Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (74 page)

32.
O Imparcial
25-10-35. [“
será a primeira em todo o territorio bahiano e uma das poucas do norte do Brasil
”].

33.
O Imparcial
31-10-35.

34.
O Imparcial
5-11-35 [“
desistam de continuar a peleja, ou percam os sentidos
”].

35.
Gazeta de Noticias
26-11-35. Later reports said that Ono was a 3-
dan
. Whether 3-
dan
or 5-
dan
, he was very good at what he did.

36.
A Noite
4-12-35 [“
Ono, contrariando todas as caracteristicas essenciaes aos japonezes, tem falado demais
”].

37.
Gazeta de Noticias
4-12-35 [“
entre a technica de Helio e a violencia do Ono
”].
Gazeta de Noticias
5-12-35 [“
estylo aggrssivo
”].

38.
Diario Carioca
5-12-35. It isn’t clear what outcome betters were wagering on―Helio to win or Helio to avoid losing.

39.
O Imparcial
8-12-35.

40.
A Noite
11-12-35;
Gazeta de Noticias
12-12-35.

41. Gracie 2008. Reila describes this aspect of Carlos’ life in extensive detail.

42. Stein, 1985, chapter 8; Birman & Leite 2000.

43. The ad read: “
Quer Ganhar Sempre na Loteria? Orientando-me pela data de nascimento de cada pessoa, descobrirei o modo seguro que minha experiencia todos podem ganhar na loteria sem perder uma só vez. Mande seu endereço e 600 reis em seilos, para enviar-Ihe GRATIS "O SEGURO DA FORTUNA". Millhares de attestados provam as minhas palavras. Meu endereço, Prof. PAKCHANG TONG, Gral. Milre, 224L, Rosario (S. Fé) (Rep. Argentina)
.“

In January 1931
Diario Nacional
ran a series of article exposing the celebrated Buenos Aires based charlatan [
celeberrimo charlatão
] “Professor” Pakchang Tong and his scams [
bruxarias
]. At that time, he was based in Buenos Aires. Pakchang Tong promised that by using his secret knowledge of “
radio fluidico astral
” anyone could always win (or at least, have enviable luck) in lotteries, gambling, etc., [
jogos da loteria
,
do bicho
,
do cartas
,
de corridas
, etc.] (
Diario Nacional
2-1-31).

Tong’s modus operandi was not very different from 21
st
century internet scammers. If someone sent him stamps for the free book, that individual was marked as potential victim. He or she obviously needed good luck and had some degree of belief that it could be obtained using a secret method and that there was no ris
k－
after all, the book was free, and thousands of people could verify that it was true. At least Prof. Tong said they would.

One of the secrets that Prof Tong was able to reveal was that of “Pedra Iman Polarisada,” a talisman that had no less than 150 degrees of force [
150 graus de força
]. Another was the “magnetic powder of Cleopatra” [
o pô magnetico de Cleopatra
], which when used correctly would irresistibly attract desirable partners of the opposite sex.

There was no free email in 1933-1938. Packchang Tong had to pay for all those ads, which means people were sending him money. Prof. Tong’s methods worked well in making him rich, at least judged by the numbers of people who later filed complaints and wrote to
Diario Nacional
. Some of them were well-educated people. All needed money, but also had enough to send to Tong and his colleagues in Brazil.

In 1933 Packchang Tong relocated to
Rio. Ads began appearing in Brazilian
newspapers and magazines. They ran in the following periodicals between 1933 and 1938:
A Noite
,
Diario da Noite
,
Correio Paulistano
,
A Scena Muda
,
Careta
,
O Malho
(in Bello Horizonte),
Revista de Semana
,
Correio da Manhã
,
Diario Carioca
,
Diario da Manhã
,
Fon Fon
,
Jornal da Moças
,
Vida Domestica
,
Sports llustrado
,
Eu Sei Tudo
,
Correio de Paraná
,
Diario Nacional
,
Diario de Noticias
, and
O Imparcial
.

In August of 1935,
Correio de S. Paulo
printed an article about Prof. Tong and the curious fact that his ads seemed to be everywhere. The police had already been receiving complaints. An Argentine named Alfredo Serrano, recently arrived from Buenos Aires on board the “Massilia” with his wife, was under suspicion (
Correio de S. Paulo
9-8-35.) The ads continued until August 1938 and then stopped. The reasons have not been revealed but it was certainly not for lack of gullible people in Rio.

44. Gracie 2008.

45.
Gazeta de Noticias
7-12-34. Eberle may have been Eberle Haubert.

46. Gracie 2008, chapter 26.

47.
A Noite
26-12-35.

48. Gracie 2008.

49.
Diario de Noticias
20-12-35;
O Radical
20-12-35.

50.
A Manhã
7-7-35.

.

Chapter 16

1936

1.
A Noite
23-1-36.

2.
A Noite
3-4-36. “
Uma Luta Sensacional de George Gracie
”].
A Noite
was published by Gracie family friend Roberto Marinho.

