Get Tough!

Book excerpt: This book, by the man who taught them, shows how the British Commandos fought in the Second World War in unarmed hand-to hand combat. It shows how they won their fights - even against enemies who were bigger, stronger, and armed. Brute strength is not required. This book shows you how to put a thug out of action with your bare hands, so fast he won't know what's hit him. Get Tough is filled with clear, graphic line drawings which, with the easy-to-follow directions, demonstrate the Fairbairn System. The author, Major W. E. Fairbairn, was a tough Police officer who spent 30 years with the Shanghai Municipal Police, where he learned ju-jitsu (Judo), Chinese boxing and other martial arts. He was senior instructor to British Special Forces during the war, and was the co-inventor of the legendary Sykes-Fairbairn Commando knife. While in China he became the first foreigner, living outside Japan, ever admitted to Kodokan Jiu-Jutsu University in Tokyo where he was awarded the black belt, second degree. Combining all the knowledge thus acquired he developed a system that stopped the Shanghai terrorists in their tracks, demoralized the Nazis, and probably proved a decisive factor in the success of Allied Special forces in World War Two. This is a must book for the armed forces, civilian defense groups, police, security guards, and indeed anyone whose life may be threatened.The method of hand-to-hand fighting described in this book is the approved standard instruction for all members of His Majesty's forces. The Commandos, and parachute troops, harrying the invasion coasts of Europe, have been thoroughlytrained in its use. Britain's two-million Home Guard are daily being instructed in its simple but terrible effectiveness. The units of the United States Marine Corps who were stationed in China between 1927 and 1940 learned these methods at my own hands when I was Assistant Commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Police.There will be some who will be shocked by the methods advocated here. To them I say "In war you cannot afford the luxury of squeamishness. Either you kill or capture, or you will be captured or killed. We've got to be tough to win, and we've got to be ruthless - tougher and more ruthless than our enemies."