, Oswaldo gave a demonstration at the Porto Algre branch of the Associação Christa do Moç
os (ACM), at rua Pantaleao Telles, n. 1070, next to avenida Borges do Medeiros, accessible by street cars A and C. Oswaldo, with the assistance of Barata, revealed his vast knowledge of jiu-jitsu [
exhibiu com proficiencia os seus vastos conhecimentos no jiu-jitsu
]. They planned another demonstration in the near future, possibly at a boxing program at the Ampitheatro Alhambra on avenida João Pessoa.
118
They also planned to accept challenges from anyone who wanted to test them.
119

Another demonstration was planned for Wednesday October 17, especially for the “authorities,” but was postponed to Friday October 19. It began at
8:30 p.m. and was held at Club Excursionista e Esportivo on rua Marcilio Dias. Public exhibitions would probably begin Saturday October 20 at Ampitheatro Alhambra.
120

On Wednesday, A
CM hosted a “night of strong fights” [
noitada de luctas fortes
]. There would be two luta romana matches, two boxing matches and two “jiu-jitsu livre” [no-gi] matches. The jiu-jitsu competitors were amateurs, Olmiro de Oliveira versus Carlos Dias da Silva, and Sabino Binoto versus Clovis Braga, students of Waldemar Prins, who taught jiu-jitsu at the ACM. Oswaldo and Barata gave a demonstration of jiu-jitsu.

The public was invited to appraise the efficiency of the three styles.
121

The first public exhibition was held Saturday October 20 at Ampitheatro Alhambra.
122

The exhibitions hit a snag. The idea was to fight challengers. But as of October 23 no one had challenged them. A local fan suggested that Waldemar Prins and his students should challenge Oswaldo and Barata.
A Federação
thought it was a good idea.
123

Prins declined. The paper then suggested that Oswaldo and Barata fight representatives of the Circo Queirolo, currently in
Porto Alegre. Circo Queirlo had introduced Geo Omori to the public and had several other experienced jiu-jitsu fighters on staff, namely Simão Munich (Espingarda) and Othelo Queirolo (Chic-Chic), both of whom were willing to fight Oswaldo and Barata.
124

Oswaldo did not immediately leap at the offer. He explained that in
Rio it was customary that anyone who challenged the Gracies should fight Helio (the youngest) first and then if he won, George next, and so on up to Carlos, the oldest brother. So in the present case, the Circo Quierolo representative Chic-Chic should fight Oswaldo’s best student Miranda. If he won, he could fight Oswaldo [“
de ser vencedor, bater-se comigo
”].
125

Tibor Krausz, secr
etary of the Circo Queirolo, rejected Oswaldo’s idea, saying that it might make sense if Oswaldo were the world champion, but he wasn’t.

In fact, Oswaldo had already fought matches at Circo Quierolo in
São Paulo, won some, lost some, and drew some, contradicting Oswaldo’s claims that he had never lost. Oswaldo was depriving the public of seeing who was better, him or Munich. Miranda would lose for sure, if he fought Munich, Krausz said. He hoped for a prompt reply because the Circo Queirolo would be leaving Porto Alegre on November 11, 1934.
126

Oswaldo countered that that Espingarda and Chic-Chic were not professional jiu-jitsu fighters, but rather circus performers. He had nothing to prove by fighting them, he said. His student Miranda was perfectly capable of dispensing with them.

The discussion was cordial and Oswaldo and Circo Queirolo agreed to continue talking.
127

Agreement was reached by the next day. Barata would first meet Jose Santoro (another Circo Queirolo representative) on
November 8, 1934. If Barata won, he would face Espingarda, and if he beat Espingarda, he would then fight Chic-Chic. If Barata drew or lost any of the matches, Oswaldo would step in [
topar
] and meet any fighter that Circo Queirolo designated.
128

Meanwhile in Rio, Gracie protégé Jose Cayat was set to debut October 19 against João Peçanha at Estadio Brasil in a preliminary to the catch wrestling rematch between Al Pereira versus Conde Karol Nowina.
129
Cayat was described as the “number one” student of the Gracie Academy.
130

