William E. Fairbairn was born on February 28, 1885, in Rickmansworth, England. A former Royal Marine and police officer in one of Shanghai’s red-light districts, William E. Fairbairn is most notable for his frankly frightening collection of scars, accumulated through hundreds of street fights in the line of duty, and for organising the Shanghai Municipal Police’s (SMP) specialist anti-riot squad.
Known as “Dangerous Dan” Fairbairn, he was a master of boxing, wrestling, judo, savate, jujitsu and kung fu, which he drew upon to develop his own combat system, known as Defendu. According to police records, he had over 500 confirmed non-training fights, both armed and unarmed, under his belt.
He now spends most of his time encouraging other members of the Volunteer Corps to remember the fundamentals of close-quarters combat (CQC).