Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (13 page)

Baiaca (Vasques) started well with a
rabo de frente
. Omori stood back
descoberto
[exposed]. Baiaca then entered into a
rasteira
, followed by two
rabo de arrayos
to the back. He immediately fell down into an impregnable “
pulo de passarinho
” and refused to stand up. During this phase Baiaca lost the chance to take his antagonist out of the game [
pôr fóra de combate
].
19

In the second round the farce [
brincadeira de olhar
] continued until the fans, tired of the pantomime, broke out in jeers [
vaias
]. If Vasques had wanted, the reporter believed, he could have knocked Omori down ten times, as he did to Lecont (Lecomte).

But he didn’t [
Se Vasques quizesse, teria derrubado dez vezes o seu antagonista, como fizéra com Lecont. Não tocou em Omori porem
].

Omori tried to apply leg techniques [
golpes de perna
], and advanced on Vasques, threatening
savatadas
[kicks]. When Omori grabbed Vasques’ collar, he was vulnerable to a “shot from the side”, a powerful kick to the chest [
Na pegada de gola, o japonez ficou ainda a descoberto para uma ‘tirado de lado’-forte golpe no peito, produzido pelo pé
].

After the
third round Omori could have finished the fight any time he wanted to, but waited until the final seconds before crushing [
esmagar
] the Brazilian, who “did not hesitate to tap three times to signal his defeat and disgrace”. The reporter was clearly very disappointed in Vasques’ performance. He scolded him for not having the patriotism to remember that he was representing Brazil and for letting money cause him to forget the thousands of people who looked at him as a hero.

The writer contrasted Vasques’ weak showing against Omori with his much more satisfactory performance against Ledemonte [
sic
, Lecomte]. In that fight, both men were able to put into play all of their techniques, and Vasques won easily. The writer blamed Vasques for lacking the will to win [
falta de vontade que Vasque tinha em
vencer
] and recommended that the fight should be investigated by the police.

He summed up by saying that the fight clearly reflected the interest of the Circo Queirolo in maintaining the invincibility of Omori, whose winning record was a source of inexhaustible profits for the circus [
fonte inesgotaval de appeititosa renda
]. This was another way of saying that he thought that the fight was fixed, because otherwise Vasques should have won.
20

Luta Livre com Kimono

The next week, October 23, again at Circo Queirolo, Geo Omori met Mariano in a luta livre versus jiu-jitsu match. On the same bill, Othelo fought Eduardo in a luta livre com kimono bout. Othelo was undoubtedly Othelo Queirolo, also known as “Chic-Chic,” who fought Oswaldo Gracie in 1936.
21

Just two days later, Omori met Jack Marin in a luta livre. The fact that their October match was a
desempate
[tie-breaker] suggests that they may have squeezed in one additional match between September 15 and October 25, a scheduling possibility that was not out of the ordinary.

Although Marin was primarily a boxer, his encounter with Omori did not involve striking. Omori, like other jiu-jitsu men, did indeed beat large boxers, but on more than a few occasions the boxers were limited to grappling, where they were at a clear disadvantage.
If the money was less than it would have been for a boxing match, it was also less painful. There was no time limit. They would fight without a break between rounds, until there was a winner [
sem descanco até que haja um vencedor
].
22

The following day there would be another luta livre
match
between the two giants Crispim (97 kilos, 190 cm) and Sardeilli (93 kilos, 185 cm). This was a luta livre match, but with a twist. It was luta livre “with kimono”[
com kimono
]. Just as there were jiu-jitsu without kimono [
sem kimono
]
,
so too there could be luta livre “with kimono”, for example, the contest between Rogerio and Jose Detti at Circo Queirolo on October 18, 1928.
23

Both were the exceptions however. A jiu-jitsu without kimono match was usually classified simply as luta livre.
Luta livre matches with kimono were usually referred to as “jiu-jitsu”.

Both luta livre and jiu-jitsu men agreed that their styles differed mostly in details, the most conspicuous one being the kimono. But some jiu-jitsu men were willing to fight without kimono. And some luta livre men were willing to put on a kimono.
They were professionals. They followed the money.

There were also
luta livre de jiu-jitsu contra luta livre
[luta livre versus jiu-jitsu], in response to public demand or as a novelty to stimulate ticket sales.

