Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (54 page)

According to Joe’s manager Billy McCarney, the champion had received an offer to fight the old “Bull of the Pampas” Luis Angel Firpo, the crude but powerful brawler who nearly dethroned
Jack Dempsey on July 12, 1923.
29
McCarney turned it down, not because he was afraid of the over-the-hill Firpo, but because the money was too little, and the guarantee too shaky. At the end of February Joe would be in Brazil. He would box exhibitions in Rio, promoted by Paschoal Segreto, and in São Paulo promoted by Jacob Nahum’s Empresa Internacional de Pugilismo. He would then proceed to Port au Prince and Caracas during the first week of March, then probably fight in Havana on March 12 and finally arrive in New York on the 15
th
. Joe had a meeting scheduled with the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning his taxes (which was the reason he was touring South America), and consequently had to turn down offers to appear in Barota, Cali, Montevideo, Barroquilla, and Guatemala.
30

Joe Louis stayed in the news, having left a magnificent impression in a demonstration with Arthuro Godoy in
Santiago, Chile.
31
Joe Louis feared no man in a boxing ring, but he was out of his element when it came to accountants and lawyers. He returned to the United States to keep his appointment with the IRS.

The opportunity could hardly have escaped the notice of Carlos Gracie and his kid brother Helio. Perhaps he thought that Joe needed money. If so, he was correct. But he was certainly far off-base about how much. The 16,000
US$ that Helio offered wouldn’t have put a dent in Joe’s tax bill. It was also a drop in the bucket compared to what Joe had donated to the Army and Navy relief Funds in 1942 in two title defenses (against Buddy Baer and Abe Simon).

Possibly Carlo’s and Helio’s grasp of the champion’s motivations and finances was
fuzzy enough that they believed that 16,000 US$ would tempt him, assuming that the offer was sincere. While unlikely, it was conceivable. But it didn’t matter. Publicity was the objective. In 1950 Helio was equally happy to get press attention by presenting Joe with a trophy, rather than a challenge.

The headline on page 10 of the
Friday June 6, 1947 edition of
A Noite
proclaimed “
Helio Gracie oferece 16 mil dolares para luitar com Joe Louis
!! [“Helio Gracie offers 16, 000 dollars to fight Joe Louis!”]. “I will give Joe Louis 16,000 $ to fight me” Helio promised [“
Darei 16,000 dolares a Joe Louis para lutar comigo
”].

He was confident that jiu-jitsu was superior to boxing [“
O jiu-jits
ué
superior ao box
”]. Helio Gracie was qualified to act as self-appointed representative of jiu-jitsu because, according to the article, Helio was the only Brazilian with a title conferred by a Japanese academy [
o unico brasileiro que possui titulo concedido por uma academia japonesa
].
32

The article mentioned that some time previously the Brazilian edition of
Readers’ Digest
published an article about a boxer who defeated a jiu-jitsu master. The article compelled Helio to rise up righteously in defense of jiu-jitsu.
33
He offered to fight five boxers of any nationality, with or without gloves. Three years later he challenged Joe Louis.

The Brazilian champion clarified th
at he had no doubt that a boxer could never defeat a practitioner of jiu-jitsu. Both arts have the same object, which is self-defense, but jiu-jitsu has a greater array of resources and is more efficient. Helio elaborated that he would face the American boxer under any conditions. Joe could box or grapple, Helio would only rely on his jiu-jitsu.

Helio concluded by saying that although it might seem absurd or pretentious, he was certain that he would defeat Joe Louis despite his advantage of weight and punching power [
“
Embora passa parecer absurdo ou pretensao da minha parte tenho tanta certeza de que vencerei Joe Louis que alem das vantagens
”].

Helio capped it off by saying that he insisted that Joe fight him during the current year when he (Joe) was at the height of his powers (he didn’t want to fight an “over the hill” Joe Louis). The photo caption explained that Helio Gracie was not afraid of the devastating punches of Joe Louis [
não teme os murros demolidores de Joe Louis
].
34

Possibly Helio’s victory in 1932 over Antonio Portugal led him to imagine that he could duplic
ate the deed against Joe Louis.

But as Brazilian journalists pointed out, there was a big difference between lightweight, powder-punching Antonio Portugal, who had lost more fights than he won, and the fearsome Joe Louis, considered the greatest boxer of all time [
o maior pugilista de todos os tempos
].

