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**falcon3624** · 06-20-2003, 07:09 AM

In 1952, at the gym next to the largest soccer stadium in Rio, the fight began. The rules were based on using judo gi's (No strikes). Invincible Helio was 45 years old, 63 kilos. Kimura at 93 kilos.

That is the true weight that Helio was at that fight. In case you are wondering that would mean that Helio weighed in at 138lbs. and Kimura weighed in at 205lbs. This would mean that Helio was giving up about 67lbs. of weight to Kimura not to mention the fact that Helio was 45yrs. old. Now how many people out there could have overcomed those odds to have even lasted a minute, that is what I think is impressive. Not to mention the fact that even after Helio's arm was broken by Kimura he still refused to tap out.

**swan104** · 06-20-2003, 08:07 AM

Sounds interesting. What was the name of Kimura's book?

**falcon3624** · 06-20-2003, 09:02 AM

I don't know the name of his book cuz I never read it. I just know that match was not exactly a fair one considering that Kimura was younger, bigger, stronger, and in better shape.

**Great Sage** · 06-20-2003, 09:16 AM

Oh, get off it guys... Helio's ego was such that he claimed to be able to defeat anyone regardless of size, weight, age, height, etc...

Kimura would go on to defeat two more YOUNG Gracies while in his 40's. How's that for overcoming the odds? Don't knock a man down just because you can't beat him.

**Toudiyama[NL]** · 06-20-2003, 09:29 AM

Helio was too proud to tap out but what is wiser, not apping out and having your arm broken or swallow your pride and leave relatively intact?

I you read the piece properly then you see Kimo has respect for Helio, he doesn't diss him in any way

**falcon3624** · 06-20-2003, 09:36 AM

And Helio does not talk poorly about Kimura. I mean he even named the move that Kimura put him in after him and it is still used today in BJJ........one of my favorite moves.

**Great Sage** · 06-20-2003, 09:45 AM

Here's what is posted at a Gracie website. You will see that it is a sympathetic response to losing. The Gracies always have to lose with grace... However, when they defeat someone they go on about how useless that person's techniques are.

Helio Gracie vs. Masahiko Kimura

It was October 23, 1951. The fight day between Helio Gracie and Masahiko Kimura had finally arrived and the sold out crowd at Maracana Stadium was thundering.

The fight began and the two men immediately went to a clinch. Helio felt Kimura begin to launch his patented shoulder throw, and Helio went limp, relaxing his body completely. He knew he would never be able to resist the throw. Kimura had perfected the move by wrapping his belt around a tree and trying to throw it, slammimg his hips and back against the tree until they were raw from the countless repetitions. Helio knew that he would be a lot easier to throw than that tree had been, especially since he weighed only 140 pounds.

Helio hoped that as Kimura put everything he had into the throw, he would be knocked off balance when Helio offered no resistance. His strategy worked. As Kimura threw Helio to the ground, he stumbled and fell to the mat from the force of his own throw. He landed on top of Helio and the fight was on.

At one point, Kimura clamped Helio into a dojime (waist vice), scissoring Helio's chest with his legs and pinning one of Helio's arms to his side as he pulled hard on Helio's collar. The move was effective. As Helio worked to escape, he passed out from the pressure on his chest. He woke up seconds later to find Kimura sitting on his chest, wiping the sweat off his forehead and complimenting Helio for being able to resist the move -- Helio had passed out with his eyes open, and Kimura had not realized he had rendered Helio unconscious!

As the fight passed the three minute mark, the spectators began to chant "It's over, it's over.." in response to Kimura's statement that Helio should consider himself the winner if the fight lasted longer than three minutes, since no one outside of Japan ever lasted that long.

Late in the first round, Kimura clamped a crunching headlock on Helio so hard that a blood vessel in Helio's ear burst and blood ran out onto Kimura's sleeve. Kimura released the hold a little to see if Helio was all right. Helio signaled that he was, and Kimura clamped the hold back on and the fight continued.

The first round ended and, after a short rest, both men went at it again. Three minutes into the second round, Kimura caught Helio in an arm lock. Helio was struggling to get free when his brother and cornerman, Carlos, threw in the towel. Carlos said he was concerned that Helio may not tap, and wanted to save his arm.

