The Genesis of Self Defense Courses During World War II
Prior to the 1940s, civilian self defense courses virtually were
unheard of in many countries in the western world. For instance,
in nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France
and other European countries, self defense courses truly were a
rarity. Prior to the commencement of hostilities in World War
II, self defense courses were rarely seen outside the basic
training regimen for youthful soldiers in the armed forces. With
the trench warfare of the Great War, military experts and
planners recognized the importance of incorporating self defense
courses -- including modified submission fighting -- into the
basic training routine.
During the 1940s, civilians were introduced to organized self
defense courses in many countries for the first time. Self
defense courses of different types began to crop up in cities
and towns across North America and Europe as soldiers grappled
in the various theaters of war during that same time period. In
many instances, the movement towards the implementation of self
defense courses arose out of a reasonably held belief on the
part of citizens of many countries that they might face hostile
forces on their own home territories. Additionally, the hand to
hand combat of World War I remained fresh on the minds of many
men and women the world over, leading to a natural desire to
learn more about self defense courses and techniques.
Due to the obvious fact that significant portions of the adult
male population was involved in fighting the Second World War, a
notable number of participants in these early self defense
courses were women and teenaged boys. (In some communities,
teenaged girls could also be found involved in certain types of
self defense courses.)
Indeed, as far as educating teenaged boys via self defense
courses, many schools -- both private and public -- initiated
self defense courses as part of the overall physical education
course. (Again, there were some limited instances when teenaged
girls were included in self defense courses. However, during the
World War II era, the inclusion of teenaged girls in such
activities was exceptional.)
While there were a number of self defense courses that featured
the use of hand held firearms in the training, these programs
actually were few and far between. (Of course, later in the 20th
century, handgun training courses were prevalent in many
countries around the world, particularly in the United States.)
Most self defense courses that were implemented during the
decade of the 1940s centered on techniques common to the martial
arts and associated with submission fighting. In other words,
participants in these early self defense courses were taught
what essentially amounted to martial arts styled hand to hand
combat.