Free Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) by Roberto Pedreira

troupe in Rio.
    The Koma troupe debut performance was an astounding success [ successo assombroso ]. 6 But they had stiff competition. On the night of their debut and every night, Paulistas had abundant entertainment options. If they didn’t care for fights, they could see the operatta A Gran duqueza de Gerolstein at Segreto’s Apollo Theatro on rua D. Jose de Barros. They could watch a four-act play called “ Sherlock Holmes: O amador policial ” at the Palace Theatre (on avenida Brigadeiro Luiz Antonio, n. 69). They could watch A Conflagração Europea , and Ciumes ma reprimides , and As duas maes , at the Iris Theatre. 7 If that didn’t suit them, The S. Jose was presenting a variety of operettas and reviews. The Jockey Club Paulistano presented horse racing at Hippodromo Paulistano. The Frontão Boa Vista at rua Boa Vista no. 48 presented Grande funcção Sportiva, Quiniela de Honra . Football and target shooting [ tiro ] were also available.
    People who had leisure time and disposable income did not have to go far to find entertainment. Performers from all corners of the world came to them. Mostly they came from Europe and North America. Japan was still exotic and vaguely mysterious, including its scientific form of fighting, “jiu-jitsu” (invariably written with quotation marks). Conde Koma and his troupe of jiu-jitsu fighters were worth seeing, not just because they were national or world champions. Every fighter on the stages of São Paulo and Rio was a champion of some sort. That was taken for granted. But Conde Koma and his men were unique. There were so few of them.
    Their game of defense may have been mysterious to Paulistas but their show was not hard to understand.
    The Koma troupe’s shows in São Paulo were probably very similar to the shows they put on not long after, in Maranhão. A typical show involved (1) the monetary offer, (2) introduction of Koma and the troupe, (3) Koma’s invitation to spectators who wanted to test him, (4) demonstrations of self-defense techniques, (5) demonstrations of winning jiu-jitsu competition techniques, (6) demonstrations of prohibited techniques, and finally (7) a match between two troupe members. 8
    The rules of a jiu-jitsu fight, or at least the rules used by Conde Koma, were also probably the same as those that were publicized a few months later for their Rio appearances at Segreto’s Theatro Carlos Gomes. 9 They were as follows:
    1. The wrestlers should be clean and cut their finger and toe nails [ Todo lutador deverá se apresentar decente, com as unhas das mãos e dos pes perfeitamente cortadas ].
    2. The should wear a kimono, provided by Conde Koma [ Deverá usar trage kimono, que o conde Koma lhe facilitará ].
    3. Biting, scratching, head-butting, and punching were prohibited [ Não e permittido morder, arranhar, pegar com a cabeça ou com a punho ].
    4. When using the foot, the curved part rather than the pointed part should be used [ Quando se fizer uso do pé, nunca se fará com a ponta e sim com a curva ].
    5. A fighter would not be considered to be defeated by pinning his shoulders to the mat [ Não se considerá vencido, o que tenha as espaduas em terre ainda que tenha cahido primeiro ].
    6. Fighters should indicate that they give up by tapping three times on the ground or the opponent’s body [ O que considerá vencido, o demonstrará dando tres palmadas sobre o acolchoado e sobre o corpo do adversario ].
    7. The referee would declare a fighter beaten if it appeared that he was unable to tap three times under his own volition [ O juiz considerá vencido o que effeito da luta não se recorde que deve dar tres palmadas ].
    8. Rounds would be five minutes with 2-minute breaks between rounds. The referee would count the minutes in a loud voice so that the fans could hear [ As lutas se dividirão em rounds ou encontros de 5 minutos, por 2 de descanço. Tendo o juiz de campo que contra os minutos em voz alta para maior comprehensão do publico ].
    9. If