All-in Fighting

by W.E. Fairbairn

The author of this concise guide to unarmed combat and self-defence is a legend. W. E. Fairbairn (1885-1960) spent over thirty years in the tough environment of the Riot Squads of China's Shanghai Municipal Police. In order to lower levels of Police mortality at the hands of Chinese Tongs, he studied ancient Chinese and Japanese martial arts, including Ju-jitsu, and was the first foreigner to be awarded a black belt in the discipline. He developed his own system which he called 'Defendu'. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was recruited by Britain's Special Operations Executive as an Instructor in unarmed combat and expounded the deadly mysteries of attack and defence to scores of trainee agents about to be dropped into occupied Europe. His methods were approved and officially adopted throughout the British army. Fairbairn also developed weapons and defence aids such as bullet proof vests. He is best known as the co-inventor of the famous Sykes-Fairbairn knife. In this book he expounds his distilled experience of unarmed combat. Fully illustrated, it shows how to deliver deadly blows with hand, fist, knee and boot; wrist, bear- and strangle holds (and how to break them); how to throw an enemy, and how to break their backs; how to disarm a pistol-wielding attacker; and securing a prisoner. The book also contains a chapter on the use of the rifle in close combat by Captain P. N. Walbridge.

Genres: Martial Arts, Reference, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, History, War, Ebooks

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2012

Reviews

[Mark Speed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw a copy of this brandished on TV by a WWII special forces veteran. It was written and published in the UK in the darkest hour of the war against Nazi Germany. It's a complete guide to hand-to-hand combat, with the sole objective of winning fights - and often killing the enemy as quickly and silently as possible. It is truly eye-opening. All of the graphics are of a British soldier defending himself or killing a member of the Wehrmacht. It brings home the fact that this really was a fight to the death between freedom and cruel totalitarianism.

[Steve Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book differs little from others by Fairbairn from the same period. He adapts police methods and some street fighting techniques to what he conceives to be a fighting system applicable to close combat. Some of it is. A great deal of it isn't.

At one point he advocates a soldier sneaking up behind an enemy sentry and wrapping his arm around the sentry's throat while simultaneously punching him in either the kidney or his RESPIRATOR CASE. This is a metal case used to contain a gas mask. Punching it would do no damage to the sentry and possibly break the soldier's hand. You might as well hit him on the helmet.

The "matchbox knockout" has the soldier being accosted at gunpoint while seated in a car or train. The graphic shows a German officer being the assailant, because as we all know they lurked on trains and in cars waiting to get the drop on allied soldiers. The soldier then knocks the gun aside and using a matchbox held firmly in the hand, hits the German "as near the jaw as possible". Fairbairn states that "the odds of knocking your opponent by this method are at least two to one".

So, when punching a Nazi, use a matchbox! If only Captain America knew this.

To be fair to Fairbairn, some matchboxes of his era were brass or made of other types of metal. Cardboard was common, though, and he should have distinguished between the two.

Unlike his earlier works this book contains a section on rifle sighting and maintenance. At one point he advocates aiming an unloaded weapon at a compatriot's eye to allow him to tell you whether your sights are off. That would never fly today.

There is a brief section on the bayonet which said, essentially, to stick the opponent with the point and smash him with the butt. No slashes with the edge or parries of the opponent's attack is shown, and the methods of fencing that were taught 55 years earlier by Hutton are ignored.. Fairbairn states that many of his contemporaries thought the weapon obsolete. They were partly right. It had very little application in the European theater.

I've been reviewing books and videos on the bayonet and close combat tactics of WWI and WWII, and they're really quite poor. Fairbairn has some excellent stuff, but it's mixed in with chaff that needed to be discarded.

A good, if antiquated, resource for history buffs..

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting guide on WW2 combatives. Obviously somewhat outdated now but I'm sure there are elements here that would still work today, as there are in medieval manuscripts. It's beyond my knowledge as to what would and wouldn't but a interesting time capsule from the 40s none the less.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read "Get Tough" in the past, which is a version of "All-in Fighting" that was edited for the American market. The difference in content is that "Get Tough" lacks the final chapter of "All-in Fighting", which covers the use of the bayonet.

This book is an important cultural artifact, in that it encapsulates the teachings of Fairbairn as given to British forces. However, as a book on effective combatives, it falls flat. Several points of technique either overstate the effectiveness of their performance, while others are far too reliant on your opponent's compliance. Some of Fairbairn's assertions are flat-out wrong, such as his statements on falling and ground fighting; it certainly does not require "years of daily practice" to learn how to fall correctly or fight while on the ground. It's not all bad, though, and several good points are still offered even if some of the content is a little out there.

Further (informal) analysis can be found at this webforum: http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showt...

If you're looking for a piece of history, this is a great read. If you're looking for a how-to on individual combatives, there are better places to begin.

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been to the Royal Armouries in Leeds several times and I am so pleased they have put together this little book of Fairbairn's fighting methods. Not all of it is relevant today and I know some reviewers have criticised it, but as a historical document detailing one-on-one fighting methods employed in WWII, particularly by agencies such as the SOE, it is very useful. It is very clear, very succinct and has just a touch of dry humour (Hitler doesn't play cricket). I fully recommend for anyone interested in WWII British combat methods or for research.

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the most concise, practical, and comprehensive texts I have ever read on fighting. This should be in every martial artist's library as well as anyone interested in self-defense. I would like anyone who trains with me to read it, as, as far as hand-to-hand combat, this are many aspects of what we do here.

[Stephen Arnott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across a reference to Fairbairn in a thriller and was interested enough to track him down. 'All-in Fighting' is an illustrated guide to the kind of lethal combat skills that were taught to WWII commandos.

If you were thinking of writing a WWII action book that involved hand-to-hand combat this would be an excellent reference.

[Adrian Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this (several times) from an historical interest perspective rather than as a how to guide. As somebody who trains and teaches several martial systems including Krav Maga I found this a fascinating insight into both the development of combative systems and the historical mindset of WWII close combat instructors. Really don't read this as a manual for self defence though!

[Ashwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of techniques that will get you out of impossible situations. Half of it is focused on plain fighting without weapons. The other half implements fighting with weapons or under the assumption that you are wearing a military outfit. It is not a 'one size fits all' book. It will, at the most, wetten your appetite for self-defense techniques.

[Hugh Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and sweet practical manual on applicable hand to hand techniques. Most of these techniques will work in a real life scenario. The section on the usage of a rifle in close quarters was interesting.

[Dudley Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real deal

[Andrew Luce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A World War era British military martial arts handbook, not too dissimilar to a primitive Krav Maga.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Simple and no nonsense, easy to learn techniques that still work today. I have used a few in sparring with success.