Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (12 page)

One of Kanemitsu’s students was Yassuiti Ono
[
小野安
一
], who immigrated to Brazil in 1929.
47

.
Chapter 7 Notes

Chapter 8

1928

The Queirolo Brother’s Circus (Circo Queirolo) arrived in the Brazilian port city of
Santos on June 20, 1921 from Montevideo and points between on the steamship “Rio de Janeiro” to initiate a season of performances in the capital.
1

One of the featured acts was Prof. Conde Themistocles, demonstrating his technique of “
Estrangulo Vivo
” [living strangle], in which a volunteer would be painlessly rendered unconsciousness and then quickly resuscitated.

The circus also periodically presented boxing
2
and lucta romana (or luta Greco-romana). In 1926, the brothers presented two luctas Greco-romana. One was a match between the
preto
Dick and Su’Su.’ The other was between 10 year old Hugo Laterga and his 12 year old brother Paulo.
3

In 1928 a new attraction was added in the form of a Japanese champion of Greco-romana named Geo Omori. According to an article in
Diario Nacional
, Omori had been with the circus a matter of “weeks”.
4
The circus invited anyone who wanted to test themselves against Omori to step up [
desafiado os que quizessem lutar com o campeão japonez
], promising a gold medal worth 30 dollars [
medalha de ouro no valor de 30 dollares
] to the winner.

There was no mention of jiu-jitsu in the article. But Omori was a jiu-jitsu fighter. Specifically, as he later emphasized, he practiced the Kodokan style of jiu-jitsu, which was known in his own country as “
jiu-do
” (judo).

Omori had once been defeated in a memorable “lucta de jiu-jitsu” in New York, by a certain “Takemura” according to a spokesman for the Queirolo brothers, who offered Takemura 10 thousand
reis
[
10 contos de reis
] to come to São Paulo to fight Omori again. The brothers insisted that their offer was “serious”. Takemura apparently did not reply.
5

The first mention of Omori as a jiu-jitsu representative, and in the context of “mixed fighting” occurred on
October 19, 1928. In a sports spectacular, the invincible Japanese Géo Omori would be taking on Oswaldo Caetano Vasques in an exciting capoeira versus jiu-jitsu match [
luta “capoeira contra jiu-jitsu”
].
6

Geo Omor
i
大森瀼冶

Geo Omori signed his name on publicity photographs in four different ways. Most often it was simply Geo Omori. He also signed his named Geo. Omori (with a period after Geo). He also signed his name in Japanese kanji characters, a
s
大森瀼
冶
7
or in mixed kanji and syllabic katakana, as
 
大森ジョ
ジ
. Both are pronounced “Omori
Jyoji
”.

The photos with English signatures also included the phrases “sincerely yours” or “friendly yours” [
sic
]. No photos were written in Portuguese.

Omori obviously performed in f
ront of Japanese fans. He had a supply of photographs signed in English, suggesting that he really did have a ring career in North America under the name of Geo Omori, or possibly George Omori. The signature Geo. (with a period) suggests that he might have used the anglicized form of his name. In Japanese “George” is pronounced the same as Jyoji. The name George is or was at one time abbreviated as Geo. (with a period). “Geo” was sometimes written simply as “Geo,” but sometimes Géo (with the acute diacritic over the letter “e”).

T
he fact that he wrote his Japanese name with katakana suggests that he was sensitive to the educational limitations of his fans who were immigrants. Literacy levels were much lower in pre-World War II Japan than after (as a result of post-war educational reforms).
8
Omori was a common family name that probably anyone could recognize, as both of the kanji used to write it are used in many personal and place names. But the first character in
Jyoji
was very uncommon. Even in 2013, well-educated Japanese (e.g., college teachers) rarely are able recognize the first character without consulting a dictionary. In addition, the fact that some of his publicity pictures were signed “friendly yours” indicates the involvement of a non-native speaker of English in North America. Finally, Omori’s Japanese awkward writing of his own name suggests that someone else copied his signature, someone who was not accustomed to writing in Japanese.

Géo Omori was a man of few words. That was his reputation at least in
Brazil, where he was described as “quiet, a friend of silence” [
taciturno, amigo do silencio
]. Some or all of his taciturnity may have be due to the fact that he could not speak a single word of Portuguese.
9

He was born in 1892 in
Japan, where he was involved in the tropical fish business, which he loved. He trained at the Kodokan and was a friend of Conde Koma. The evidence does not permit us to say when or where he knew Conde Koma but it probably wasn’t Japan, since Koma left in 1904,
10
at which time Omori would have been only 12 years old.

He had lived and fought in
North America before coming to Brazil. He began his professional Brazilian fight career in São Paulo in August 1928. Previously, he ran a tropical fish shop [
casa de peixes raros e de fantasia
]. The shop did not turn a profit. He was married to Cetuko, and had a daughter named Kimika,
11
born in 1934. He died mysteriously and pennilessly in 1938.

The national champion of luta grego-romana Archimedes Rogerio, wanted a piece of Omori. But there was a problem. He had failed twice before to beat Omori. The first time, he held out for 23 minutes before quitting. He also lost the
revanche
[rematch].

Circo Queirolo spokesman Alcides Queirolo was cool to the idea of a third fight. A new match would be “
absurdo
”, he said. Fans did not like to see the “same fight many times” and might even suspect that the fights were fixed. Allcides hinted.
12

But Rogerio wanted another shot. The Queirolo brothers relent
ed. Rogerio would get his shot.

In the meantime,
Omori confronted the Hispanic-American boxer Jack [Jacque] Marin on Saturday September 15, 1928.

