Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) (19 page)

Carlos was more Japanese than the Japanese when it came to maintaining traditions that worked to his advantage. But he could also be very nationalistic when that suited his purpose.

Omori and Carlos had different points of view about the kimono. The writer asked Omori about his next opponent, Manoel Fernandes, the luta livre champion of the local Portuguese colony. Fernandes wanted to fight Omori, but with luta livre rules, or rather mixed rules. Omori could use jiu-jitsu rules, and Ferndandes would use luta livre rules. Either way, luta livre rules, or mixed rules, neither was anything new to Omori. [“
aceito ao condi
cõ
es imposts por Manoel Fernandes
”]. He didn’t want Fernandes to complain later that he lost because of the rules [“
Acho que elle
nã
o tem ra
zã
o a suas desculpas
sã
o terdias
”]. Omori was confident about his jiu-jitsu [“
confio no jiu-jitsu e ist
o
é a bastante
”], but acknowledged that defeat was not impossible. “Win or lose, I know how to be a sportsman,” he declared [“
Vencedor ou vencido, saberei ser sportsman
”].
104

The writer ask
ed Omori who is the best professional jiu-jitsu man in Japan? “Despite his age, Toku is the best” [
o exponente maximo do jiu-jitsu
] Omori said. The writer asked about Roberto Ruhmann, the
Sã
o Paulo strongman and pro wrestler, who Omori had recently fought. Omori said, “Strong arms, relatively weak legs”. Ruhmann was one of the many fighters in
Sã
o Paulo whom he beat under luta livre rules he explained, possibly forgetting that he had lost to Ruhmann six months earlier on June 13.

As Fernandes pointed out a bit
later, one of the luta livre rules that was at issue, and would be many times in the future, was
encostamento dos espaduas
[pinning the shoulders]. In luta livre but not jiu-jitsu, one could win the match by holding the opponent’s shoulders flat on the ground. It was convenient for maximizing the pay-off for a mixed fight. After losing the first fight by rules outside his specialty, the loser could reasonably ask for a rematch using the rules of his own art. Even if there was no rematch, a loser could plausibly spin his defeat into some sort of victory.

One of the capoeira partisans who challenged the Gracies after their dubious jiu-jitsu versus capoeiragem
tournament was Mario Aleixo. Being middle-aged, he challenged Carlos, the oldest of the brothers. Carlos accepted, but then somehow found a reason why he couldn’t fight and substituted George instead. “I challenged Carlos Gracie but I’m going to fight George. He [Carlos] accepted my challenge, however he then asked me to fight George”, Aleixo complaimed.
105

Aleixo was not pleased with this
development, but perhaps thinking that his knowledge of jiu-jitsu would compensate for the considerable age disadvantage, decided to go ahead with it. The fight was initially scheduled for October 8,
106
postponed to October 15, then again to October 22, due to an injury to Aleixo’s ankle.
107
Eventually he recovered and the fight was re-scheduled for December 3, 1931.
108

Capoeiragem versus Jiu-Jitsu

The Mario Aleixo versus George Gracie confrontation was greatly anticipated. Aleixo was regarded as a great star of capoeiragem [
um grande astro de capoeiragem
].
109
Previous jiu-jitsu versus capoeiragem tests were widely viewed as
logros
[frauds], and the representatives of the national game as “medicore fighters who only know how to play act” [“
capoeiras medicores, que
só
sabem fazer enscen
a
ç
õ
es
”].
110

It was expected that Aleixo would deal devastating justice to the pretensions of the jiu-jitsu cartel. At the same time, fans hoped to see George redeem the family name after Carlos
’ pitiful performance in August against Manoel Rufino.
111

The
bases
[rules] for the fight were negotiated in a meeting of all concerned including promoter J. Correira, at 5:00 p.m., Monday October 5.
112
The rules were made public on October 10. The fight would consist of five 5-minute rounds with 1-minute breaks between rounds. George would wear a kimono. Aleixo would wear the type of shirt that sailors wore [
blusa simples de marinheiro
]. All techniques of each style would be permitted except attacks to the eyes and genitals, chops, punches, slaps, and pulling the hair [
se
rã
o permitidos todos os golpes comuns a cada escola, menos nos olhos, partes genitais, cutelada, socos, bofetadas e agarra pelos cabelos
].

In other words, the fight was (expected to be) jiu-jitsu versus legs.

The fight would be decided by knock-out (or unconsciousness), or any form of “
desistencia
”, including tapping or leaving the ring. Also, Aleixo would be declared the winner if he managed to cleanly knock George down three times. Finally, if the fighters made contact with the ropes [
cordas
] they would be conducted back to the center of the ring.
113

Afficionados of capoeiragem pinned their hopes on Aleixo, who in turn promised to
repeat Cyriaco’s feat [“
vou repitir o feito do Cyriaco
”]. On the day of the fight he re-emphasized his intention: “I want to, I can, and I will repeat Cyriaco’s feat” [“
quero, posso e vou repetir o feito de Cyriaco
“].
114

Aleixo had apparently studied Cyriaco
’s game plan which he described in the following terms: “Cyriaco took the posture necessary to avoid being clinched, a precaution that has been ignored by the capoeiras who were beaten recently”. When his opponent [Sada Miyako] got close, Cyriaco unleased the fatal blow. There is nothing else that I plan to do. Needless to say, George Gracie will not touch me”. In that case, he didn’t see defeat on the horizon [“
não e crivel, pois, que eu seja derrotado
”].

