Scientific Self-Defense

by W.E. Fairbairn, Douglas Fairbanks (Preface)

One of the most highly sought volumes in the library of legendary hand-to-hand combat manuals is finally available from Paladin Press. W.E. Fairbairn's Scientific Self-Defence, published in 1931 as a slightly modified reprint of Defendu (1926), outlines the brutally effective close-quarters combat program developed during Fairbairn's renowned service with the Shanghai Municipal Police. Fairbairn's straightforward techniques for defending against various holds, dealing with assailants armed with guns or knives, applying truly effective holds and throws, using the club and walking stick for self-defense, and other areas of close-in fighting have had an extraordinary influence on the development of the combat arts. His immense impact on generations of fighting men - from an elite cadre of instructors who trained soldiers in realistic hand-to-hand combat during World War II to today's practitioners of hard-core self-defense - can now be studied directly from the source in this quality reprint edition of Scientific Self-Defen

Genres: Martial Arts, Nonfiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

Reviews

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairbairn was a fascinating character, and I read this book largely out of historical curiosity. He was on the Shanghai Police force, where he was regularly involved in physical altercations. Then, during the Second World War, he taught close-quarters combat to Allied nation commandos. While this book is a self-defense manual (and, as such, is technique-centric,) it’s interesting to see what Fairbairn came up with when building his own self-defense system (which he called “Defendu,”) taking a background in Judo, Jiu-jitsu, and other martial arts and applying it to practical self-defense situations. The book includes a mix of techniques for countering grappling and weapon attacks as well as holds, take-downs, and some stick and truncheon techniques. There are a number of specialty items thrown in such as binding an opponent.

I wouldn’t recommend this book for individuals interested in learning self-defense. This isn’t a challenge of Fairbairn’s qualifications, which were impressive both on paper and in terms of real-world experience. There were three things I disliked about the book as a self-defense manual. First, Fairbairn did not seem to be a believer in the “don’t let your ego write checks you’re not willing to cash with your body.” He’s not much of an advocate for running away screaming, even when the situation would allow that option. To be fair, most of Fairbairn’s students were police officers and military personnel – i.e. not individuals with the same range of options as a civilian. Secondly, the book is loaded with statements about it being a “simple matter to do ‘x’” along side pictures of ragdoll (passive) opponents, and this could build a fatal misapprehension of what will happen against an opponent who is resisting and applying counter-techniques. Finally, a major point of building a self-defense system is to weed out the techniques from martial arts that are too complex for an individual who isn’t training daily and who isn’t used to commanding his body under intensely stressful situations. Therefore, one avoids complex techniques, or ones that require a high degree of precision. It’s hard to justify including techniques such as juji-gatame (a ground armbar technique that is challenging to apply, but especially as it’s demonstrated – i.e. from a standing takedown.)

If you want to know more about what was being taught in the early twentieth century with respect to self-defense based on jiu-jitsu, the book is interesting. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for those interested in knowing more about self-defense.

[Razi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's got a cool, old-fashioned vibe to it. I was surprised by how much of what I see in this book is still taught in martial arts today, which could go to show that in action, effective ways of fighting tend to look very similar throughout history.

The only points of contention are the weapon disarms, as even in present-day, there is no clear agreement upon effective methods to do so and it is generally considered as a low success rate maneuver and last resort.


I wonder how novel this was for its time, considering that what is taught in it is not that different from what is taught today.

[John Boyda · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting

This was an interesting read. Many of the techniques shown in the book are fairly common sense and straightforward. All would require a partner to practice in order to perfect the moves and get muscle memory working. Many of the “cleaner” moves are used in MMA. Worth the time taken to peruse it.

[Lem · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Classic that is not difficult to learn or digest.

[Steve Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good "old school" techniques that have survived the ages with some that clearly have not and likely wouldn't work.

This is a good book for history junkies, and in spite of its age, has something to offer. I got a couple of insights.