The difference was primarily in the rules. In a jiu-jitsu match
sem kimono
, jiu-jitsu rules applied, except the rule specifying the kimono. Similarly for luta livre
com kimono
. In style-versus-style fight, the rules always had to be negotiated. One fighter might wear kimono while the other did not. Striking might or might not be permitted, and if so, which strikes were permitted was also negotiable. The kimono was also an equalizer and a bargaining chip.

Some fighters refused to leave the familiar territory of their chosen style. But not many. They tended to be boxers who were successful enough in the boxing ring to earn adequate incomes without needing to branch out into luta livre.

Jiu-Jitsu Representatives

Geo Omori was not the only jiu-jitsu representative employed by Circo Queirolo. Another was the 67 kilo Peruvian Dario Letone. Letone was a champion of boxing, luta romana, and more [“
campeão de box, Luta Romana etc,
”].
24
The “etc.” evidently included jiu-jitsu. On November 11 he faced the noted boxer Ervin Klausner at Circo Queirolo. The fight was “ardently disputed” [
a luta foi arduamente disputada
], but Letone lost.
25

Omori and the Circo Queirolo were not the only game in town. The Japanese jiu-jitsu champion Okido reigned undefeated at Circo Alcebaides in
São Paulo, making short work of anyone foolish enough to confront him.

Okido stumbled on November 9 when he was challenged by the
pretinho brasileiro
[Brazilian black boy] Benedicto Zacharias. The fight began at 11:50 p.m., and went on for one hour and 40 minutes, After a rocky start, Benedicto imposed his total domination on the champion. Okido was saved from certain defeat when the police stepped in and suspended the fight. Nevertheless, Benedicto was cheered by fans for his outstanding performance. The reporter expressed the opinion that if a
desempate
took place, and Benedicto managed to apply a “
golpe feliz
” he would have a good chance to defeat the fearsome Okido.
26

Okido moved to the
Colombo, run by Empresa: J. Castro e Cia, at Largo de Concordia (tel: 9-0070). On December 14, he confronted Henkin in a jiu-jitsu versus luta livre match. His colleague Goto faced M. de Abreu. Challengers, both amateurs and professionals, were invited to step up and take their chances in a luta livre versus jiu-jitsu fight. They would earn 500
reis
if they were successful.
27

Star Power

Okido did not stay on the scene for long. Omori basically ruled the roost. He had what Hollywood movie people called “star power”. His name sold tickets. Fighting Omori was considered by other fighters as a mark of success, win, lose, or draw (as an actor would regard working with a distinguished director). Winning was hard, so most aimed at not losing. But even that could increase one’s earning potential, if the fight demonstrated excellent qualities, but just fell slightly short of being enough.

One example was Gibin, who fought Omori (at least) three times. He lost every time, but that was enough to give him a reputation as a strong fighter, someone who could put up an interesting fight and create some uncertainty as to the outcome, qualities that were as important to gamblers as to fans. That unfortunately, paved the way to
combinadas
and other “arrangements”. Professional fighting was after all a form of spectator entertainment. Getting paid was the bottom line. At the same time, winners usually got paid more than losers. If a fighter had what it took to win, he would generally be better off winning. Omori had it.

It was not even necessary to fight and lose to Omori. It was sometimes enough merely to “challenge” him. In November, a capoeira named Antonio Gomes, from
Campinas, sent a letter to the
Diario Nacional
, expressing his desire to fight Omori. He would even fight Omori at Circo Queirolo, Gomes offered. The paper said that it would lend its support if Gomes would come to São Paulo and demonstrate his skills. Apparently, nothing came of it.
28

Capoeiragem versus Jiu-Jitsu

After Vasques’ poor representation of the national game against jiu-jitsu, another capoeira stepped up to challenge Omori.

Argemiro Feitosa was his name. He was from Ceará. He didn’t care about the prize money, he said. He only wanted a chance to prove that the
arma nacional
[capoeiragem] was superior to the Japanese game [jiu-jitsu]. It would necessarily be a luta livre match. Capoeiragem was a striking art, so capoeiragem versus jiu-jitsu implied striking, hence was a type of “mixed fight”. Feitosa’s only condition was that it take place somewhere other than Circo Queirolo.
29

Omori accepted Feitosa’s challenge. Feitosa wanted a
sem kimono
match. Omori replied that the kimono is the custom of his country. He also said that he would not take responsibility for any injuries that Feitosa may suffer. A compromise was reached. It was agreed that the fighters could wear whatever they wanted. All techniques of capoeiragem and jiu-jitsu would be permitted, and it would be for the luta livre title. A percentage of the gate would go to a charitable organization [
instituição de caridades
]. The winner would “take all”.
30