Helio Gracie's fight with Kimura was a testament to the effectiveness of the techniques he had improvised and developed since the Gracie family learned Jiu-Jitsi from Esai Maeda. Kimura was so impressed with Helio's fighting technique that he invited him to teach at the Imperial Academy of Japan. Helio declined this invitation, but was honored by the gesture.

Helio Gracie, a living example of the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle, celebrated his 89th birthday on October 1, 2001. He continues to travel frequently to the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California where he loves to spend his time teaching and training his students here.

**tkdkid** · 06-20-2003, 07:37 PM

the match wasnt fair?...Kimura fought under BJJ rule ina soft mat. In a judo rule match, Helio would've had concussions from the throws by Kimura. Either way both athletes are fighters of the century but Gracies should learn to accept the loss...in 1996 helio finally admitted his arm was broken by Kimura when he couldn't hide the fact any longer. This is a part about Kimura in a vale tudo fight.

In March 1955, I went to Mexico to do pro wrestling match. 8 months later, I went to France to teach judo during the daytime and do pro wrestling at night. I did the same in London. After spending 1 year in Paris and London, respectively, I went to Spain to teach judo and do pro wrestling matches, and stayed there for 4 months. I then went back to Paris to teach judo for 1 week, and went back to Japan in January 1958. As soon as I arrived at Kumamoto station, I was surprised to see 80 to 90 dressed up women all lined up. I wonder if any celebrity has arrived in town. My question was soon solved. Sugiyama, Vice President of "Cabaret Kimura", had lined up the hostesses. Before I left for Mexico, I had him manage the cabaret. While working as the owner of the cabaret, I contacted pro wrestling promoters in London, France, Germany, and Brazil, Mr. Takeo Yano in Brazil replied to me immediately. He was from Kumamoto Prefecture, and was also a graduate of Chinsei Junior High, 8 years senior to me. I decided to go to Brazil again.

(39) "If you refuse to fight today, the angry audiences will set fire on the arena. If this arena got burnt to ash, I would make you accountable for the damage." The promoter glared at me. "Don't be ridiculous.", Yano quickly replied, and continued, "The doctor told him not to fight. He is in no condition to fight. The match should be postponed." I had sprained my left knee when I demonstrated judo techniques in Rio De Janeiro. But the arena was already full, and over 5000 people were waiting outside the arena. The start time of the match had already passed. The audiences were booing. To the promoter, money is more important than my injury. Eventually, I and Yano were taken to a room where 3 black policemen were gathering. A small man then came out from behind the policemen, and said to me, "You are a Japanese, Mr. Kimura, aren't you? My father is also a Japanese. A while ago, a boxer became unable to show up for a fight due to an injury. The audiences then got angry and set fire on the building. The building was burnt to ash. No one knows who set the fire. Moreover, the boxer got shot with a pistol on his way home. He got killed instantaneously. Nobody knows who shot him either. Mr. Kimura, you'd better show up for the fight. Even if you may lose, it is better than getting shot to death.". He also added that he was the only Japanese in this town, and all the rest are blacks.

(40) Now I had to make a decision. My opponent Adema Santana was a 25 year old black man, and was a boxing heavy weight champion. He was 4th dan in judo, and a capoeira champion as well. He was 183cm had a well proportioned impressive physique. His weight was close to 100kg. Bahia, where the match took place, is a port city where black slaves were unloaded. The slaves were forbidden to carry a weapon. As a result, many martial arts were developed by them, I heard. Vale Tudo is one of such martial arts. In the south of Sao Paulo, pro wrestling is popular. But the farther one goes to the north, the more popular Vale Tudo becomes. Helio Gracie, whom I had previously fought, was the champion in Vale Tudo. But Adema Santana challenged him last year (Note: 1957), and after 2 hours and 10 min, Helio got kicked in the abdomen, could not get up, and got knocked out. Thus, Adema had become the new champion. In Vale Tudo, no foul is allowed. 1 foul results in an immediate disqualification. No shoes are allowed. When the fighters are separated, they are not allowed to strike with a fist, and they have to use open hand strikes. But once they get in contact with each other, every type of strike is allowed but groin strikes. All types of throws and joint locks are legal. The winner is decided when one of the fighters is KO'd or surrenders. Biting and hair pulling were illegal. Since bare knuckle punches are traded, taking direct 2 or 3 hits in the eye means the end of the fight. I was told there have been many cases in which a fighter got hit in the eye with an elbow, and the eyeball popped out from the socket by half, and got carried to the hospital by an ambulance. Therefore, there were always 2 ambulances at the entrance of the arena.

