Things Change or People Die

Sometimes events in history force the creation of new ideas to replace what has becomes obsolete. Weapons, strategy and tactics have always been marked by change on the battlefields of history to deal with new threats.

While obsolete weapons wind up in a museum, and outdated tactics are preserved in text, once a martial art has been deemed no longer useful on the battlefield it still survives as a sport or as a hobby thanks to groups of enthusiasts who keep up the style to preserve part of their culture.

The list of martial arts that are currently being taught is staggering, but this list shortens dramatically when you look for those that could still make the grade in a modern combat situation. And while all martial arts are fun to watch and learn, it is important for the public to understand that a martial arts style should only be called “self defense” when it has modern application. (Fat lot of good your Whooping Crane Kung Fu is going to do against a semi-auto .40 caliber Glock!)

After years of constant warfare Japan’s Samurai did not have time to develop, a sport or style of hand-to-hand fighting that looked impressive. Their only concern was surviving when they were unarmed.

Those running martial arts schools at the time fully knew that the strikes, chokes, takedowns and kicks they taught were only meant as a way to rearmed oneself on a battlefield if you found yourself horseless and weaponless.

As Japan began updating its medieval nation in 1868 and taking a more prominent role on the world stage, the battlefield proven elements of their unarmed combat systems were updated and preserved even through foreign military influence ( Japan would have Germany train its army and the British train its navy).

In the early 20th century, William E. Fairbairn, a British police officer would make the long trip to train in Judo and Jujutsu at the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo.

When WWII broke out Fairbairn and fellow Police Officer Eric Anthony Sykes (both served with the Shanghai Municipal Police) headed back to England to teach what they knew about unarmed combat in preparation for a Nazi invasion.

When newly promoted Colonels Fairbairn and Sykes took command of the British Homeguard, (The last line of defense) was in no shape to do any fighting. Filled with older men who were not able to perform standard military service, they were armed only with hand tools and rusty shotguns because the military had nothing to spare after abandoning much of its equipment in Dunkirk.

This did not deter Fairbairn who set about teaching the Homeguard what he had learned in Japan. Soon every local unit would learn how to disarm an attacker, take out a sentry with their bare hands, and fight with common weapons like axes and pitchforks. If England was going to be invaded, the population was not going to go quietly.

No sooner had that assignment been completed was Fairbairn and Sykes sent to train allied troops at a secret camp set up by America’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Many Americans were skeptical about what the older police officer could teach them about fighting. (After all, the British were still losing the war.) But Fairbairn showed the effectiveness of his training on the very first day of training as he effortlessly threw a rather large, young American officer into the crowd of amazed officers.

Under Fairbairn’s tutelage, these elite men became America’s first Special Forces unit and handled assignments including everything from guerilla warfare, sabotage of enemy equipment, intelligence gathering, and local resistance training. Special units all over the world took the war and their combat proven martial training to Nazi Germany and even Imperial Japan (Ironic, isn’t it?).

With 1000’s of field reports highlighting the successful application of this unarmed fighting system that began in Japan, was refined in Europe, and proven during WWII; it is the ONLY “martial art” with legitimate, documented, and proven evidence of success under combat conditions.

Because of this rich lineage and proven history, when the “passing of the torch” of this knowledge fell upon our shoulders, we knew we needed to do something special to keep these absolute self-defense “truths” in the forefront of all the junk and nonsense that the modern martial arts world has become.

While we have added modern educational elements to enhance the learning process, the techniques and methodology of our WWII and Samurai forefathers remain unaltered and as brutally effective as it ever was.

Many martial arts are useless in real world situations. They may be fun sports and good for fitness, but they are not effective in real combat. To find a good combat martial art we have to begin with the samurai. They practiced Jujutsu and designed the system with only real world combat in mind. Refined by the Europeans and battle tested during World War II Jujutsu has continued to adapt to the ever changing battlefield.