Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (55 page)

The rematch was initially set for Saturday September 11, but due to bad weather, postponed to Tuesday September 14, again at Palacio Metropolitano. Both would wear kimonos,
35
which implies that in the first fight they did not. Yano won the fight, as the build-up for the third fight indicated.

Kostolias complained about the kimono that he wore in the second fight. It prevented him from escaping a “treacherous and dangerous technique” [
chave traiçoeira e perigosa
]
.
In the third match, he wanted no kimono, and no time limit. Yano agreed to Kostolias’ demands, but upped the stakes by insisting on a winner take all pay-off.

Takeo Yano defeated Kostolias in 3 minutes, confirming his previous victory.
36

Joe Louis planned to defend his title against the winner of the Joe Baksi versus Ezzard Charles fight, scheduled for
November 12, 1948 (it actually took place on December 10). Ezzard won. Joe retired on March 1, 1949, but still deep in debt to the IRS, made a comeback against Charles on September, 1950.
37
Joe lost and never paid off his debt to the IRS.
38
Helio Gracie had wanted to challenge Joe Louis while the “Bombardeiro de Detroit” was at the apogee of his career. Unfortunately it was much too late for that. Helio’s challenge, had Joe accepted, would have proved nothing. That is, of course, assuming that Helio had survived. Contrary to what Helio believed, jiu-jitsu representatives had been knocked out by boxers, and people have died in the ring.
39

On
Saturday September 25, 1948, Takeo Yano confronted Eugenio Jose Gonzalvez, better known as “Gorila” in the continuing Temporada Internacional de Luta Livre at Palacio Metropolitiano. Another jiu-jitsu representative, Carlos Pereira, was matched against Juan Kostolias. The main event was Alfio Baronti versus Helen Chaten.
40
The result is unknown but indicates clearly that Yano and George Gracie were not the only jiu-jitsu men who were willing to take part in professional wrestling.

Marmeladas

If not the public, at least some writers recognized that not all wrestling was legitimate, nor was all staged wrestling equally staged or staged with equal competence. There was also a difference between fights that were supposed to be real but were not, and those that were never intended to be real in the first place. These were called “
marmeladas
”. Both types of fight had their fans and fans generally preferred one over the other. Catch fans did not want to see wrestling that did not make a serious attempt to look real. Wrestlers were criticized for being too obvious. One writer, in an article titled “
A ‘Comedia’ do Carioca
”, mocked Karadagian, describing him not as a fighter [
lutador
] but rather a theatrical star [
vedette
], for accidentally winning a match that he was supposed to lose [
Karadagian venceu por engano
]. The insult to the fans was not so much that the fight was staged, but that it was so incompetently executed.
41

Fight like a Man

In October, Yano fought a trio of matches against Alfio Baronti in the Temporada Internacional de Luta Livre (also referred to as Torneio Mundial de Luta Livre) being held at Palacio Metropolitano. Baronti was considered at the time to be the best luta livre fighter in Brazil [
o mais complete estylista brasileiro da luta livre
].
42
Baronti was very experienced. He had been competing (or performing) in Brazil since at least 1941, when he was a regular at in the catch tournament at Estadio Brasil. Matches were held twice a week (Thursdays and Saturdays), and followed the regulations of the United States Wrestling Association.
43
He definitely knew the game and how to play it. The first was on Saturday October 2, 1948, followed by a
revanche
on the following Saturday, October 9.
44

In the first fight Yano was completely dominating Baronti, who lost his composure in the
second round and challenged Yano to fight like a man [
homem para homem
]. When cautioned by referee Alex Pinheiro, Baronti punched him, knocking him down, and was disqualified.
45

The second fight was a jiu-jitsu match (that is, with kimono), which Yano won when Baronti fell and hit his head on the ground
. Baronti was dazed and lost track of the count. He said that he would gladly fight Yano again with kimono, but first he wanted to fight him in a luta livre match (without kimono). Baronti alleged that Yano was afraid [
com medo
] to face him again in a fight without kimono. Yano accepted Baronti’s conditions but insisted that the fight be without time limits until there was a winner. The third fight was intended to be decisive, without a time limit, until one or the other won [
luta decisiva, a ‘negra’, sem limite de rounds até que haja um vencedor
].
46

Although the second fight was a jiu-jitsu match, it was conducted within the Torneio Mundial de Luta Livre. This was not a contradiction in terms. Jiu-Jitsu was generally viewed as a sub-genre of luta livre. But what it meant in practice was simply that the fighters wore kimonos. They might both be skilled at jiu-jitsu, but that was not always the case.

Available records do not indicate who won the decisive third match. It may have been Baronti because according to standard operating practices of the business, there was a fourth match in November. When a fighter lost three consecutive times to the same opponent, all within a two week period no less, it was difficult to persuade the public that another one was justified, even in the world of pro-wrestling. As Alcides Queirolo said when Archimedes Rogerio requested a third shot at Geo Omori in 1928, people don’t want to watch the same fight over and over again.
47

As noted above, the Tournament occasionally included jiu-jitsu matches. Saturday, October 23 was one such occasion, and two matches were presented. The first was Takeo Yano versus Carlos Aurichio. The second was
Oka versus Jose Santos Cardos, from Portugual, better known as “Kid 1”. Gigante de Memel and other familiar catch wrestlers participated as usual.
48

Yano’s jiu-jitsu skills proved too much for Aurichio who succumbed to an armlock in the
third
.
round. Aurichio would have a chance for revenge the following Saturday. Oka defeated Kid I in the second round with an unspecified submission, perhaps establishing his jiu-jitsu credentials for a possible confrontation with Yano or some other jiu-jitsu master, if he could be coaxed out of inactivity.
49

