Born in March 1900, Rufino Dos Santos was a Brazilian Catch Wrestler, coach and referee.
He left his home at a young age, and without speaking a word of English, smuggled himself on a ship to New York. Once on U.S. soil, he found shelter at a YMCA, and with it, a job and access to education. It was in the United States of America where he honed his skills as a Catch Wrestler and disputed more than 50 documented matches. He later joined the U.S Navy, and was deployed to the European Coast of the Mediterranean, granting him the opportunity to compete in Spain, France, Holland and England.

Upon his return to the U.S. he graduated as a physical education teacher. He then headed back to Brazil where he continued his full time commitment to sports, consistently teaching for different organizations including YMCA Brazil and the Naval School, where he was head of Physical Education.

Several publications describe Rufino Dosantos as an honorable Sportsman who didn’t brag (1) about his accomplishments.
He served as Catch Wrestling coach to Grappling prodigy Euclydes Hatem who went on to become the founding father of Luta Livre, a Catch Wrestling based Brazilian Martial Art.
But perhaps his greatest historical relevance comes as a competitor, from his match against Carlos Gracie, patriarch of the Gracie Family.

Rufino Dos Santos challenges the Gracies.

Dos Santos was in attendance as an spectator of a Jiu-Jitsu Gracie vs Capoeira event, that according to the newspapers turned out to be a disappointment. The encounters were delayed because the Gracies argued over the use of certain Capoeira techniques, resulting in George Gracie winning his fight via disqualification. Oswaldo Gracie and Benedicto Perez both won via submission, setting the final score to 3-0 in favor of the Gracie Team.

Meanwhile in the audience, Rufino Do Santos was not impressed. He was respectful of the Japanese method of grappling, but was skeptical of the Gracie’s claims, like Carlos Gracie stating he could beat any man in less than 3 minutes.
As soon as the third and last fight ended, the Catch Wrestler climbed to the ring and expressed his desire to engage in an immediate match against any of the Gracie brothers.
To show his disposition to go at it right away, he removed his coat, tie and shirt.
The audience cheered him as the Gracies decided to leave the arena without a response, which prompted strong criticism from the audience.

The following days The Dos Santos challenge continued making headlines and Carlos Gracie decided to step forward. He issued a response to the Sport’s Journal stating he would be the one to accept the challenge.
A first meeting was held to discuss the details and agree on the rules.
Dosantos presented a copy of the official Jiu Jitsu Rulebook and stated he had no problem agreeing to practically everything there.
Carlos Gracie came up with the first obstacle saying he would not compete under those rules but only custom ones drafted by him.
The organizers brough to Mr. Gracie’s attention the oddity in rejecting the rules of a sport he claimed to practice.
He replied that he practiced a self defense version that required special rules.
Dos Santos agreed to Gracie’s request, stating he was confident in the American style of grappling and therefore he had no problem facing any of the Gracies under their rules.
Realizing there was no further disagreement about the rules, Carlos Gracie moved to the subject of the dress code. He said quote

“I will fight wearing the kimono, and I insist Dosantos fights wearing a suit and tie, just like he walks on the street”.

Those attending the meeting couldn’t help but laugh…

In response Do Santos had the final words for Gracie: quote:

“I suspected you were afraid of me, but now I am certain. Your resources are weak, and the reason you are avoiding the challenge is you know you’ll lose”.

The match was far from confirmed but with an increasing media attention and more people getting involved, an agreement was finally reached as this news article states: “After a great debate by the press, and a thousand demands the match is finally set”.  According to the rules agreed upon, any method of grappling could be used and the only way to win was by one of the contenders quiting.
Additionally a money purse was set for the winner. Dos Santos declared he was not doing it for the money, and in the case of winning he would donate it to the Baptist Hospital.

He added:

“I really want to face one of them, (8) the best of them, so I can prove what I stated. It seems it will finally happen”.

He also stated he was coaching 3 capable young men (8) and he launched a challenge in their name so they could face the other Gracies for the preliminary bouts of the event. This challenge of course, was never answered, altough his student Manoel Lima ended up competing and winning against another opponent (19) (narracion-completa) and some months later also challenged Carlos Gracie.

He said he wanted the competition to be conducted with sportsmanship and not for the purpose of creating a feud.
“I just want to Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”. He said.

Wednesday, August 19, 1931. With only 3 days to the event, Carlos Gracie pulled out of the match over a financial disagreement. (14)

Friday, August 21. After another meeting the match was back on track. (13)

Saturday, August 22. (14) (15) The awaited date finally came. The event took place at the Stadium of the Fluminense Football Club, with a large audience that broke the record of fight nights attendance.
Carlos Gracie was 29 years old and Rufino Dosantos 32. (A)

The match resulted in Dosantos consistently getting the better of Carlos Gracie, who behaved in an unsportsmanlike manner, left the mat twice and finally refused to continue. A game but pacient Rufino Dos Santos was declared the winner. (D)

As promised, Coach Dosantos donated the purse money to charity. (11). (22)

Sadly the story doesn’t end there.

More than a year later, a newspaper published a letter written by Dos Santos entitled 13 questions to Carlos Gracie, where he asked him things like:

• Why a month after the match, you requested Dr. Renato Pacheco to anull the result?
• Why didn’t you take my student’s challenge?
• Why didn’t you take Catch Wrestler’s Robert Ruhmann’s repeated challenges? and more indiscreet questions.

This didn’t sit too well with some of the Gracies as (16) this newspaper states: They didn’t like the content of the letter, and instead of seeking to settle it in the ring like gentleman, they decided to assault Mr. Santos.

They Gracie brothers decided to beat Dos Santos in a way they knew they could, as this newpaper states: (16) Outside the ring, 3 against one and using a metal tool.

The official report according to witnesses and the testimonies of everyone involved is the following:

Tuesday, October 18. 1932

Brothers Carlos, Helio and George Gracie planned to ambush Mr. Dosantos in front of one of his work places. They paciently waited in their car until at around 8pm Dosantos arrived, and as he was about to enter the tennis club, they cowardly (21) attacked him while his hands were still inside the pockets of his cloack. (25) The 3 brothers viciously lynched Dosantos. The brutal beating included the use of a metal tool carried by Helio Gracie.(25) But this was not enough… the victim was held so Carlos Gracie could put him in a Jiu Jitsu armlock that resulted in a complete dislocation, joint rupture and separation. The brothers left a bloodied and seriously (25) injured Dosantos on the floor, that when taken to the emergency room presented career ending injuries that required surgery.

According to the police report, when captured, the brothers initially didn’t have the courage to assume responsability for the lynchyn.
They were eventually sentenced to 2 and half years of jail.

This is not the only lynching perpetrated by the Gracie brothers. They also destroyed Greco Roman Wrestler Joao Baldi in the same way, but in that occasion Oswaldo Gracie joined the gang, so it was 4 against one. Another one of their lynching victims was their Jiu Jitsu Teacher, not Maeda, but their actual Judo, otherwise known as Kano Jiu Jitsu Teacher, Donato Pires… but those are subjects for another time.

History won’t be erased, and Rufino Dosantos’ legacy will live forever in every grappler that shares his technique, integrity, and everything he stood for.

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