Not even waiting to see the outcome, Luiz Gonzaga de Almeida, better known as Gradin, challenged Omori, certain that he would be able to defeat him and thereby restore the good name of
capoeira nacional
. Apparently he wasn’t confident about Feitosa’s chances.
31

Exponents of capoeira were animated by the prospect that either Feitoas or Gradin would be able to rehabilitate the
arma nacional
through a victory over the theretofore undefeated Omori. As Gradin and various others had expressed doubt about the possibility of a fair fight in the Queirolo brother’s circus, they demanded a neutral site. Omori agreed to fight both of them, Feitosa and Gradin, at a location other than Circo Queirolo.
32

“Capoeira” began to be increasingly used as a shorter variant of “capoeiragem”. Advocates of the national game had been trying to clean up its image and in the process they began calling it capoeira instead of capoeiragem. Capoeiras (the fighters) came to be called capoeiristas. Another factor was undoubtedly that “capoeira” fits more compactly into newspaper headings. Space is a scarce resource in periodicals. Longer words, in aggregate, compete with paid advertising. Advertising pays the bills and makes the cover price lower, which increases circulation, allowing fight promoters and advertisers to get the word out more broadly and more economically.
33

It took time to get the Omori versus Feitosa affair off the ground. In the mean time,
Omori took advantage of his popularity to establish a fully equipped jiu-jitsu academia, which was called Academia Paulista de Jiu-Jitsu. His partner was K. Bandant. It was located at Frontão do Braz, sharing space with a Academia de Boxe. Classes were offered daily 19:30 and 23:00.
34

That it was not a long-term success may have stemmed from the fact that Omori would soon run out of opponents in
São Paulo.

.
Chapter 8 Notes

Chapter 9

1929

While waiting for the Feitosa fight to eventuate, Omori took on two opponents in one night at Circo Queirolo on
January 2, 1929. One was Farina, a luta livre man, the other, Francisco, representing luta romana. Omori was predicted to have no problems defeating both of them.
1
Apparently, Omori did not encounter anything that he could not handle.

Redemption

The meeting with capoeira Argemiro Feitosa was set to take place January 6, 1929. The fight would be a luta livre match of five 5-minute rounds. It would be held at campo of Athletica Associação São Bento, Ponte Grande. Ticket prices ranged from 3$ for
gerais
[general admission, floor level, standing], 5$ for
archibancadas
[bleacher seats], to 10$ for c
adeiras especiaes
[special box seats]. Four preliminary matches of jiu-jitsu and luta livre (four 5-minute rounds) were scheduled. They were Gibyn (Gibin) versus Dete, Ismael Haki versus Ervin Klausner; Goto (jiu-jitsu) versus Guarany (luta livre), and Okido (jiu-jitsu) versus Rodolpho (luta livre).
2

The ring was 15 meters in diameter. As per the contract, the fighters would wear what they chose. Omori chose to wear a kimono as was the custom of his country, while Feitosa would be shirtless and would wear shoes, the better to put an early end to Omori, he
promised.
3
Fans were eager to see the fight. But they had to wait. It was postponed a week due to make way for a football game.
4

Local observers, supporters of capoeiragem primarily, complained about the inferior quality of capoeira “representatives”
. According to one newspaper reader, Omori’s last opponent, who the writer mocked by calling “
Bagunça, o terrivel capoeira
”, did not even know how to execute the hand-stand part of the
rabo de arraia
[sting ray tail kick] correctly and ended up on the ground where he had no skills. Another Omori opponent, this time identified as Oswaldo or “Baiaca”was supposedly a “formidavel capoeira” but turned out to be a simple stevedore, who learned some lessons of ‘savate’ as a child [
não passa de um simples estivador, que tomou, quando criança, algumas licões de ‘savate
’]. The writer charged that the nacional game would not be redeemed until a qualified practitioner entered the ring with Omori. He mentioned “22 Marajó” and “Hollandez” as possibilities.
5

While waiting for fight night Geo Omori went to
Rio to look for new opponents. He had run out of opponents in São Paulo.
6

Jiu-Jitsu versus Capoeiragem

The Omori versus Feitosa fight finally took place January 13, 1929. Fans of the national game were again disappointed. The headline in
Diario Nacional
read “
A Luta Final Foi Um Fracasso
” [“The Fight was a Flop”]. According to the paper, Omori dominated from the beginning, putting Feitosa on the defensive and keeping him there. Omori protested a
duplo golpe
[double punch] to the kidneys, but it was decided that it was a legal technique of Feitosa’s art.