Jiu-Jitsu versus Boxer

Jack Marin was described as North American, Spanish, and “hispano-Americano”. His first appearance in Brazil was in 1922 when he participated in the Campeonato de Box at the Theatro Carlos Gomes (where Conde Koma and his troupe had performed in 1915), which began on Saturday January 21, 1922. He weighed 68 kilos, and was 168 cm. tall. In 1923 he was hired as a trainer at the S. Paulo Boxing Club on rua Brigadeiro Galvão, n. 167. He had matches with another Omori opponent (in 1932), Tavares Crespo.

Both, as well as other boxers of less than the highest caliber, also participated in luta livre contests, Ervin Klausner and Ismael Haki being among the better known.
13

The September 15 Omori versus Jack Marin fight lasted
three rounds as stipulated in the contract. Near the end of a 5-minute over-time period [
prorogação
], Omori “managed to impose his superiority,” thereby winning the fight. The specific technique he used was not mentioned. It is not clear what type of fight it was for that matter. The headline to the result report read “
Box e Jiu-Jitsu
’” [boxing and jiu-jitsu]. That may have referred to the fact that Marin was best known as a boxer.

It also might have been an error in the page make-up, something that was not uncommon. In any event, Marin lost the fight. Despite that, observers felt that Marin had given Omori his toughest fight so far.
14

While waiting for his chance to even
the score with Geo Omori, Rogerio took on another Japanese jiu-jitsu champion by the name of M. Gotto. On this occasion Rogerio was described not as the national luta Greco-romana champion but rather as the São Paulo luta livre champion. The date was  Monday September 17, 1928. The place was Circo Queirolo.

Rogerio was on offense from the beginning to the moment, 22 minutes later, when he applied a “
gravata kimono
” [kimono headlock] on Gotto and took him to the ground unconscious and seriously injured [
sem sentidos e gravemente contundido
]. According to the report, Rogerio demonstrated that he belongs to a race of strong people who can excel in any sport, including those of the land of the geishas [
até os da terra das geishas
]. The approximately 2,000 spectators gave Rogerio a warm round of applause.
15

Rogerio’s September 24 date with Geo Omori was described as a “tie-breaker” [
embate-desforra
], despite the fact that the previous two fights ended in Omori’s favor. The fight was scheduled to take on Monday, September 24. It would be a 30-minute one-round fight, with no time outs. A medal and all prize money of
3 contos de reis
[three thousand
reis
] would go to the winner.

Omori fought and beat Rogerio again in 1929. Given his track record, it is a reasonable bet that he won the third match, assuming that it was not “postponed indefinitely”
, as well.
16

One of the Omori versus Rogerio matches might have what was described in a September 1928
Time
magazine article
17
as a “wrestling match” in a one-ring circus, in São Paulo. One combatant was a “gigantic nameless Bahian Negro” fighting “after the manner of capoeira”, a “national style of fighting that included “blows as well as grips”. His opponent was a ‘small….Jap’ name also unknown, using  a style of combat peculiar to his nation; Jiu Jitsu, the gentle and famous art of making an opponent use his strength to encompass his own defeat”. If not Rogerio and Geo Omori, then it might have been Okido and Zacharias. Omori and Rogerio were in fact the best known “mixed” fighters, but they weren’t alone, as we will see below.

Jiu-Jitsu versus Capoeiragem

Omori had not been taking it easy. His next match was against a capoeira named Oswaldo Caetano Vasques (also known as “
o Balaca capoeira carioca
”), who was said to be the most fearsome capoeira in the famous Morro favela in Rio [
o mais temido dos capoeiras do afamado Morro da Favela do Rio
]. It was specifically advertised as “Capoeira contra Jiu-Jitsu”.

The fight took place
Friday October 19, 1928 at rua Formosano. 20-A, Praça do Correio (Tel: 4-4265). The current installment of the
Sã
o Paulo Amateur Luta Romana Championship [
Campeonato Paulista de luta romana para amadores
], sponsored by the
S. Paulo Jornal
,
was also presented.
18

Fight promoters had already learned than ethnic rivalries stimulate fan interest, especially in places, like
Brazil, with diverse “
colonias
” [ethnic or immigrant communities]. It was rare that a fighters’ ethnic background was not highlighted, and probably to some extent modified to appeal to the local communities, the above mentioned case of Jack (Jacque) Marin being an example. Promoters apparently felt that a style versus style fight would do the same. Vasques was the
nacional
[Brazilian] representing the
jogo nacional
[capoeiragem] against the
jogo nipponica
[jiu-jitsu] of the Japanese champion.

The promoter’s hunch had been well-founded. The fight aroused keen interest and was covered in detail. Capoeiragem partisans pinned high hopes on Vasques. The public had become accustomed to fights with “irregularities”
, reporters commented, but believed that Vasques’ mastery of capoeiragem [
perfeito conhecedor da inegualavel arma brasileira
] gave him a good chance of beating Omori [
perfeitamente capaz de vencer
].

Reporters complained about the exorbitant prices and inadequate facilities. The main event, Vasques versus Omori was set for four 3
-minute “
assaltos
” [rounds]. The fighter’s weights were not indicated, but simply that Vasques had a considerable advantage.

After two preliminary bouts, Omori and Vasques confronted each other. The fans were excited. As reporters described the fight, it wasn’t just the Japanese versus the Brazilian, it was also a demonstration of the efficiency of jiu-jitsu versus capoeiragem, whose Brazilian-ness was emphasized as a source of national pride [
efficiencia de uma arma perigosa, como o jiu-jitsu, e da capoeira, insuperal, genuinamente nossa e que constitue um legitimo orgulho para nós brasileiros
].

In the first round. Omori was serene and unworried. Although this was his first public fight, Vasques also did not seem nervous. Both wore kimonos, to the disadvantage of the capoeira (the reporter explained), because the advantage of capoeiragem is distance. Once he is grabbed, he loses his “
efficiencia
”.