Bill Underwood

During Tani’s tenure on the music hall circuit, a friendship was formed that would forever influence how self-defense would be taught. A young boy named Bill Underwood who worked as a Cue boy at the Liverpool Vaudeville Music Hall befriended these skilled martial artists and exchanged goods such as cigarettes and tea for backstage Jiu Jitsu lessons and demonstrations. Bill easily understood the principles of the Japanese system and learned the necessity of leverage and balance to displace bigger, stronger opponents. As he only had limited exposure to the Japanese system, Bill moved away from the Japanese roots and began to experiment with his own concepts and created a unique system specializing in creating excruciating pain to facilitate compliance.
In 1911, Bill emigrated to Canada and began the long Military history of his system:
During World War I Bill served with the Royal Montreal Regiment and his unarmed combat techniques saved his life on numerous occasions behind enemy lines
In 1940, Bill was commissioned to give instruction at several military bases and his system which began in 1907 was officially named Combato
Research has shown Bill taught Combato to the American Rangers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In 1945 at the request of several law enforcement agencies, Bill’s focus moved away from Military training and began to specialize in the training of Police forces. Bill, recognizing Combato was not suited for the defensive tactics needed by civilians, began to remove the lethal techniques and focused on control and compliance. The system was renamed Defendo, a name chosen by Bill’s daughter Pat Underwood.
The Defendo system continued to be taught to law enforcement and at the Toronto School of Defendo while at the same time, Bill became a known celebrity with several media appearances including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas and That’s Incredible. A short documentary film about Bill’s life entitled “Don’t Mess With Bill” was nominated for an Oscar in 1980 at the Academy Awards.
Bill passed on in 1986 at the age of 90; however his legacy lives on