While Helio continued waiting for the American boxer to respond, he explained more specifically why he believed that he would defeat Joe Louis. Boxing was too limited, he explained. Legitimate targets were above the waist, the liver, stomach, spleen, and trunk, and of course the face. But jiu-jitsu had chokes, armlocks, kidney
-locks, and leglocks. Helio believed that Joe Louis was afraid that jiu-jitsu would be shown to be a better form of self-defense than boxing [“
Joe Louis tem receio de que o jiu-jitsu desmoralise as possibilidades de box como arma de defesa pessoal
”].
35

Joe was back in
America with bigger problems on his mind. He didn’t have time for Helio Gracie and his challenge. That didn’t dissuade Helio Gracie from continuing to challenge him however. Later, in 1950, when Joe was back in Brazil, he challenged Helio to a boxing match.

Helio did not respond to Joe Louis’ challenge.
36

***

On July 6, 1947, Godofredo and Braz met in a preliminary match to the Antonio Rocca versus the Syrio-Lebanese representative Nohra main event at Pacaembu (the show also featured Homem Montanha, Oliguivel, King-Kong, Gigante de Memel, and others). Braz won by choke in the fourth round .
37

Temporada

The Temporada de Catch-as-Catch-Can in Rio began Saturday November 22 at a new stadium, constructed to replace the now defunct Estadio Brasil. It was conveniently located near the city center on avenida Beira Mar, near the airport. It was the Palacio Metropolitiano de Esportes (or simply, Palacio Metropolitano; some papers referred to it as Pavilhão Metropolitano).
38
Contained within the “season” [
temporada
] was a tournament, called the Torneio General Angelo Mendes de Morais.

The first day was
planned as fund raiser for the charity
Obra de Assistencia ao Filho do Tuberculoso
(for children with tuberculosis). Various internationally famous wrestlers were lined up to appear, such as three time world luta livre champion Antonio Rocca, Chilean champion Ming, former South American weightlifting champion Aldo Bogni, South American luta livre champion Ramon Cernadas, Homem Montanha, Juan Olaguivel, King Kong, among others to be named later.
39

Takeo Yano was one of those, representing the Japanese science of jiu-jitsu. Yano joined the troupe, if “cast” isn’t a better term, in July of 1948.
40
Some fighters were under contract to Empresa Metropolitano de Esportes, which promoted the tournament. Others were free agents. Yano had a contract and could expect to stay busy.
41

.
Chapter 24 Notes

Chapter 25

1948

Nick Policeman made his debut Saturday January 17 at Pacaembu against Yerkos Strika. Also making their debuts that evening were Z
byiscko Junior from North America, and Rene Adorée, from France. Adorée’s nickname was “Carpentier da luta livre” implying that he was as good at his own game or as famous in his home country of France, as George Carpentier. Carpentier was also a champion savateur, and was world-famous thanks to his fight of the century with Jack Dempsey. Being compared to George Carpentier was high praise. In this case, it probably simply meant that Adorée was French.
1

Nick Policeman,Yerkos Strika, Rene Adorée, and Zb
yiscko Junior would soon find themselves in the ring with jiu-jitsu representative Takeo Yano.

On
Sunday February 1, 1948, Takeo Yano was scheduled to meet Pablo Aldecoa at Pacaembu, in the fifth of seven fights presented that evening. It was to be a five round (of 5 minutes) luta livre match. The main event was Nick Policeman versus Ramon Cernadas, from Argentina. Nick was described as yet undefeated [
até este momento sem nenhuma derrota
], indicating that he beat Strika on January 17.
2

Yerkos Strika had been a champion in his own country of
Yugoslavia. He had fought many champions of many other countries. He was both heavy and agile [
de bastante peso e não pouca agilidade
]. Everything considered, he was an ideal opponent for Takeo Yano.
3

They were scheduled to meet on
Saturday February 15, 1948, in a four round (of 5 minutes) luta livre match. It was the semi-final to the Antonio Rocca versus Nick Policeman main event.
4

Suspension of Disbelief

On January 29, 1948 The Federação Metropolitana de Pugilismo approved a slate of amateur luta livre, boxing, and jiu-jitsu competitions for the year. Two jiu-jitsu campeonatos were included, in May, the Jiu-jitsu Campeonato Aberto, and in September the Campeonato Metropolitano.
5

Most fans approached catch with what the poet Coleridge called a “willing suspension of disbelief.” But not everyone was a fan.

The Portuguese boxer Antonio Soares commented in an interview that the luta livre fights being presented at Pacaembu were farcical [“
tudo aquilo não passa de uma farsa
”].

In response Yano challenged him to a fight without limit of rounds, with or without gloves, with all of the proceeds going to impecunious victims of tuberculosis [
tuberculosos pobres
].
6

Empresa Sul Americana periodically offered afternoon shows as benefits for poor people with tuberculosis. It was self-serving, of course, but did genuinely help people who needed it. Soares was in effect being asked to donate his time to an admittedly worthy cause. But his cost-to-benefit calculations were not the same as those of the under-contact catchers, including Yano, who had nothing to lose and only good-will to gain. Soares actually had something to lose. He could have countered by offering to charge people to watch him spar and then give the money to charity.