(41) "I have no choice. I will fight.", I said. Then, the promoter grinned, took out a form and told me to sign it. Yano translated the content, which said, "Even if I die in this match, it is what I intended, and will not make anyone accountable for my death.". I nodded, and signed the form. On my way to the ring, someone raised his arm and waved at me. It was Helio Gracie, whom I had not seen for several years. Helio was at the radio broadcast seat. He was the commentator of the match. The gong rang. Adema and I circled the ring first. I lightly extended my fingers in a half-body posture, and prepared for his kicks. Adema, also in a half-body posture, had tucked his chin, tightened his underarms, as he would do in a boxing match. Once in a while, he delivered high kicks to my face. I blocked the kicks with my hands, and returned a kick with my right leg. Adema started to deliver right and left round house kicks. I stepped back and dodged them, but suddenly, I received a fire-like impact on my face. It was an open hand strike. I had overlooked his hand motion, paying too much attention to his kicks. When I got hit in the temple, and the core of my head became blur, left and right round house kicks came. When I blocked his right kick with my left hand, a tremendous pain ran through from the tip of the little finger to the back of the hand. I had jammed the finger. I traded kicks with him. The entire audiences were standing with excitement. Even in this situation, I was able to think clearly. While I was thinking "Adema is one level higher than I both in kicks and open hand strikes. In order to win, I must take the fight to the ground.", another fast kick flew at my abdomen.

(42) I struck the kick down with left knife hand, and jumped in to deliver a head butt on his abdomen with a momentum that could penetrate through his body. This must have had an effect on him. He covered his abdomen, and stepped back while wobbling. I wanted to get close to him, throw him, get on top of him, and use Newaza. If I succeed in this, I could use elbow strikes and head butts. Adema recovered from the damage, and delivered a kick to my face again. I ducked the kick, and jumped in for a clinch. I got in a tight clinch to prevent him from using knee kicks or elbow strikes. We traversed along the rope. All of a sudden, I received a head cracking impact. I experienced a tremendous ear ringing, and got momentarily unconscious. I received a head butt on my left temple. It was a head butt from a side. I had thought that all the head butts would come from front. I never knew a side head butt. "I cannot lose here. I must win even if I may die.", I thought. Driven by this will power, I tried to find a way to fight back. The referee then came in between to separate us. We were already covered with blood. The fight was brought back to the center of the ring again. Adema threw a right open hand strike. I caught the arm and attempted Ippon-zeoi. It seemed like I could score a clean throw. However, it was a miscalculation. We were both heavily covered with sweat as if a large amount of water had been poured onto our heads. Moreover, he had no jacket on. There was no way such a technique could have worked under these conditions. His arm slipped through, and my body rotated in the air once forward, and landed on my back. "I screwed up!" I shouted in my mind, but it was too late. Adema immediately jumped at me. If he got on my chest, he could freely strike my eyes, nose, and chest with his elbows. I caught him in a body scissors. I squeezed his body with full force hoping to sever his intestine. Adema crumbled momentarily, but did not surrender. Since the body scissors did not finish him, I realized that I was in a disadvantageous position. When I lifted my head, hundreds of stars flew out of my eyes. I took a straight punch between my nose and my eyes. It was an accurate intense punch. The back of my head got slammed onto the mat.

(43) Moreover, an intense head butt attacked my abdomen. It felt like my organs would be torn into pieces. Once, twice, I hardened my abdominal muscles to withstand the impact, and waited for the 3rd attack. At the moment the 3rd head butt came, my right fist accurately caught Adema's face by counter. It landed between his nose and eyes. Blood splattered. I had also already been heavily covered with blood. The blood interfered with my vision. "Kill him, kill him!", the devil in my mind screamed. Adema wobbled, and stepped back, and tried to run with the ropes on his back. I chased him throwing kicks and open hand strikes. He returned head butts and elbow strikes. But, neither of us was able to deliver a decisive strike. Maybe we were both exhausted, or maybe the blood in our eyes prevented us from aiming clearly at the target. After all, the 40 min ran out, and the match ended in a draw. It was my first Vale Tudo experience. That night, my face was badly swollen. I had a number of cuts on my face. Every time I breathed, an excruciating pain ran through my belly, and could not sleep. I received an injection from a doctor, and cooled my belly with a cold towel all night. However, I learned a very important lesson in this fight. That is, one must never fear death. If I had not had the iron will to fight despite the possibility of getting killed, his head butts would have torn my intestine into pieces.

