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

the wrestlers fell out if the ring they should obey the referee’s instructions and get back in to the center of the ring, standing up, facing the opponent [ Se os lutadores cahirem fore do tapete, sem que nenhum delles tenha avisado, o sr. juiz deve obrigal-os a collocar-se, de novo no centro do acolchoado, em pé, frente a frente ].
    10. The judges may substitute for the referee [ Substituirão em suas obrigacões, ao sr. juiz, os srs jurado ].
    Desafio
    Conde Koma would later publicly offer 5,000 francs to anyone of any size or weight who could defeat him, and (sometimes) 500 francs for anyone who could survive 15 minutes without “desisting”. 10 His shows in São Paulo were advertised and plugged in every, or almost every, daily edition of the Correio Paulistano between Wednesday September 23 and Wednesday October 20. Ads and news items announced match-ups for the day or next day.
    Conde Koma’s offer to challengers was not included in any ad or item. That may account for why there were so few of them, in São Paulo at least. In fact, there was only one, on October 5, when Conde Koma was scheduled to confront Miguel Jorge.
    The troupe performed almost every day. As noted above, there were only five members in the troupe. Without amateur challengers, the performances would inevitably become repetitious and predictable. Results were not reported, except indirectly, when the match was a desempate [tie-breaker], or desempate de morte [tie-breaker of a tie-breaker]. Based on these limited results, it appears that most, possibly all, matches ended in draws. The matches that did occur were:
    On Saturday October 3 Koma and Satake fought a desempate (tie-breaker). This means that they had fought to a draw sometime in the previous week. 11
    On Sunday October 4 Conde Koma and Satake fought a desempate de morte [tie-breaker of a tie-breaker] indicating that the Saturday match had again been a draw [ empate ]. 12
    Koma was scheduled to face Turkish amateur Miguel Jorge on Monday October 5. 13 The result, if the match took place, was not subsequently mentioned.
    On Wednesday October 7 Akiyama and Satake squared off. 14
    On Friday October 9 Koma confronted Akiyama. 15
    Two matches were held on Sunday October 11. Matsura faced Satake, and Akiyama confronted Okura. 16
    On Monday October 12 Akiyama and Satake fought a tie-breaker [ desempate ], meaning that their meeting on October 7 had been an empate [draw]. 17
    On Tuesday October 13 Koma and Akiyama fought a desempate , meaning that their October 9 had been an empate . 18
    On Sunday October 18. Koma measured forces with Matsura. 19
    There were no reports of anyone winning or losing a match. In fact, few results were reported. We can only infer some of them from the fact that subsequent matches were described as desempates or desempate de morte . Perhaps São Paulo was a test-run for Rio, or possibly the troupe was short-handed for the needs of an extended engagement.
    A number of changes were made in the format by the time the re-constituted troupe arrived in Rio. Conde Koma’s 5,000 francos offer to anyone who could beat him was conspicuously publicized and more challengers showed up to test themselves and take a shot at the prize money. Results of the matches were more often reported and were more often discussed and analyzed. Upcoming matches were previewed and discussed. And quite a few matches ended in “finalizations”.
    The troupe stayed in São Paulo for more or less three weeks. With 12 or more participants, luta romana tournaments generally went on for several months.
    That was part of the key to luta romana and luta livre’s long-lasting popularity. There was no shortage of wrestlers. Jiu-jitsu fighters however were few in number. They had a virtual monopoly on the (jiu-jitsu) market. But there were not enough of them to keep a tournament under way for longer than a week or two.
    Jiu-jitsu could not compete with the luta romana people in terms in number and variety of