Yano didn’t explain the relevance of his challenge. Soares said the fights were phony, not that Yano was. Soares might have been one of the many boxers who were repelled by the clownishness of the professional wrestling milieu. Boxers weren’t the only ones. Some jiu-jitsu fighters wanted no part of what professional fighting (other than boxing of course) had evolved (or devolved) into. Helio Gracie was one of them.

Nick Policeman was North American. He was also known as Kid Policeman, suggesting that he might have been young. He was described as the Killer of Dilinger [
matador de Dilinger
], apparently referring to the North American bank robber. Perhaps he really was or had been a police officer (but John Dilinger was killed on July 22, 1934.
7
If Nick had been involved, he would then have a bit old to be called “Kid” in 1948). He might have been legitimate wrestler, but statistically that was unlikely. The one thing we can be sure of is that he was big and probably “agile,” and that he understood the rules of the game he was playing.

Nick and Yano were scheduled to measure forces Wednesday February 18 at Pacaembu. It was the main event, a vale tudo luta livre that was expected to be one of the most active [
mais movimento
] and enjoyable. Nick had beaten Antonio Rocca at that point and was sure to put Yano to a tough test, sports writers believed.
8

Takeo Yano confronted three
-time world luta livre champion Antonio Rocca of Italy on Saturday February 21, 1948 in a vale tudo match of six 6-minute rounds at Pacaembu.
9

On Wednesday March 3 Takeo Yano encountered South American luta livre champion Ramon Cernadas, from
Argentina. Also on the card was Brutus Galento, the 140 kilo brother of American boxer Tony “Two-Ton” Galento who unsuccessfully challenged Joe Louis. Brutus’ wrestling opponent was the North American Zbyscko Junior.
10

On Saturday March 6, at Pacaembu, Takeo Yano was set to meet Rene Adorée in the semi-final to the main event, p
itting Antonio Rocca against Brutus Galento.
11

On Wednesday March 10, Takeo Yano met Zbys
cko Junior at Pacaembu in the semi-final to the Antonio Rocca versus Brutus Galento main event. The main event was a “
revanche
”, indicating that Rocca and Galento’s January 6 meeting was either crowd pleasing or controversial, or both.
12

On March 14 Tak
eo Yano Met the Spanish giant Roberto Colladao for the third time (at least) since 1946. The place was Pacaembu. The time was Sunday March 14, 1948. The main event was Antonio Rocca versus Nick Policeman.
13

Basilio Caduc made his first appearances in
Rio rings in July of 1941, facing Peçanha on July 20, Henry Piers of Holland on July 22, and Franc. [
sic
] Marconi of Italy on July 24, all at Estadio Brasil.
14
He returned after the war, confronting Homem Montanha at Pacaembu in October of 1946. He continued fighting in 1947. On Wednesday March 17, Caduc had an appointment with Takeo Yano a four-round semi-final luta livre match at Pacaembu.
15

Roberto Ruhmann was a dinosaur, or a survivor, if one prefers. He had participated in some of the most controversial fights in Brazilian ring history. He had fought some of the best, including Geo Omori, Naoiti Ono (Oninho), and George and Oswaldo Gracie. He began in 1931. In 1948 he was still at it. If he did not fight regularly, at least he was ready for one more fight.
16
On Saturday March 20, 1948 he made a “reappearance” in the ring against Yerkos Strika at Pacaembu in a tournament named after the politician Adhemar de Barros, who coincidentally was a fight fan. He had been a student of Gastão Gracie Jr. in 1937 when he was still a member of parliament.
17

In May George signed a contract with Empresa Metropolitana de Esportes to fight the enormous, violent, and powerful Basque-Spaniard Pedro Juan Olaguivel, in São Paulo.
18

George did not fight until October 1948, in
Rio. It was not against the giant catcher Olaguivel but rather against a jiu-jitsu stylist named Oka. He fought once more that we know of for Empresa Metropolitana de Esportes. That was a jiu-jitsu match with Takeo Yano. It appears that George was dedicating his professional energies to the managerial side of the business. He was the director [“
orientador
”] of the Empresa Metropolitana de Esportes family of wrestlers. Although he had harshly rebuked Renato Gardini for his methods of “orientation” in 1940, it appears that George found them to be appropriate to his needs in 1948.

