Defendu is a martial art and self defense system created in 1945

Hi ATS,I did a quick search and couldn't find any results.

Defendu is a martial art and self defense system created in 1945 for law enforcement by Bill Underwood, a British-born Canadian. Underwood was originally the creator of Combato (in 1910) a "non-boxing or wrestling" unarmed combat system which he taught in Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario.





I think that this is a martial art,that could be easily learned by most people.

Defendu is a modern martial art developed by William E. Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes. It functions as a core bedrock for many modern fighting arts, and is one of the most effective and practical Close Quarters Battle methods known. It is a hand-to-hand combat system based on practical experience mixed with jujutsu that was developed to train the Shanghai Municipal Police, and was later taught in expanded form to Office of Strategic Services and Special Operations Executive members during World War two.

Based on his training at Kodokan in Tokyo, and fights he was involved in during his police work, Fairbairn began to develop his own system of hand to hand combat, Defendu. It was designed to be simple to learn and provide effective results. Fairbairn published a book, Defendu, in 1926 illustrating this method and it is here that the term "Defendu" first appeared.


A simple,yet deadly art.




Spike Spiegle

Been using it for years. I got taught by a 75 year old man (at the time) who could hurt me like I never been hurt before or since.

Very simple, very effective and very brutal. One word of warning though - all locks and holds are designed to break bones on contact due to the very un-natural twisting mechanics of the holds.

Train carefully!

I know every time I've ever been in a fight, the attacker has swung at me with a half-assed, right handed punch. This is the problem with basically every form of defensive training. I trained in martial arts for years and I remember the first time I got in an actual fight I had no idea what the hell the other guy was doing. As much as it would be ideal to never get hit in the first place, any training should include getting punched and kicked repeatedly so it's not a shock to the system when it happens for real.

reply to post by Spike Spiegle


Nice find! Glad to see someone on ATS posting something about Martial arts! I myself teach Ninjutsu (ninja arts) as well as street survival concepts. I for one will tell you something that most MA instructors won't tell you.....the martial arts of today don't work!!!! Karate, Judo, Tae kwon Do....hey they are great Martial arts but the fact is that on the street they are in-effective. What you need to see more of nowadays is people focusing on multiple attackers with weapons...never assume that you're fighting just one attacker, even if you don't see them!! Also, asume they have weapons! joint locks, throws, elbows, knees do not work on the street! Do some research on the subject, the absolute best modern program I've ever seen is called Split Second Survival. check it out. As for Ninjutsu, I will always train and teach this art. (former bujinkan, now branched out on my own doing my own art). I believe Col. Rex Applegate did some amazing stuff for the Marines in WWII.

reply to post by Spike Spiegle


Now that looks like a real street fight! Seems like a great system!

I'm always a fan of the systems that are quick, practical, and dangerous. The whole objective to a fight is to get it over with as quickly as possible.

I'm a new fan.

the problem with defendu is I can still keep you within a certain range. I control your capabilities AND your weaknesses.
no matter what move you use, I have your style figured out within seconds of combat and can keep you at a permanent disadvantage till the moment I no longer need to fight. my style is action and reaction. I force you to act, and react.
it's all about getting your opponent out of their comfort zone and into yours.
your strength and speed are no match for the nature of precise instinct.

I agree with Spike about most martial arts don't work really. Especially your strip mall studios that are more about handing out belts to keep the student coming back to rake in the dough.
I studied a few styles and all I ever came up with was why do it this way. Especially when breaking down kata's.
Myself and a friend of mine used to joke that certain breakdowns (self defense moves) where put in so the Japanese ( I studied Goju for several years) could sit back at laugh at the dumb Americans putting in a lot of useless effort to do thier movements that would be ineffective in the real world.

Defendo looks like something that needs to be looked into more by me.

Nice find OP. Thanks

Originally posted by KISSAEA123
I agree with Spike about most martial arts don't work really. Especially your strip mall studios that are more about handing out belts to keep the student coming back to rake in the dough.

I agree so long as "most" is the operative word. The prominent fighting styles of Mixed Martial Arts as popularized by the UFC have brought to light the most effective styles (Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu etc.). Granted there's no eye gouging, biting, hair pulling and other such rules but it's more effective than kata of Kara Te Do, sparring of Tae Kwon Do and wooden dummy practice of the Chinese arts.

Originally posted by KISSAEA123
I studied a few styles and all I ever came up with was why do it this way. Especially when breaking down kata's.
Myself and a friend of mine used to joke that certain breakdowns (self defense moves) where put in so the Japanese ( I studied Goju for several years) could sit back at laugh at the dumb Americans putting in a lot of useless effort to do thier movements that would be ineffective in the real world.

I suspect this too. The true application is lost. For the longest time I suspected that kata were concealed closed hand (as opposed to open hand i.e. weaponry) forms. Whatever the case, the fundamentals generally didn't migrate.

Also, let be the first to inform you that non-Japanese martial artists aren't exclusively "dumb Americans". You're forgetting us dumb Europeans and the rest of the world for that matter.

Originally posted by yourmaker
the problem with defendu is I can still keep you within a certain range. I control your capabilities AND your weaknesses.
no matter what move you use, I have your style figured out within seconds of combat and can keep you at a permanent disadvantage till the moment I no longer need to fight. my style is action and reaction. I force you to act, and react.
it's all about getting your opponent out of their comfort zone and into yours.
your strength and speed are no match for the nature of precise instinct.

