- Get Tough! by W.E. Fairbairn (Free Online Edition) (Buy Hard Copy)
- Shooting to Live by W.E. Fairbairn & E.A. Sykes (Free Online Edition) (Buy Hard Copy)
WWI Hand-to-Hand "Training Video"
While I doubt that the army used the video below for training purposes in World War I, it does contain footage of WWI training as it took place. The action looks fast and choppy because it was played at today's projector speed which differs from that of this film's era.
1909 Middleweight Champ Mike Gibbons demonstrates the boxing techniques, and Captain Allan C. Smith leads in the Jujitsu demonstrations. You will find my comments below the video
Boxing punches are much faster than traditional karate punches, and contests -- sans kicking, of course -- of boxers vs. karate practitioners have borne out their superior effectiveness. I have discussed the advisability of striking with a closed fist as opposed to open hand strikes here.
The come-along holds demonstrated in the video might have some practical application for military police, but I fail to see its application in hand-to-hand on the battlefield. The next series demonstrates the palm heel to the chin and the palm heel in combination with the knee to the groin and shows that these techniques were around long before Fairbairn incorporated them into his system of combatives.
Interesting use of games to teach teamwork & coordinated effort.
World War II Training Videos
W.E. Fairbairn's name is nearly synonymous with World War II (WWII) combatives. He trained British commandoes in his methods. Fairbairn also influenced the training of American troops through hand-to-hand specialist, Rex Applegate.
Below you can watch original footage of Fairbairn and Applegate training OSS agents during WWII:
Here's a really cool video you won't find everywhere. It's a WWII OSS (predecessor of the CIA) training film that features W.E. Fairbairn teaching the combative use of the knife. (Audio is in Greek with English subtitles.)
Immediately below, is the WWII U.S. Army training film on point shooting. It came about as a result of American Col. Rex Applegate's training with Fairbairn.
I think you'd call this next American production more of a motivational/mindset video than a training one, but this WWII film has some interesting points. I want to address some of those points below the video.
First, it says that in war, the rule book goes out the window. I understand why it says that -- in the face of the enemy, the main rule is kill or be killed. That's Biblical.
But that does not mean that anyone can wage warfare altogether without rules -- ethical standards. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 20 for an example of the Biblical ethics of warfare.
Another thing that stands out to me in the film is the one fight between the G.I. and the German soldier. The one where the German fakes out an American, shoots him, and another American comes upon the scene.
The fight that ensues impressed me because it is not all neat and tidy with clean techniques. It's a lot more like a real fight for life -- dirty chaos.
If you would like a book that teaches the essence of WWII combatives, you might like to look at mine:
12 U.S. Military Combat Techniques That Could Save Your Life. It's a distillation of the principles of WWII combatives, as found on the pages of U.S. military manuals, expanded and explained.
Russian Combatives
Here is some interesting footage of Russian combative training. I like the use of body mechanics, but some of it looks as though it depends on fine muscle control, which tends to deteriorate under an adrenaline rush.
Nevertheless, there are some impressive looking techniques here.
