Defendo is a Canadian martial art and a

self defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

system created in 1945 for

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

structures by Bill Underwood. Underwood had created Combato in 1910, a "non-

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

unarmed combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

system which he taught in

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, and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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, and Defendo grew out of this system.

History

Combato had its beginning in the Liverpool theatres with

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

demonstrations by travelling Japanese wrestlers, Yukio Tani and

Taro Miyake Taro Miyake (''Miyake Taruji'') (c. 1881–1935)Green, Thomas A. and Joseph R. Svinth, eds. ''Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010. (pg. 446) was a professiona ...

. As a boy, Underwood idolized these experts, and rapidly established himself as a prodigy. The name Defendo was created on August 15, 1945, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by Underwood's daughter, Pat, when Underwood was a guest in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

training

U.S. Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

and for the American

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

for use in unarmed combat. Underwood was frequently requested by American and Canadian Law Enforcement Agencies to teach his Combato system during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but as the war had ended he refused on the basis that Combato was too aggressive. Underwood was asked to modify the system to remove its lethal applications and instead focus on the Law Enforcement applications of self-defence, compliance and control tactics. He realized that he could not call this system Combato, so his daughter Pat Underwood proposed that he call the system "Defendo".

A new name

From 1945 to 1950 Underwood taught his developing self-defence system in Canada and the USA under the new name. In 1950 he published under copyright "Defendo, Police System of Self-Defence", which became one of the first open-hand police tactics manuals used by police departments in Canada and the United States. From 1950 to 1969, Underwood travelled throughout Canada, the United States and in the UK (1965), teaching his system. In 1969, under copyright Underwood published "Defendo,

Occidental Occidental may refer to: * Western world (of or pertaining to) Places *Occidental, California, a town in Sonoma County, California, US * Occidental Park (Seattle) Other uses * Interlingue, a constructed language formerly known as Occidental * Oc ...

System of Self-Protection".

Media

From 1969 to his death on February 8, 1986, in Newmarket,

, Underwood was well known for his system and honoured and profiled frequently by the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

media. In 1980 a short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about Underwood's life and work, entitled '' Don't Mess With Bill'' was nominated for an Oscar at the 53rd

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1981. The film was produced by Pen Densham and John Watson.{{cite web , url=http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/magazine.asp?article=330 , title=Bill Underwood , work=Fight Times Magazine , accessdate=May 8, 2012 , author=Cressman, Robbie"Don't Mess with Bill"
IMDB Between 1980 and 1981 Underwood appeared four times on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. He also appeared at that time on all of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

's major talk shows including ''Real People'', ''That's Incredible'', and

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own ta ...

; on all occasions, promoting and teaching his system of Defendo.

References

Underwood Family's ArchivesThe National Post: The Art of Defendo
*Current and past Canadian Forces Persons - Intelligence *Toronto Star Publications *Canadian Provost Corps. *Martial Arts Illustrated, June 2004 Cover and Feature *Canwest News Service: Ottawa, 2003 *British Royal Armouries Museum: 2003 *Toronto Metropolitan Police Archives *The Canadian National Exhibition Archives: Toronto, Ontario, Canada *Johnny Carson Archives, Los Angeles California *Academy Awards Archives, Los Angeles California

External links

The Canadian Modern Combato SocietyThe Toronto School of British Jiu Jitsu
Hybrid martial arts Law enforcement techniques North American martial arts Sports originating in Canada