Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

traçar a perna ]. The techniques were posed by the Russian lady wrestler Schuwaloff, whose nickname was “Golden Girl” [“ Menina de Ouro “], assisted by Phillipi, among others including João Baldi and the Brazilian amateur lady wrestler, Nené. Only one permitted technique [ um lindo golpe ] was shown, a ceinture arriére [rear bear hug]. 24
    Two days later the same magazine showed world champion Giovanni Raicevich of Italy and Aimable de la Calmette of France, in the “ en garde ” [starting] positon. Each fighter had a grip on his opponent’s opposite-side wrist, with a collar tie. Also shown were former world champion Romanoff of Russia and Ruggero, Italian champion, in the “ en garde de tête ” [head to head position]. 25  Like football, luta romana was an easy game to understand and could be played almost anywhere. Other things being equal, exposure increases liking. That tended to make them popular.
    Luta romana continued to be a popular spectator sport until the late 1930’s when it was displaced as a form of spectator entertainment by luta livre and catch-as-catch-can, which, depending on the time and place, were sometimes seen as the same thing with different names, but sometimes as distinct forms of wrestling, each with its own rules. It was to the advantage of teachers and promoters to distinguish them, as it seemed to offer more variety. There were cases of two fighters engaging in a luta livre match one night and then a catch match a few days later, just as they would alternate between luta livre rules and jiu-jitsu rules, and for the same reason. The more “styles” there were, the more matches any two fighters could engage in without losing the fan’s interest and the easier it was for a fighter to remain “undefeated”.
    Boxing
    Savate had originally been devised as a less lethal alternative to dueling, using hands and feet rather than weapons. 26 Savate was sometimes included as a component of esgrima shows, which featured, in addition to rapiers [ florete ] and swords [ espada ] and other bladed weapons, more pedestrian objects such as canes [ bengala ] and sticks [ pau ].
    Savate was originally the art of punching and kicking. As early as 1862, savate had become specialized as “the game of legs” [ o jogo do pernas ]. Punching was a separate game [ o jogo do soccos ]. Probably the reasons were two: By separating them, shows would have greater variety and could be twice as long. In addition, the public was probably more impressed with flashy kicks than punches, which anyone could throw. This became fixed terminology when boxing arrived.
    Variously referred to as “box” , “luta de box”, “boxe”, or “Box Inglez”, boxing was the new, improved, specialized, and more widely accepted and practiced form of the jogo do soccos , with standardized and internationally recognized rules and an already well-established economic framework, with practicioners, both amateur and professional, from the developed countries and others, but especially Europe and North America. There was money in boxing, and the possibility of international prestige.
    Like luta romana, boxing was easy to understand. There were however some differences between the sport of boxing, in both amateur and professional guises, and their predecessor, “prize-fighting”. Brazilians were duly informed about them.
    The principles of boxing were described in 1909 to the general literate public in an article titled “ Box: Seus Principaes Golpes e Paradas ” [Boxing: The Principle Blows and Blocks] 27 in Revista da Semana . Thirteen pictures with captions described the major punches, positions, and movements, including the Bob Fitzimmons shift punch (high right followed by outside step and left to solar plexus), and some general training information, such as how to spar, what size gloves are worn and so on.
    Boxing matches were occasionally staged in Rio following the same format set by luta romana. The first