George Gracie did not like pro wrestlers posing as real fighter
s when they weren’t. He didn’t mind saying so and didn’t care who didn’t like it. He even offered to fight them for free.
50

Not much is known about Oka, other than his name suggested that he had some Japanese heritage, which automatically made him knowledgeable in the ancient Japanese art of attack and defense (if it wasn’t a ring name designed for exactly that purpose). He was described as “young and technical” [
jovem e tecnico
], and like George, a “
mestre
” [master]. Unlike George, he was inexperienced. According to
A Manhã
, he was impressive in his debut fight the week before.
51

Comeback

By 1948, there were few jiu-jitsu representatives still active in the rings. Yano was one, but he couldn’t be expected to single-handedly fight every contender. George Gracie had his hands full with his administrative duties. He decided to make a comeback. The reasons are unclear but probably were similar to the reasons that motivated Joe Louis to fight Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano. Oka would be his opponent. In addition Carlos Aurichio would have his chance to even scores with Takeo Yano. The program also marked the debut of a 204 kilo Syrio-Lebanese named “Balão Atomico” [Atomic Balloon] who would fight Gattone.
52

The fights were originally planned for October 28, rescheduled for Saturday October 30
. The place was Palacio Metropolitano.

There were two amateur fights and four professional fights.
Except for the George Gracie versus Oka jiu-jitsu match, all were lutas livres.

In the first amateur preliminary, K.O. Jack submitted Biriba by armlock in the
third round. In the second amateur preliminary, Pantera Ruiva submitted Paulistinha with a choke from the back [
gravata pelas costas seguida de ‘tesoura’ nos rins
] in the third round. In the first professional preliminary, Kid I defeated Tanque Herrera by armlock in the third round.

The second professional preliminary was Takeo Yano versus Carlos Aurichio. It was a violent and action-packed fight. Yano was the superior jiu-jitsu stylist [
o mais tecnico lutador de jiu-jitsu
]. The fight ended when Yano’s trademark “armlock” found its target [
aplicou o seu golpe
predilecto
]. Aurichio conceded defeat in the third round.

In the third professional preliminary, or semi-final, Balão Atomico threw Gattoni out of the ring in the
first round. Gattoni bumped his forehead against a seat. He returned to the ring bleeding abundantly, and in a “groggy” condition which Balão Atomico took advantage of to choke him from his back.

The main event was extremely active [
movimentadissima
]. George demonstrated that he still had the form that he was famous for in his younger days. After three active rounds, George managed to “close a choke” [
fechar um estrangulamento
] on his no less worthy opponent, leaving him unconscious on the floor.
53

Fans couldn’t get enough of Catch. That same evening there was also a full program of “Catch” at Estadio Carioca. No jiu-jitsu representatives were involved but
future Carlson Gracie rival Martin Karadagian defeated MacArthur by pinning his shoulders to the mat.
54

Neither George nor Yano needed a long rest. They were back in action less than a week later. This time they would be facing each other

Old Friends

George Gracie and Takeo Yano renewed their working partnership with another luta livre match. The two jiu-jitsu masters met on
Thursday November 4, 1948 at Palacio Metropolitano. Preliminary matches were Kid I versus Francisco Xavier Soroa, Carlos Aurichio versus Gattone, and Sarkis versus Souza.

Kid I defeated Soroa in round 3 by
encostamento de espaduas
[pinning the shoulders]; Sarkis bested Souza by a choke from the back [
estrangulamento pelas costas seguido de uma ‘tesoura’ nos rins
] in round 2, and Carlos Aurichio overcame Gattone in exactly the same way, in round 3.

The George versus Yano match was six rounds of 5 minutes. The match was exciting and sensational
[
emplogante e sensacional
]. According to
A Manhã
, both masters put all of their vast knowledge of jiu-jitsu into play. Neither man’s attack could break through the other’s defense. The match ended in a well-deserved draw [
com um merecido empate
].
55

Immediately after the match, Yano went to the airport to catch a Panair flight to São Paulo.
56
He didn’t stay long. He was back in Rio on Saturday November 6 for his fourth match with Alfio Baronti.

The fact that Yano and Baronti had met three times in October alone suggests that they must have pleased the fans, given that Yano won the first two of the three (the result of the third is unknown, but indirect evidence suggests that Baronti won, possibly in a controversial fashion, because otherwise there probably wouldn’t have been a fourth fight). Often three times was more than enough, but in some cases the fans wanted more. Takeo Yano and Alfio Baronti’s series was such a case.

Baronti was a luta livre professor and known by the nickname of “
Maravilha
,” [The Marvel] suggesting that he had skills and knew how to put on a good show. In the main event, which was expected to be exciting and full of action, Baronti took on the Japanese master of the game of attack and defense, Takeo Yano.

Balão Atomico confronted Sarkis in one of the preliminaries. Balão Atomico was more than just enormous. He was also incredibly violent and endowed with Herculean strength.
57

Sarkis was no match for the violence and strength of Balão Atomico. He somehow managed to survive for 3 minutes. As in his previous outing, put a quick finish to his rival with a choke from the back [
uma gravata pelas costas
]. Some fans however viewed the fight as a joke.
58

Yano and Baronti gave the fans an interesting fight. The result was a draw [
terminou empatada apos um transcurso interessante
].
59

There is no available record of a fifth Yano versus Baronti match. Four fights seemed to be the limit of the fan’s interest, at least within a one year period. George Gracie versus Takeo Yano series was exceptional, but it stretched over 13 years. Perhaps there was too much variety to choose from to sustain interest in any one pairing.