Back in
Porto Alegre the reason for Oswaldo and Miranda Netto’s visit and recent demonstrations became clear. They were planning to open a new academy on rua dos Andradas.
131

They continued with demonstrations. The next was at a boxing program
November 1, 1931 at Estadio Paysandu (Paolini versus Cabrera, Retomoza versus Maturino Osorio, and Polo Norte versus Galli).
132

Barata confronted and defeated Santoro by choke in the second round. (Alcides met Lourival in a 3
-round jiu-jitsu contest, which ended in a draw. Both of the Circo Queirolo athletes displayed excellent jiu-jitsu abilities.

Oswaldo worried that after beating Chic-Chic, Barata might be too tired to perform effectively against Espingarda. He therefore offered
to face Chic-Chic personally, next November 9, and let Barata meet Espingarda Saturday, November 10. Oswaldo evaluated Chic-Chic as the most technical of the Circo Queirolo jiu-jitsumen, but promised to finish him in the first round, or second at the latest. When he was asked, “you don’t think there is any possibility of losing?” [“
E não admitte a possibilidade de uma derrota
?”], Oswaldo confidently replied, “absolutely not, not even in a dream!” [“
Absolutamente. Nem em sonho
!”].
133

Gracie versus Circo Queirolo

Oswaldo faced Chic-Chic in Porto Alegre on November 10 as planned. It was an exciting fight [
a luta foi emplogante
] and Oswaldo won in the third round. Details were not provided. It was news, but not big news.
134

Boxing turned the tables on jiu-jitsu. Boxers Etcheverry and Maturino Osorio challenged Oswaldo and Barata. Oswaldo adopted a policy of silence but repeated his offer that he would pay 1,000
reis
to anyone who could last four rounds with him.
135

In
Rio, a rematch between Dudú and George was in the air. Gracie academy representative Ary Martini announced his desire to fight the winner [“
quer lutar com o vencedor do combate Dudú x George Gracie
”].
136
The fight was set for Saturday November 3, 1934. Inexplicably, George entered the ring but refused to fight. The three preliminary boxing matches went on without him.
137
George and Dudú never met again.

In November 1934, the Gracie’s reputation was tottering and fans had lined up on
either the Carlos + Helio side or the George side of the family(Oswaldo maintained a stance of neutrality, and Gas
tã
o Jr. stayed out of public squabbles). The Gracie’s prestige was suffering from recent loses and weak showings. Some people were not impressed with the way Helio maintained his “undefeated” record, and some suspected that the Zbyszko fight had been worked, reasoning that because George was better than Helio, and George lost to Zbyszko, Helio could only have avoided the same fate if the fight had been fixed.
138

Rematch

In Porto Alegre, it was announced that Oswaldo Gracie and Espingarda would be engaging in a rematch within the next few days. The previous fight had resulted in a draw
139
causing Gracie supporters to hope that Oswaldo would turn in a better performance this time around and hand the Circo Queirolo athlete a defeat.
140
It is unknown whether that match took place and if so whether Oswaldo redeemed himself.

Oswaldo and Barata had expanded into the fight promotion business. On
Saturday December 1, 1934, at Estadio Paysandu in Porto Alegre, Barata, weighing 60 kilos, faced Ricardo Cirne (73 kilos), also known as the Mountain Lion [
Leão de Serra
]; Barata’s student Jorge Saldanha met Brusque, and Oswaldo’s student Dante Carvalho met Rubens Alrindo.
141

Rio
 

The
1934 season in Rio wrapped up with Geo Omori facing off with his nemesis Manoel Fernandes for the third time. This time however, it was a 20-minute luta livre benefit exhibition match for the popular wrestler Justiniano Silva “o baroneza” (a frequent participant in the Zbyszko troupe events). There would be three other luta livre matches including Silva himself facing Adan [sic] Mayer.
142

Fans who had seen some of Omori’s recent fights might have wondered if there was much difference between the exhibition and the so-called fights. Like most of the older era luta romana and catch wrestlers, Omori was well into middle-age, viewed from a fighter’s perspective, and
some felt, due for a long rest.