The Gracie Clan and the Making of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: National Identity, Culture and Performance, 1905 - 2003 By Jose Cairus A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ©2012 Permission has been granted to a) YORK UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES to lend or sell copies of this dissertation in paper, microfilm or electronic formats, and b) LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA to reproduce, lend, distribute, or sell copies of this dissertation anywhere in the world in microform, paper or electronic formats and to authorize or procure the reproduction, loan, distribution or sale of copies of this dissertation anywhere in the world in microfilm, paper or electronic formats. Abstract The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission. ii iii Abstract This dissertation examines the transformation of a modernized Japanese school of martial arts, alternatively known as jiu-jitsu or Kodokan judo, into a Brazilian combat sport. It encompasses jiu-jitsu’s introduction in the early 1900s, the creation of a native style in the following decades and its globalization under the hybrid form known as “Brazilian jiu-jitsu.” The adoption of jiu-jitsu in the military is part of a larger project of modernization conceived by the Brazilian elite aiming to provide the emergent middle-classes with innovative fitness trends. Around the World War I, however, a branch of the Gracies, a Scottish cum Rio de Janeiro family with genteel pretensions, joined a troupe of Japanese martial artists and adopted jiu-jitsu as part of their circus act. In the following decades, the Gracies supported by their upper class peers and by a nationalist regime, launched a comprehensive process of jiu-jitsu reinvention that evolves into a hybrid combat sport exported worldwide at the end of the twentieth century. Using sources such as state and private archives, newspapers and magazines this study suggests that the making of Brazilian jiu-jitsu through the agency of the Gracie family reflect historical constructed values stemming from a patriarchal culture, social and racial inequality and nationalism. iv Dedication To my father, Omar, to my mother, Luiza, to my brothers, Omar Junior and Marco and to my father-in-law Jorge (all in memoriam). To my beloved wife, Khadija Brigitte, to my brave son Yunus and to my daughter, ya nour el-ain, Hana Barjut, all of whom tenaciously shouldered the burden of this over-stretched journey. v Acknowledgements I am in debt to many people who, in a way or another, have contributed to this dissertation. Yet I would like to thank particularly and foremost my supervisor Anne G. Rubenstein as well as the members of my advisory committee, Michele A. Johnson and Nicholas C. Rogers for their invaluable support and guidance along the way. I am also grateful to Carolyn Podruchny, Director of the Graduate Program in History, who gave me much needed moral support in the final stages of my dissertation. My work made me meet amazing people and profit from their insightful feedback on my topic. In Toronto, I was fortunate to find help from colleagues (and friends) like Ricardo Sternberg, David Sheinin, Francis Peddie, Frank de Luce, Gillian McGillivray, and Orde Morton among many others. In Brazil my network of friends encouraged me to finish my work and write the first doctoral dissertation about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I would like to mention a few names starting with my longtime friend, Denys Darzi. Then, my dear friends currently living and teaching in Chicago whose story inspired my Brazilian jiu-jitsu's showcase: André Terêncio, and his wife, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu virtuosi Hannette Staack. On the Gracies side, I must mention Robson Gracie for his colorful and relevant information about his clan. I cannot forget to thank Rildo Eros de Medeiros vi for his sharing of unpublished material on the Gracies and the Japanese in the Amazon. Another important contributor was the diplomat and Kodokan judo master, João Gilberto de Souza. He provided me with precious information about the early stages of jiu-jitsu in Japan and enriched my work by sharing his personal experience with the Gracies. This became so relevant that I included it in form of vignette placed in the opening of my last chapter. My special gratitude to my father's friend and martial arts “lineage disciple,” the army paratrooper lieutenant-colonel (retired) Manoel Pacheco, who shared with me his personal participation in the martial arts realm during the military rule in Brazil. vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. iv Dedication .............................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements............................................................................................... vi Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 A Brazilian jiu-jitsu showcase .............................................................................................. 6 The Gracie – jiu-jitsu connection ........................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1 - Modernization and nationalism: the origin of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, 1905-1920 ................................................................................................................... 24 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 24 Round 1: Japanese jiu-jitsu versus Brazilian Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro’s Belle Époque, 1909 .................................................................................................................................... 25 Round 2: Kodokan judo versus Capoeira in the Brazilian Amazon, 1915 ......................... 30 Turn of the century modernization: Navy and Japanese jiu-jitsu........................................ 35 Japanese jiu-jitsu in the Amazon: Enter the Gracies ........................................................... 44 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 2 - Between tradition and modernity: the birth of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, 1921-1934 ................................................................................................................... 60 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 60 We are refined people! ........................................................................................................ 61 We are authorities! .............................................................................................................. 62 The Gracies’ predicament ................................................................................................... 63 The Gracies’ social redemption through Japanese jiu-jitsu ................................................ 65 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 3 - Nationalism, immigration and identity: the making of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, 1934-1943 ................................................................................................... 87 Round 1: A “fight of honor,” George Gracie versus Yano Takeo ...................................... 87 Round 2: Jiu-jitsu, football and dictatorship, Rio de Janeiro, 1937 .................................... 89 viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 91 The Gracies versus the Japanese martial artists: fighting for jiu-jitsu’s supremacy ........... 93 Public performance, Politics and the Gracies' patriarchy ................................................. 104 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 117 Chapter 4 - Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the mainstream: media, ethnicity and populism, 1951-1960 ................................................................................................................. 120 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 120 Round 1: Hélio Gracie’s “moral victory,” Rio de Janeiro, 1951 ...................................... 122 Round 2: ............................................................................................................................ 125 Y.M.C.A Gymnasium, Rio de Janeiro, 1955 - “The black man with a black soul” ......... 125 The Gracies’ return: Challenging African-Americans pugilists but fighting Japanese martial artists ..................................................................................................................... 126 The final gentrification of jiu-jitsu’s space and style ........................................................ 144 The creation of Hélio Gracie’s patriarchy ......................................................................... 149 The racial showdown: Hélio Gracie versus Waldemar Santana ......................................