After that, Feitosa inexplicably refused to fight. Omori did whatever he wanted. Feitosa dropped to the ground with seconds remaining in the round. In the second round, Omori’s superiority was manifest. He threw Feitosa to the canvas various times and punished him while the crowd, with justification, expressed their indignation at Feitoas’ insufficiency of fighting intention. Omori won in the second round by armlock [
golpe de braço
].
7

The writer was perplexed by Feitosa’s poor showing. He could not comprehend how a “master of capoeiragem with many students who already given impressive public demonstrations
” could be so inept in the ring, let alone against such a small Japanese person.
8

Feitosa attributed his lack-luster performance to “nervousness”. He also alleged that Omori was warned not to apply pressure on the throat, but he did it anyway. Feitosa retaliated with a “
cabeça presa nos rins
” [head press to the kidneys] of Omori and was cautioned by the judge. Feitosa wanted a “
desforra
” [rematch] without restrictions as to techniques [
sem restrictção de golpes
].

The writer concluded that after his pitiful showing it would be difficult for Feitosa to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the public.
A rematch wouldn’t draw flies.

The evening wasn’t a total wash-out however. According to
Diario Nacional,
9
the preliminary matches were good. Gibin bested Waldemar in the third round, Klausner beat Haki, in the third round of what was described as the best fight of the night.
10
Takeda (a last minute substitute for Okido) was considered to be the winner [
vencedor
] after choking Rodolpho unconscious in the third round [
Takeda fez o adversario ficar desmaiado no terceiro assalto, sendo a considerado vencedor
]. The Guarany versus Goto match was even in round 1, with the fighters exchanging aggressively [
rudes golpes
]. Guarny was declared the victor when Goto declined to come out for round 2.

A Manhã
,
Carioca da Manhã
,
O Imparcial
, and
A Noite
also all reported on the fight on January 15, 1929, indicating that there was wide general interest in such mixed fights. They were not, at that time, viewed as pure entertainment without athletic merit. People really wanted to know which country’s system of defense was superior.

Omori’s Academia Paulista de Jiu-Jitsu, now
referred to as “Escola de Jiu-Jitsu Geo Omori” arranged a “Big Jiu-Jitsu Tournament” [Grande Torneio de Jiu-Jitsu] to attract attention to the new academy.
11 
The match-ups in the tournament were Wada versus Kitajima; Kaveno versus Arizunuma; in matches of three 5-minute rounds. Takada encountered Louvas, and Omori’s partner in the academy, Bandant, confronted Gibim [whose name was also spelled Gibin and Gibyn] in matches of four 5-minute rounds.

Neither for the first nor last time, Omori would face two opponents, Weber and Guarany, five 5-minute rounds each, alternating rounds, with 2 minutes between rounds.
The program began at 8:30 p.m.
12
Results are unknown.

Boxer

Ervin Klausner was a well-known boxer with a long career in Brazil. Originally an amateur boxer from Estonia, he became a professional in Rio in 1926, making his debut against Canadian champion Soldier Jones on Saturday July 10, 1926.
13
In addition to an impressive boxing record as a heavyweight, he was undefeated in luta livre. He was regarded by some observers as “the most perfect luta livre fighter currently in São Paulo” [
o mais perfeito luctador do luta livre, ora em São Paulo
]
.
14

Omori was scheduled to fight Klausner in a four
-round luta livre match, Friday January 25, 1929 at Circo Queirolo.

On the bill also were four boxing bouts and two luta livre matches between Takeda and Ritter, and Ismael Haki and Goin.

Klausner and Omori had already met at least three times. It was predicted that the fight would be close because Klausner was the most dangerous opponent Omori had yet faced.
15
With outstanding grappling skills (or even basic grappling skills) and a heavyweight punch, Klausner might have been a dangerous opponent indeed. But the Omori versus Klausner match was a lucta livre versus jiu-jitsu contest, without striking.

The result is not known. Based on subsequent reports, Omori did not lose.