Maybe, but that is where my gun comes in handy.

I'd hate to have to use it, I'd much rather disable you quickly and then leave the area, but if you turn out to have extremely good athletics or instincts, then I only need a second to create separation and draw my weapon.

All martial arts are great for defending against an amateur. Nothing is foolproof. When a truly evil person gets the jump on you, there isn't much chance of defending yourself unless you get a little bit lucky. Even my gun is no good against a surprise attack from someone intent on harming me.

Defendu looks like a great style for defending against the 90% of attacks that come from amateurs.

Originally posted by getreadyalready

Originally posted by yourmaker
the problem with defendu is I can still keep you within a certain range. I control your capabilities AND your weaknesses.
no matter what move you use, I have your style figured out within seconds of combat and can keep you at a permanent disadvantage till the moment I no longer need to fight. my style is action and reaction. I force you to act, and react.
it's all about getting your opponent out of their comfort zone and into yours.
your strength and speed are no match for the nature of precise instinct.

Maybe, but that is where my gun comes in handy.

I'd hate to have to use it, I'd much rather disable you quickly and then leave the area, but if you turn out to have extremely good athletics or instincts, then I only need a second to create separation and draw my weapon.

All martial arts are great for defending against an amateur. Nothing is foolproof. When a truly evil person gets the jump on you, there isn't much chance of defending yourself unless you get a little bit lucky. Even my gun is no good against a surprise attack from someone intent on harming me.

Defendu looks like a great style for defending against the 90% of attacks that come from amateurs.

always comes back to guns

but also situational awareness.

if you are diligent of your surroundings there is no such thing as a surprise attack. keeping yourself slightly distanced from would be attackers, maintaining eye contact and aware of movements. if I am put into a danger situation I immeditately upgrade my mindset into a combat form. ready for anything and the consequences of my actions to survive. I am willing to say that it goes beyond martial arts and into some kind of killer instinct some of us possess.
a learned and controlled instinct, martial arts are merely some of it's forms.
but just as you dislike the use of your gun (other then the range i'm sure) I dislike the use of my martial arts for anything other then staying fit and ready, but if need be will use them.

we can avoid 90% of the fights in life though with a little situational awareness and common sense.

reply to post by yourmaker

we can avoid 90% of the fights in life though with a little situational awareness and common sense.

And confidence and directness.

Here is a recent story of mine.

In that thread are a couple of other stories where confrontations were avoided by being bold and direct. I was armed in the OP, but it became irrelevant, and in the other 2 stories, I was unarmed, out of my element, and outnumbered, but I guess I seemed like a little too much work for an easy buck, LOL!

I agree that situational awareness is probably the #1 most important aspect. Next is learning to intelligently avoid bad situations without looking scared. After that is learning some self-discipline, stress and body control, and some very short and effective movements to create separation. Lastly, it never hurts to have that insurance policy in its holster.

reply to post by yourmaker


I swear I heard Bruce Lee say that in one of his movies. I totally agree, though.

Looking good to me......but I kinda prefer an art where I can fight multi opponents who have knife, gun, and crowbar, at the same time....because usually in real life situation you do not get to fight your opponent one-on-one fairly or you be at your advantage.

P.S. people who accept one-on-one are those you can reason with.....meaning non-violent action could be taken. And those you actually have to fight are people ambushing you when you are less aware.

reply to post by rexusdiablos


I concur with what you say. In the day's when I was regulary involved in the martial arts were pre UFC days. Since those day's many people can see first hand the "real world" applications of many different styles. It is been shown without doubt that true fighting is not like it is in the movie's.

I learned in the early months on my studying that it is also much different outside than in the dojo. Spent hours in a gi and barefoot going thru the moves. Then one night after class out in the gravel parking lot in street clothes and shoes my friend and I were going thru the new moves when reality sunk in. Didn't realize how much I grip the floor with my toes untill I had shoes on. Have to say that was a wake up call for me. Good thing I was not having to learn that lesson in a true self defense situation.

Didn't intend to leave out the rest of the world there either. Kinda new to forums and forget there are other people from all over the world on here !!

I am an equal opportunity smart a** here.

Originally posted by yourmaker
the problem with defendu is I can still keep you within a certain range. I control your capabilities AND your weaknesses.
no matter what move you use, I have your style figured out within seconds of combat and can keep you at a permanent disadvantage till the moment I no longer need to fight. my style is action and reaction. I force you to act, and react.
it's all about getting your opponent out of their comfort zone and into yours.
your strength and speed are no match for the nature of precise instinct.

Sounds like wing chun's basic principals to me.
You need a real teacher for a real fighting art.

You can still get Fairbairn's book (All in fighting) on Amazon for a fiver.
I must admit, any system that was deemed good enough for the commandos in WWII is alright by me.

Looks like wc mixed with jj efective but to much grappling.
Why throw/wrestle/manipulate an opponent to the floor when you can strike him to the floor and still be on your feet ready to deal with his back up.
Unless you are fighting with a drunken relative or freind,I call this brother-inlaw fighting,your sister wont be to happy if you knock her husband out.Thats the only time you should grapple.

reply to post by marvinthemartian

If you look into it, the original system was the silent killing course for the SOE and Commando units.
The only grappling in that was holding someone in the right position to stab them.
I guess it had to be watered down for non military use. :-)