# Why has the Canadian military forgotten its rich history in unarmed combat?



## Canadian Pride (9 Jul 2005)

I ask the following question with a great deal of respect:  

Why have our Canadian Forces forgotten its rich history of Unarmed Combat?  Our troops for ages have trained a mixture of Eastern arts when we have a great deal to be proud of.. a highly effective tradition of hand to hand combat from WWII forward yet its been almost entirely forgotten.  

Are you aware that British born Canadian Bill Underwood was the first North American in 1913 in Montreal to teach a stand-up system of Unarmed Combat in North America?  We beat the American's to the "punch". As North Americans we had nothing by western boxing and wrestling until Underwood created his Combato and taught it to Canadians first - before the Americans.  Were you aware that the Americans requested Underwood from us to go south of the border to train their American Rangers and for the FBI?  This was before Applegate trained under Fairbairn.

When we think back to WWII most only talk about Capt. Fairbairn/Sykes.  Do you realize that Underwood was creating his Combato from 1907 onward when Fairbairn wasn't teaching his "Defendu" until 1926?

Underwood was a fascinating man and if you talk to any WWII combat vetran they will tell you who he was and how effective his Combato was.  As a child he was a friend of Harry Houdini in Liverpool, England.  He used to help Houdini develop his tricks at the Vaudeville Hall in Liverpool.  It was Bill Underwood who was standing at Harry Houdini's side on McGill Campus in Montreal in 1926 when he got the punch to the stomach that would kill him a week later in Detroit.  He was also a friend of Charlie Chaplin and Buffalo Bill Cody.  

Using his Combato he fought his way out of captivity behind enemy lines in WWI at Ypres - the first gas attacks in history.  He learned gunnery under Billy Bishop and was a friend of Roy Brown - the man who shot down the Red Baron.  As a man in his late 40's he attempted to enlist in 1940 but they rejected him as it was a young mans war.  He was with the Queens Own Rifles and it was there that he demonstrated his Combato and immediately was requested to teach Canadian Forces of all ranks.  

He was extremely patriotic and refused military pay as he travelled to teach his Combato and he lived off of the sale of his first 2 books - "Combato for Soldier and Civillian" - 1943 and 'Combato for Women" - 1944.  The Americans scooped him up as mentioned for training with the American Rangers and the FBI and while in New York he was recruited by Sir William Stevenson- The Man Called Intrepid - to teach for the British Security Coordination (BSC) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) at STS #103 or CAMP-X - the very place where Ian Fleming created the James Bond character.  Lynn Hodgson - the world's foremost expert on Camp-X will vouch for seeing Underwoods name in print in association with the Camp in the SOE archives in London, England.  Fairbairn was only at the Camp for a very short time.  Who was teaching at the Camp when Fairbairn left?  He also trained specialized 6 team member Assassination Squads. One was known as "The Super Six".

After the War he was asked by Law Enforcement Agencies in Canada and the USA to modify his Combato for cops.  In 1945 he created a new variation on Combato called "Defendo".  In Canada this became the basis of a good portion of Law Enforcement Open Hand defensive tactics.  (This is not the Defendo of www.defendo.com) For decades after the war Underwood was commissioned to teach Combato and Defendo. He created the basis for what the Provost Corps used for unarmed combat.  He had a Provost Combat Display team that travelled teaching and training in Underwood Combato/Defendo.  

And... to top it off in his mid-80's he was such a fascinating guy that Johnny Carson had him on the Johnny Carson show 4 times and once he took out Lou Ferrigno (the Incredible Hulk) on North American Television while in his prime.  A short film on his life was nominated for an Oscar at the Academy Awards in in 1981 and a full length feature film on his life was in the works before he died in 1986 to star Alec Guiness or Mickey Rooney.

Yet... after all this ... he has essentially been forgotten.  Our Canadian martial art system a mystery and he lies in a grave in Montreal without even his name on his grave stone.  

Did it disappear because it wasn't effective... by no means whatsoever.  Being someone who has had the privilege of training Canadian and British military personnel, SWAT teams, Law Enforcement, Bodyguards, Hollywood Stuntmen and literally world class martial artists on 2 continents... I have not seen a single one of them who have not thought that Underwood's work was anything but original, powerful and effective.  I have also been contacted by American Rangers, Delta and American Marines who have said they were taught about Underwood from their Unarmed Combat Instructors and have asked what's up with us Canadians who have forgotten our own past.  The very founding Deputy Chief of CSIS called to express his congratulations for teaching and preserving Underwood's work.

Again I come back to the question boys... why have we forgotten our rich unarmed combat heritage?   We have ALOT to be proud of.


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## Roy Harding (9 Jul 2005)

Uh ... not to deny the veracity of your post, but:  A quick check of your profile reveals "underwoodsystems.com" in your email address.

Are ya' sellin' anything???

Maybe somebody's in the mood to buy.

Good luck.


Retired CC


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## paracowboy (9 Jul 2005)

nice advertisement. You should have some pictures with it, though. Somebody grimacing into the camera, while in some sort of death grip, maybe.


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## Infanteer (9 Jul 2005)

Advertisment - you gonna pay Mike for using his bandwidth for your product?


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## Burrows (9 Jul 2005)

I'm a mean moderator.  I dislike people who don't obey the rules.  This is why the thread is locked until you contact Mike Bobbitt.


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## canadian p (9 Jul 2005)

To all who were offended by my post... my sincere apologies. It was not my intent to "sell" anything.
I did not post my name or any contact info in the post.  I posted here as the previous thread was locked.  Being new to forums in general actually it escaped me that my email was visible in my profile.  

Fantastic looking site.  I look forward to keeping an eye on it.

Canadian Pride


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## 762gunner (11 Jul 2005)

And for that matter, why aren't ALL soldiers given at LEAST a basic unarmed combat course?  Can non-combat arms-types fight their way through a wet wall of toilet paper?


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