14.01.2007 Helio Gracie, part 2In this second chapter, we go back almost 80 years and cover the first half of Master Helio Gracie's life.
Written by Luca Atalla
HE BECAME A NATIONAL HERO FOR MEMORABLE FIGHTS, AGAINST ADVERSARY’S WEIGHING OVER 100 KGS, HIMSELF WEIGHING ONLY 60 KG, AS WAS RECORDED. PEOPLE CAME FROM JAPAN, IMAGINE. FIGHTS WITHOUT RULES, ASTONISHING. "A TIME WHEN THE NEWSPAPERS DID NOT HAVE MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT," THE CHARACTER HIMSELF JUSTIFIES. THE WRITER DRAWS HIS OWN CONCLUSIONS.
Spring of 1951. We are talking about a half-century ago, when a team of Japanese fighters, sponsored by the Jornal São Paulo Shimbum (São Paulo Shimbum Newspaper), that included the Jiu-Jitsu champions Kato and Kimura, went to Brazil. The latter, number one in the Land of the Rising Sun, had gone undefeated for 13 years. The scheduled fight was between Helio Gracie and Kato. “They came to beat me, they were the favorites,” remembers Helio. “They arrived with the reputation of being champions of the world, and in such a way that I could not even intend to beat them. I was from Brazil, and was curious about their Jiu-Jitsu. I wanted to lose to Kimura, not to Kato. But he said: ‘You are very light, and what I will do to you, Kato can do.’ As I had that conviction that there was no way the guy could get me - I was under the impression my Jiu-Jitsu was invincible -, and my brother Carlos argued: ‘Helio, fight this Kato, because you will win and get to fight twice rather than once,' and I ended up accepting the fight.”
The fight took place in the brand new Mario Filho stadium, the Maracanã, the biggest stadium in the world, built for the Soccer World Cup of the previous year. It was the 6th of September, and the ‘OGlobo’ newspaper of the day posted Helio’s declaration on the first page: “Today I will carry out my greatest endeavor, which is to face an element of such tremendous prestige as Kato, 5th degree black belt of only 22 years of age.” It happened that, one week earlier, Helio had fractured two ribs, during a training session with the marine gunner Marinho. But he did not want to postpone the fight, as recorded by the journalist Jose Amadio, then editor-in-chief of the Assis Chateaubriant group, which included such newspapers as "Diarios Associados" and the magazine “O Cruzeiro”: “I’ll fight any way I can. Nobody will say I’m running away.” Helio declared. The fight ended in a draw, after three ten minute rounds. Helio insisted on saying he took a beating, by suffering more than 20 takedowns. The newspapers at the time interpreted it differently. “So we arrive at the end of the first round, without seeing the Japanese fulfill his promise of winning easily and Helio, cold as ice, is already familiar with his adversary's moves. (...) And Kato was only not beaten by pulling his attacker out of the ring, which provoked boos from the audience." (O GLobo 7-9-51).
The fact is that Kato himself was not satisfied and proposed a revenge match, which took place in São Paulo on the 29th of the same month. Five days earlier, Helio, accompanied by his brother Carlos and student Pedro Hemeterio, left for the capital of the state by car. But not without first declaring: “I know what I will face. I duly studied Kato’s possibilities, and I can give this warning: victory, this time, is in my plans.” As we will see in greater detail ahead, the result was no different but the Brazilian’s performance was impressive, despite Helio having been 17 years older and 15 kilos lighter. Helio was then coming close to ending his career as a fighter, but continued to be the answer to the test of the fundamental enigma of
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