Origins

We, and I include myself, talk about CQB or CQC, but few of us understand its origins.  The origins of modern close quarters combat as well as many modern police tactics start with the policing methods pioneered by Assistant Commissioner William E. Fairbairn in Shanghai in the 1920s.

At the time Shanghai was acknowledged to be the most dangerous port city in the world.  The heavy opium trade run by the Chinese Triads and the Chinese Civil war in the background made corruption and crime a world class sporting event.  Policing was almost impossible.

Into this hell hole fell Willian E. Fairbairn who joined the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907.  Over the years he had studied fighting in a variety of forms: boxing, wrestling, savate and Kodokan judo in which he gained a 2nd degree black belt, as well as a loose umbrella of techniques called Chinese martial arts.

After the May Thirtieth Movement riots and its police massacre, Fairbairn was charged with developing an auxiliary squad for riot control and aggressive policing.  He was charged by the British with essentially cleaning up Shanghai.  One can almost hear the old blue nose at the club saying “By the by Willian, old man, could you solve our Shanghai problem in a fortnight?”

To accomplish this he needed to develop a CQC system he could quickly teach his men to give them an advantage in the deadly raids to come.  He condensed these arts into a practical combat system he called Defendu.  This form had both grappling and striking techniques, but little if any blocking techniques.  These skills also included pistol craft, the genesis of the much confused “point shooting.”

This combat system was simple and could be learned and mastered by recruits relatively quickly as compared to the years required of traditional martial arts training before you can “...snatch the pebble from my hand…’.  It was as brutally effective as possible. The method incorporated training in point shooting and gun combat techniques, as well as the effective use of more unconventional weapons such as chairs or table legs.

Simple, direct "dirty fighting"

He and his police team field-tested these skills on the streets of Shanghai effectively in over 2000 documented encounters, including over 600 lethal force engagements.

During the Second World War, Fairbairn was brought back to Britain, and, after demonstrating the effectiveness of his techniques, was recruited to train the British commandos in his combat method.  It is difficult to imagine the need to emphasize that combat was not a gentleman’s sport and that these techniques were gutter fighting designed to cripple and kill effectively.  Many of the social elite of the time still saw combat as a chess game played with real men and that gentlemen never cheat.

Entry from rear next to spine, out on opposite side of windpipe and push all the through.  Nothing sporting about it.

During this period, his 'Shanghai Method' evolved into 'Silent Killing Close Quarters Combat method'. This became standard combat training for all British Special Operations personnel.  He also designed the pioneering Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, which was adopted for use by British and American Special Forces. In 1942, he published a textbook for close quarters combat training called Get Tough.

I'm sure the photo is posed, but the knife's use is well documented. 

 U.S. Army officers Rex Applegate and Anthony Biddle learned Fairbairn's methods and adopted the program for the training of OSS operatives.  Applegate published his work in 1943, called "Kill or Get Killed" and I have a reprinted copy of this classic on my bookshelf.  During the war, this training was used by British Commandos, the Devil's Brigade, OSS, U.S. Army Rangers and Marine Raiders.  Some of this remains the basis taught to CIA, FBI and police officers.