George had a different view
. He explained, “the stage at the Republica is big but not enough to run. If he stays in the ring, I will grab him. When I do, Aleixo will be defeated quickly and completely”. They both agreed that the key to the fight was distance. Aleixo was confident that he could maintain it, George was equally confident that he could close it.
115

The fight took place
Sunday December 3, 1931 at Theatro Republica, on avenida Gomes Friere, 82, in Rio.

Massacre

It was a major let-down. Aleixo had been over-confident. Far from repeating Cyriaco’s feat, he couldn’t apply a single technique. He was helpless. It was a massacre [
Mario Aleixo
foi fragorosamente derrotado
].

Diairo de Noticias
described the fight in the following terms. “The ring performance of Mario Aleixo, professor of capoeiragem and a former jiu-jitsu teacher to the civil guards, was worse than it is possible to describe. Mario Aleixo didn’t apply a single technique of capoeiragem and didn’t know how to take advantage of the opportunities that he had. He seemed like a neophyte in front of George Gracie, and approached him imprudently”.

In the first round George
Gracie attempted a
gravata
. Mario Aleixo managed to pull his head out. Nothing else happened. Aleixo’s major mistake was trying to play George’s game. In the second round, Aleixo stood in front of George, keeping him off with kicks to the lower leg [
ponta
pé
sobre a tibia
]. George fell [or deliberately dropped to the ground]. Aleixo followed him and tried to apply a
gravata
. He was on top.

The writer didn
’t mention whether George had his legs in play, but from the rest of the account, it seems clear that he did.

With George still on the bottom, Aleixo initiated a light exchange of slaps [
sopapos
]. George went for another
gravata
, possibly as a feint. He then sweeped Mario Aleixo [
fazendo uma ligeiro volta sobre Mario Aleixo
], and immediately applied an “efficient armlock”. The fight was over.
116

“
It was a pathetic performance. George Gracie beat Mario Aleixo but it wasn’t a victory for jiu-jitsu over capoeiragem, because there was no capoeiragem in the fight. If Mario Aleixo had fought like a capoeira, the outcome would have been very different. Rest in Peace Mario Aleixo.”
117

There were three other fights. In the first of two capoeiragem matches, Jack defeated Miguel (or Waldemar, according to
Correio da Man
hã
) by disqualificationin the third round. In the other, Euclydes (Velludinho) defeated Ma
né
por varias quedas
[throws] after five rounds. In their luta livre match, Jayme Martins Ferreira and Geo Smith drew [
empatou
].
118
Diario da Noite
felt that Ferreira and Smith seemed to be afraid of each other and didn’t exchange a single luta livre blow during the 15-minute fight, which was a disgraceful bomb [
um fracasso vergonhoso
]. The police should hold the fighter’s purses in the future to discourage such incidents, the paper suggested.
119

Capoeiragem Undefeated

Diario de Noticias
followed up the next day with more detailed analysis of the fight and some transparently weak excuse making, for both Mario Aleixo and for capoeiragem.

Mario Aleixo was beaten as a poor jiu-jitsu fighter [
“
Mario Aleixo foi vencido comoum
má
o lutador de jiu-jitsu
”]. “George Gracie beat Mario Aleixo but jiu-jitsu didn’t beat capoeiragem. Mario Aleixo was defeated because he didn’t want to use capoeiragem. He preferred not to use a single technique of the Brazilian fight”.

Some people began to have doubts that Mario Aleixo really knew jiu-jitsu at all.

“Mario Aleixo did not fight as a true master would have done. From that it can be concluded that his knowledge of the Japanese game is limited. No real jiu-jitsu master would fight with his arms extended and his neck exposed”.
120

Even
after his lop-sided victory over the old master, the press didn’t want to give George his due. Even with his limiations as a jiu-jitsu fighter, Aleixo lasted into the second round, they pointed out. If Aleixo had been in the ring with Conde Koma, he wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds.
121

Analysts tried to figure out what Mario Aleixo had been thinking. Why
would a master of capoeiragem not use his superior skills, but instead try to beat his opponent at his own game? Moreover, it went without saying, the match was supposed to be “capoeiragem versus jiu-jistu”. It made no sense. The only explanation writers could come up with was that “Mario Aleixo wanted to demonstrate the quality of his jiu-jitsu knowledge”.
122
He seemed to want to show the public that he was not only a master of capoeiragem but also a jiu-jitsu expert.
123

Most
people had great confidence in capoeiragem. The problem wasn’t the national game, but rather the fake and weak capoeiras who were masters at putting on shows but could not even execute a single technique of the national game correctly. Some of them didn’t even know the difference between a
pantana
and a
rabo de arraia.
Their so-called “fights”
were nothing but clown acts [
palh
aç
adas
].

Until now, with the exception of Mario Aleixo, the Gracies had beaten flawed and limited capoeiras who lacked advanced
knowledge of the secrets of capoeiragem. Mario Aleixo knew these secrets, but he didn’t put them into practice against George Gracie. Sympathizers of jiu-jitsu had no right to boast that jiu-jitsu was superior to capoeiragem,
Diairo de Noticas
cautioned.
124

Enthusiasts of the national game had placed high hopes on Mario Aleixo. They had thought that he was a true master. They were profoundly
disappointed.
125
What made it even worse was that George looked like a child, with his blond hair, short pants, and skinny body.
126

The disillusion was complete. Everyone who saw the fight agreed without
reservation that Mario Aleixo had been demolished. They also agreed that the defeat was his alone. Mario Aleixo foolishly tried to match his middle-aged “jiu-jitsu” against George’s and came out second best. Capoeiragem had not been defeated because it had not been used.