Introduction to Jiu-Jitsu

In May of 1948 Carlos Gracie published his magnum opus
Introdução ao Jiu-Jitsu
. It was edited by Henrique Pongetti, who also contributed a preface. According to Pongetti, Carlos and Helio had defeated champions of luta livre, capoeiragem, and boxing, and even defeated the Japanese masters at their own game.
19

Pongetti was misinformed. As previous chapters had shown, Carlos lost the one and only public professional fight that he had, to Manoel Rufino dos
Santos. Helio did defeat two of the five jiu-jitsu representatives he faced but they (Miyaki and Massagoichi) were far from masters. Members of the Japanese jiu-jitsu community expressed definite doubts about their qualifications.
20
He drew with Yano and was dominated by Namiki and Ono. He showed that he could survive with Japanese masters, but that is not quite the same as defeating them.

The book was briefly reviewed by Raul de Azevedo.
21
According to Azevedo, all of the techniques taught by the Gracie Brothers at their academy were in the book. The book explained the rules of jiu-jitsu used in Japan, and the benefits of jiu-jitsu training. Azevedo may not have read the book carefully. The book contained no information about the techniques of jiu-jitsu. Indeed, there was nothing about jiu-jitsu. Rather it was devoted to Carlos Gracie’s opinions about self-knowledge, mental and physical health, alcohol, and smoking.
22
As Carlos Gracie had no training in any of those subjects, his teachings were merely his personal opinions. Not many people cared enough about what Carlos Gracie thought to want to buy the book.
23

Radio Guanabara

Catch wrestling proved to be so popular that people enjoyed listening to it as well as watching. Radio Guanabara broadcast all of the matches of the Campeonato Mundial de Luta Livre from the Palacio Metropolitano des Esports, with live action reportage by Luiz Brandão.
24

In July
Yano, Douglas, Aldecoa, Hercules, and other heavyweight wrestlers were in Londrina, a small city (population about 70,000) in the state of Paranã. They planned to present an afternoon of luta livre on Sunday July 25, beginning at 2 p.m. There would be three amateur contests and two professional contests. The show was to be held at Pavilhão Di Lauro on rua Minas Gerais, just in front of Estação Rodoviaria. Prices ranged from 30
cruzeiros
for reserved box seats [
cadeiras numeradas
] to 12
cruzeiros
for general admission.
25

On Saturday July 31, 1948 Takeo Yano was scheduled to climb into the “quadrilateral” with Jose Santos Cardoso, more popularly known by the ring name of “Kid 1” (there was also a “Kid 2”). It was a luta livre contest at Palacio Metropolitiano.
26

Jeitinhos

The Departmento Technico da Federação Metropolitana de Pugilismo was made up of Altamiro Cunha, R. A. A. Coutinho, and J. Ernesto Rodrigues.
27
The Departmento Technico published the results of its meeting on July 26. It approved a fight, penalized a fighter (by the ring name of Tony Barbeta) for “irregularities”, and took other actions within its purview of authority. It approved the contracts between certain fighters and two organizations, Empresa de Diversões Publicas, and Empresa Metropolitana de Esportes.
28

Wanka (whose real name was Nicholas Goth) was fined 200
cruzeiros
for using illegal techniques in a recent match, which resulted in his disqualification. The Departmento Technico also approved contracts between Empresa Metropolitana de Esportes and three fighters, namely Carlos Aurichio, Stephano Zickuck, and Takeo Yano. Yano had to get permission from the Federação Paulista de Pugilismo to work in Rio, and the Departamento Technico da Federação Metropolitana de Pugilismo in Rio had to approve his transfer.
29

It was complicated but
Brazil has always been a highly bureaucratized society.
30
That is part of the reason why ordinary Brazilians have worked out so many “little ways”, or “
jeitinhos
” to circumvent the bureaucracy, or to “mediate between the personal and the impersonal to solve problems”.
31
But some problems can’t be completely solved with
jeitinhos
, and that fact played a major role in the development of jiu-jitsu during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, as will be discussed in Volume 2.

Pro wrestling went on.
Takeo Yano had a series of encounters with Juan Kostolias. The first took place on Tuesday August 31, 1948, at Palacio Metropolitano.
32

While the press was speculating about the upcoming Yano versus Kostolias rematch, former heavyweight world boxing champion Primo Carnera (who had started as a pro wrestler) was preparing to climb back into the pro wrestling ring. The place was Estadio Carioca in
Rio. The time was September 9, 1948. Carnera’s opponent was the Basque Pablo Aldecoa. Also on the bill were Mister America versus Wy-Lo Kong, from China, and MacArthur from Ireland against Martim Karadagian, who was from either Armenia or Argentina, or both.
33

Karadagian was one of the pro-wrestlers from this era (others were King Kong and Passarito) who fought legitimate vale tudo fights with Carlson Gracie during the next decade. Like Helio Gracie, Karadagian made a habit of challenging boxing champions. Primo Carnera wasn’t the only champion Karadagian challenged. He also challenged Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali.
34
As far as we know, neither Clay nor Ali ever responded to Karadagian’s challenge.