# Defendo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Defendo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Defendo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defendo > Source revision: 1317792071 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article is about the martial art developed by Bill Underwood. For the system developed by Fairbairn and Sykes, see [Defendu](/source/Defendu). **Defendo** is a Canadian [military martial art](/source/Martial_art) and a [self defence](/source/Self_defence) system created during WWII for [law enforcement](/source/Law_enforcement_agency) structures by veteran instructors. Creator Bill Underwood had created **Combato** in 1910, at 15 years old. A "non-[boxing](/source/Boxing) or [wrestling](/source/Wrestling)" [unarmed combat](/source/Unarmed_combat) system which he taught in [Montreal](/source/Montreal), [Quebec](/source/Quebec), and [Toronto](/source/Toronto), [Ontario](/source/Ontario). Underwood was the first to bring it out of the military and start teaching it as Defendo to the general public, which grew in popularity because of his efforts. ## History Combato had its beginning in the Liverpool theatres with [jujutsu](/source/Jujutsu) demonstrations by travelling Japanese wrestlers, [Yukio Tani](/source/Yukio_Tani) and [Taro Miyake](/source/Taro_Miyake). As a boy, Underwood idolized these experts, and rapidly established a comprehensive knowledge of their training The public name Defendo was created on August 15, 1945, in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) by Underwood's daughter, Pat. Pat worked in military procurement at Canadian Forces Base Trenton during the war until 1950, certainly the name Defendo had become common knowledge within the Canadian Forces. Underwood was a guest in the [United States](/source/United_States) training [U.S. Army Rangers](/source/U.S._Army_Rangers) and for the American [FBI](/source/FBI) 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](/source/World_War_II), 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",[1] From 1950 to 1969, Underwood travelled throughout Canada, the United States and in the [UK](/source/United_Kingdom) (1965), teaching his system. In 1969, under copyright Underwood published "Defendo, [Occidental](/source/Western_culture) System of Self-Protection".[2] ## Media From 1969 to his death on February 8, 1986, in [Newmarket](/source/Newmarket,_Ontario), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Underwood was well known for his system and honoured and profiled frequently by the [North American](/source/Northern_America) media. In 1980 a short [documentary film](/source/Documentary_film) about Underwood's life and work, entitled *[Don't Mess With Bill](/source/Don't_Mess_with_Bill_(film))* was nominated for an [Oscar](/source/Academy_Awards) at the 53rd [Academy Awards](/source/Academy_Awards) in 1981. The film was produced by [Pen Densham](/source/Pen_Densham) and John Watson.[3][4] 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](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States)'s major talk shows including *Real People*, *That's Incredible*, and [Merv Griffin](/source/Merv_Griffin); on all occasions, promoting and teaching his system of Defendo. ## References 1. Underwood, Bill. *Police System of Self-Protection*, Toronto, copyright 1950. 1. *Underwood, Bill. *"Defendo" Occidental System of Self-Protection*, Toronto, Copyright 1969 1. Cressman, Robbie. ["Bill Underwood"](http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/magazine.asp?article=330). *Fight Times Magazine*. Retrieved May 8, 2012. 1. ["Don't Mess with Bill"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080647/), IMDB ## External links - [The National Post: The Art of Defendo](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-art-of-defendo-or-how-to-fight-like-a-canadian-destroy-them-dont-feel-sorry-for-them) - [The Canadian Modern Combato Society](http://www.combatosociety.com) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180103014237/http://www.combatosociety.com/) 2018-01-03 at the Wayback Machine - [The Toronto School of British Jiu Jitsu](http://www.britishjiujitsu.com) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Defendo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defendo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defendo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.