Unknown Jiu-Jitsu

Omori encountered Rogerio Archimedes twice more in February 1929, in Taubaté, a smaller city in
São Paulo state about 120 kilometers from the capital city. Held at the campo do E. C. Taubaté, both matches were jiu-jitsu. The first match time was on February 3. The second was on February 14. According to
Diario Nacional
, the citizens of Taubaté were unfamiliar with jiu-jitsu (it was
desconhecido
) but knew about luta romana (Rogerio was well-known [
conhecido
] as the champion of São Paulo). Omori won both fights.
16

Fighting multiple opponents in the same evening was not normal operating procedure. George Gracie did it
several times. Naoiti Ono did it. Others on the top rung of the status hierarchy did it from time to time. Boxers did it. Jack Dempsey routinely did it. On August 25, he fought four opponents in Portland, Oregon.
17
He only knocked out two of them (Bill Hartwell and Dave McRae), letting two escape the axe (Denny Lenhart and Bob Mariels). On September 8 in Reno, Nevada, he fought and knocked out three opponents (Eddie Burns, Sam Baker, and Red Tingley) in one outing.
18

The fighter had to be confident. Even so, things could sometimes go wrong, and did. Pushovers sometimes brought more to the ring or mat than they had been expected to. Generally, what happened was that they survived when they weren’t expected to or made the champion work harder than he planned. Occasionally the result was a genuine shock.

That is what happened to Geo Omori when he took on both Waldemar and the Austrian Ritter (probably the 72 kilo German luta romana wrestler Francisco Ritter) in lucta livre matches in the same evening, February 21 1929. The match with Waldemar went unremarkably. But unexpectedly and to everyone’s surprise, Ritter defeated Omori. According to
Correio Paulistano
, “it was a sensational occurrence. To many, it seemed like a dream. To others, it seemed like a fixed fight. But the fact is that Omori was unconscious, and Ritter received the honor of being the first to defeat the previously unbeaten Japanese”.
19

Omori requested a rematch. In the meantime, the hillbilly Pedro (O “
Caipira”) was being mentioned as a potential Omori opponent. It was said that he had already fought Omori twice to draws. Against Omori, that was a respectable record and seemed to qualify him for another shot. A rematch was set for Geo Omori versus Ritter, at Circo Queirolo on Saturday March 9, 1929.
20
The result is unknown. If Ritter repeated his previous upset it would have been the stuff of myths and legends. As no mentioned was ever made of it, it is likely that Omori won the rematch and rehabilitated himself. Later, in Rio, he would claim to never have been beaten. Such prevarication was normal.

Omori confronted Rogerio again (identified as Panthera Paulista) in a four
-
assalto
[round] lucta de jiu-jitsu. The match was held at Salão Gabriel d’Annunzio at rua Major Diogo 43 on Saturday, March 23, 1929, in a program to honor the sportsman Jose Detti.

Other (three
-round) jiu-jitsu matches were Antonio Andriotti versus Raiol; Felippe Contino versus Jose de Oliveira; Maximino versus Henke; and the guest of honor Jose Detti versus Assumpção. Admission was free. The fights were preceded by an illusionist and some singers, and followed by a
baile familiar
[family dance].
21

Omori fought Estevam on
Thursday April 18, 1929 at Circo Queirolo. Estavam was not identified by family name. Possibly he was familiar enough to local readers that he didn’t need to be, or possibly he was not important enough to merit more detailed identification. It was not unusual for fighters (and other people) to be mentioned by one name only, including a nickname, or by multiple names, with multiple spellings.

Estavam might have been Estavam Jiskus (also spelled Jirkus), the giant Lithuanian
who battled Jose Detti in 1936.

O
Caipira fought “the strong German athlete” Mith on the under-card. It was mentioned that O Caipira’s record against Omori at that time was one loss and three draws, indicating that he had fought Omori twice since February 21.
22 
However, there is no report of those fights.

Enter Carlos Gracie

Carlos Gracie had been in the news before, from June 1924, but not for jiu-jitsu.
23
In March of 1929 he made his first appearance on the stage of professional fighting. He did it the smart way, on the coat-tails of an already established big name. In São Paulo in 1929, there was no bigger name than Géo Omori.

Carlos Gracie informed a reporter for the
Diario de Minas
24
that he had been teaching the Minas civil police in Minas since March of 1928. He taught jiu-jitsu, which he learned from Conde Koma in Pará, he said, not as a sport but as a form of self-defense.

Conde Koma provided an instructive example of his power and agility at the old movie theater Cinema Commercio, Carlos explained. A member of the audience was acting violently and crazily. No one dared to confront him.

“Moeda”[
sic
] Koma, who had been watching the movie, got out of his box seat, and as quick as a flash [
rapido como um pensamento
] took the disorderly man by the arm and said “get out”. The man and his friends left without saying a word.