Explore WWII women’s combat training, from Fairbairn’s Hands Off! to the SOE training of women sent behind enemy lines.

Hands Off! WW2 Women’s Self-Defence

To mark International Women’s Day, Battalion Martial Arts presents a special women-only workshop exploring the combat training and experiences of women during the Second World War.

The History

The session takes its name from W. E. Fairbairn’s Hands Off!, one of the best-known wartime guides to womens unarmed combat. We’ll explore selected techniques from Fairbairn’s methods alongside material inspired by the close-combat training associated with the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

The SOE recruited women for some of the most dangerous roles of the war. Agents such as Violette Szabo, Noor Inayat Khan, Odette Hallowes and Christine Granville were sent into occupied Europe to work as couriers, wireless operators and organisers of resistance networks, operating deep behind enemy lines.

What will we do on the day?

Through practical training, we’ll look at some of the physical skills and combative methods relevant to this world, including striking, close-quarter fighting, wrestling, responses to grabs and selected weapon skills.

The event is taught from a historical martial arts reconstruction perspective, using period sources and training material to explore how these methods were taught and practised during the war. It is not intended as a modern self-defence course.

Who is the course for?

No previous martial arts experience is required. The session will be suitable for beginners and experienced martial artists alike.

This is a women-only event, created as a practical and engaging way to explore an often-overlooked part of Second World War history.

Description supplied by the event organiser.