3.
O Radical
26-9-35.

4.
Correio de S. Paulo
3-4-36.

5.
Correio de S. Paulo
16-4-36.

6.
Correio de S. Paulo
20-4-36.

7.
Gazeta de Noticias
3-5-36.

8. He was also called “Estevam”, Estafano”, “Stefano”, “Jiskus”, and Jurkis”, and by the nickname Bataglia.

9.
Correio de S. Paulo
22-5-36; 23-5-36;
Correio Paulistano
22-5-36.

10.
Correio Paulistano
21-5-36;
Correio de S. Paulo
23-5-36.

11.
Gazeta de Noticias
1-9-36. George had been beaten (submitted, not pinned) by Zbyszko on October 6, 1934. But that wasn’t a jiu-jitsu match so technically George was still undefeated in jiu-jitsu.

12.
Gazeta de Noticias
31-5-36.

13.
Gazeta de Noticias
12-6-36.

14.
A Noite
13-6-36.

15.
O Imparcial
12-6-36.

16.
Diario Carioca
14-6-36 [“
nada disso porem aconteceu. O combate foi monotono, desnido de menor interrese. Foi devéres uma luta que decepcionou a quantos ali foram em busca de emocões
“].

17.
Diario de Noticias
14-6-36.

18.
Gazeta de Noticias
14-6-36.

19.
Diario Carioca
16-6-36.

20. Helio made a comeback and fought five more times between 1950 and 1955.

21.
A Noite
16-6-36.

22.
Gazete de Noticias
16-6-36; 17-6-36.

23.
A Noite Illustrada
29-6-32.

24.
Diario Carioca
3-11-32. He may have been the Antonio Rocha who was a “monitor” at the Gracie Academy in 1931
Diario da Noite
2-7-31. Such alternative spellings of names was not unusual.

25.
Diario Carioca
23, 24, 25-8-28.

26.
Diario da Noite
24-6-36.

27.
A Batalha
2-8-36.

28.
A Noite
3-8-36.

29. Yamada and Massagoichi posed together in kimonos for a publicity photo, which appeared in
Gazeta de Noticias
7-8-36 and 13-8-36.

30.
Gazeta de Noticias
8-8-36.

31.
A Batalha
8-8-36.

32.
Diario da Noite
8-8-36.

33.
Diario Carioca
7-8-36.

34.
Gazeta de Noticias
7-8-36. “
Iamada, o adversario de Ruhmann em companhia do professor Massagoichi, considerado o campeão sul-americano de jiu-jitsu”
[“Yamada, the adversary of Ruhmann in company with professor Massagoichi, considered the South American jiu-jitsu champion”]. It is unclear who was being described as the champion. However, Massagoichi was not described as the South American jiu-jitsu champion in other articles, so it seems that it was Yamada who was. No evidence was offered that he was a champion of anything or even that he had any jiu-jitsu skills.

35.
Diario de Noticias
8-8-36.

36. The boxing matches were Gonçalves da Cunha versus Fumaça; Acosto versus Negrito; and Schleinkofer versus Benjamin Rutta.

37.
Diario de Noticias
8, 9-8-26.

38.
Diario de Noticias
9-8-36.

39.
A Offensiva
6-8-36 [“
Nunca ouvi falar nesses campeões mysteriosos e tenho tanta certeza de que elles pouco conhecem jiu-jitsu
”]. The phrase
pouco conhecem
might be interpreted as “know little,” “don’t know much,” among other possible translation equivalents, but the point is the same. If they had legitimate credentials, Yano certainly would have known about them.

40.
A Offensiva
8-8-36.

41.
Gazeta de Noticias
1-9-36. The main office of the Brazilian Federation of Pugilism [
Federação Brasileiro de Pugilismo
] was located at 175 Avenida Rio Branco, 1
st
floor.

42.
Diario de Noticias
7-8-36;
Diario Carioca
14-8-36.

43.
A Batalha
11-9-36.

44.
A Noite
17-8-36.

45.
Correio da Manhã
14-8-36 [“
Precisa provar, com uma exhibição publica, as suas possibilidaes technicas
”…
apresentando
as suas credenciaes adquiriu o direito de enfrentar Helio Gracie, o campãeo nacional da luta japoneza
”].

46.
Diario de Noticias
12-9-36 [“
deixou magnifica impressão de seu ensaio official
”].

47.
A Noite
12-9-36.

48. C
orreio da Manhã
13-9-36.

49
Diario Carioca
13-9-36 [“
Helio Gracie venceu o japonez Massagoichi, aos doze minutos de luta com uma chave de braço…poz em evidencia os seus vastos conhecimentos no jiu-jitsu
”].

50.
A Offensiva
16-9-36 [“
As luctas de jiu-jitsu realizadas em nossa capital, com rarissimas excepções, vêm se tornado, cada dia, mais desmoralizadas, em consequencia dos desfechos apresentados, positivamente suspeitos
”].

51.
A Offensiva
19-9-36.

52.
O Paiz
4-4-34.

53.
A Noite
26-4-32.

54.
Jornal do Brasil
5-9-36. George’s defeat by Wladek Zbyszko in 1934 had been forgotten, but that was a luta livre match. George hadn’t lost either of his three jiu-jitsu matches up to that point (draws with Geo Omori and Takeo Yano and a win over Shigeo).