(44) I rested for 1 week after this match, and left Bahia for Sao Paulo. In Sao Paulo, a huge man named Gorigerello (Note: the spelling could be wrong) was waiting for me. He was 198 cm and 200 kg, and had tight and super strong muscles. One day, a judo 5th dan, who weighed about 120kg, tried to throw Gorigerello by Uchimata. Gorigerello then lifted up the judoka overhead at once. After this incident, his reputation as a man of unparalleled strength spread throughout Brazil. He always played the role of a heel in pro wrestling, but was well liked among the wrestlers as a gentle nice guy. One day, after I finished a pro wrestling match, Gorigerello came to see me. He said he fought many matches against judoka from Japan, but when he deposited his weight on the judoka as soon as the judoka tried to execute a throw, the judoka collapsed like a frog, and some of them got badly hurt in the lower back and got hospitalized. He then said, "I learned judo for about 6 years when I was a child. I was taught that the essence of judo is that a small man can throw a big man. I want you to show me real judo.". I had never practiced with such a big man. I spent 2 or 3 days thinking what techniques to use. One day, when my pro wrestling match ended early, I and Gorigerello stood at the center of a ring. All the audiences had gone home. The arena was empty.

(45) I, who is 170cm, looked like a child hanging on an adult no matter how I moved, and had no idea about where and how I should attempt a technique. Whenever he swung me with his hands, I wobbled side to side. When he pulled me up, my feet were lifted up in the air. He attempted Oh-soto-gari with his right leg. I withstood the pressure with full force. It was fortunate that he did not make transition from Oh-soto-gari to Oh-soto-otoshi using his weight. He followed with Oh-soto-gari, Oh-goshi, and Ashi-barai. I let him attack and concentrated on defense. He must have thought he was gaining the ground. He came forward with a momentum. I measured the timing and initiated Ippon-zeoi. His huge body was carried on my hip. He lost the center of gravity, rolled forward, and fell on his back. As he tried to get up, I threw him 3 more times in a row. He finally made a gesture of surrender, and said, "Thank you, real judo is wonderful, after all." repeatedly.

**tkdkid** · 06-22-2003, 11:25 PM

Kimura went great lenghts even in a Vale tudo fight which he was practically forced to fight..and he was just a judo master. these are exerpts from his book "my judo"...it's only in japanese but this guy translated some of it at stickgrappler.com.

**renzuku** · 06-26-2003, 01:37 PM

Intersting that the Gracies quote Kimura as saying he never had anyone last more thwn three minutes before

From a history on Kimura
`At age 32 Kimura competed in the AllJapan Judo Championships for the last time. He won in the first round with Ude-garmai. In the next round he pinned Osawa with Kuzure-kamishiho-gatame. In the semi-finals, he won by decision with Ippon-scoi nage. His final opponent was Takahiko Ishikawa, 6th dan and rival. Kimura was more aggressive, doing all the attacking.

However after three overtimes with neither scoring at least a Wazari, Mifune (10th dan), the referee, declared both of them champions'

Three overtiens after regulation that amounted to close to 25 minutes.

And Ishikawa is on record that he had his testicles smashed in het semi finals and after the finals was in bed rest for a long time

**BJJ_White_Boy** · 06-26-2003, 02:25 PM

no one OUTSIDE Japan could last 3 min. That's what he said.

**GRACIEAUSTIN** · 07-01-2003, 06:36 PM

Helio gave me a tour of the Gracie museum & he was very respectful of Kimura. Both of them are bad men.

**falcon3624** · 07-02-2003, 06:52 AM

Originally posted by GRACIEAUSTIN
Helio gave me a tour of the Gracie museum & he was very respectful of Kimura. Both of them are bad men.

Both of them USED to be bad men. Now they are just OLD men.....lol

**Thai Bri** · 07-02-2003, 07:22 AM

It comes to us all. Doesn't Gracie still take to the mat? If so he deserves serious respect. he's in his 90s isn't he?

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Kimura vs Helio Gracie

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