Battalion Martial Arts York

Battalion Martial Arts York A historical European martial arts (HEMA) school focused on the military combatives of WW2. Including Unarmed, Sticks, Knives and Bayonet Fencing.

The last comment we want to address from our viral post last week, and probably the most important, relates to women."On...
23/06/2026

The last comment we want to address from our viral post last week, and probably the most important, relates to women.

"Only men did this." "The only knife a woman should hold is a kitchen knife." "Men, not women, women were put to work in factories." There were others too, several deleted for being outright vulgar.

Firstly: women were trained in these exact skills, and several used them to devastating effect in the field. Nancy Wake, Virginia Hall and Krystyna Skarbek (Christine Granville) are just a few of the better known names from the SOE. Over 4,000 women also served with the OSS, many as trained field agents.

Comments like these aren't just disrespectful to people who risked, and in some cases lost, their lives. They're disrespectful to women in general, and they won't be tolerated on this page, in our classes, or anywhere associated with us.

If you'd like to learn more about these women or the SOE more broadly, Dr Kate Vigurs - Author & Historian and Mulley have both written excellent books on the subject.

22/06/2026

Valentina practicing quick stable turns when shadow sparring Fairbairns knife.

If you saw our post that went viral last week, you'll know the second most common comment after "the knife grip is wrong...
21/06/2026

If you saw our post that went viral last week, you'll know the second most common comment after "the knife grip is wrong" was that we shouldn't be teaching this as its: "too dangerous", "unsuitable for self defence", "it kills people."

Funny that as we are not a self defence class!

As for "it kills people"... correct! It's a wartime manual designed to kill people. That was rather the point in the 40s.

We are a WW2 study group, in the same spirit as a reenactment society or a tank enthusiast, we research our area of history and put in the work to keep it alive, including physically practicing it, in memory of people who didn't get the luxury of this being a hobby.

To be unambiguous: this is not a self-defence class, and anyone we identified intending to use these techniques outside of historical study and training would be removed immediately.

On this day in 1960, William Ewart Fairbairn passed away peacefully at his home in Sussex, aged 75.If you train WW2 comb...
20/06/2026

On this day in 1960, William Ewart Fairbairn passed away peacefully at his home in Sussex, aged 75.

If you train WW2 combatives in any form, this man is the reason. Born in Hertfordshire in 1885, he went on to develop the hand-to-hand combat methods that would be used by Allied special forces throughout World War II: the British Commandos, the OSS, the Rangers, and beyond.

By all outward appearances he was an unassuming British policeman, short and ordinary looking. But his decades on the streets of Shanghai, training commandos, and shaping an entire generation of Allied fighters left a legacy that runs directly through to what we do today.

He put his philosophy simply:

"Get tough, get down in the gutter, win at all costs. I teach what is called Gutter Fighting. There's no fair play, no rules except one: kill or be killed."

Rest well, Lieutenant Colonel Fairbairn.

You may have seen one of our posts go viral the other day and if you were in the comments, you'll know exactly which det...
19/06/2026

You may have seen one of our posts go viral the other day and if you were in the comments, you'll know exactly which detail sparked the most fiery debate! 👀

So... Myth-busting time.

The most commonly taught sentry takedown grip during WW2 was blade-up, but that's far from the whole picture. Different organisations, units, and instructors favoured different grips depending on doctrine, situation, and personal preference. The ice-pick (blade-down) grip was widely taught and used throughout the war, and the period photographs below show exactly that.

Close-combat doctrine in WW2 was never monolithic. Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate, and O'Neill didn't agree on everything, and that's part of what makes this history so interesting to me.

So next time someone tells you there was only one "correct" way, the history disagrees.

Hull section making sure that the opponent is definitely down for the count.
18/06/2026

Hull section making sure that the opponent is definitely down for the count.

In 1940, Britain needed men and women who could fight and kill silently, quickly, and without hesitation. What they were...
17/06/2026

In 1940, Britain needed men and women who could fight and kill silently, quickly, and without hesitation. What they were taught became one of the most influential close-combat systems in history.

On 15th August, we're teaching it, from scratch.

📅 Battalion Military Combatives | Beginners Day

The course covers the complete Fairbairn–Sykes curriculum:

• Core strikes, locks, and takedowns
• The FS fighting knife and its combat applications
• Stick fighting vs knife and unarmed opponents
• Sentry removal techniques from covert operations training

We are not a reenactment group and we're not stage fighters. We are committed to serious, evidence-based study of the methods that shaped modern combatives informed by the primary sources.

Less than two months away. Spaces are limited.

Grab your ticket on Eventbrite or message us directly.

It was great to spend the weekend teaching and filming with Augustus Roe ( The Informed Martial Artist ) for his channel...
16/06/2026

It was great to spend the weekend teaching and filming with Augustus Roe ( The Informed Martial Artist ) for his channel, where he explores all kinds of martial arts, digging into the myths, origins and hidden truths behind them.

The video should be up on his channel soon, but I have to say he was fantastic to train with. His content is genuinely well-researched and engaging, so if you're a fan of this page I'd highly recommend checking out his channel. Especially his videos on Fairbairn or modern marine combatives (MCMAP).

15/06/2026

Sometimes there's more than one threat to deal with and they may well be at different heights.

In June 1942, the US War Department published FM 21-150, Unarmed Defense for the American Soldier, officially putting cl...
13/06/2026

In June 1942, the US War Department published FM 21-150, Unarmed Defense for the American Soldier, officially putting close-quarters combat doctrine into the hands of the entire American military.

Signed off by Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, it covered everything from wrist escapes and choke hold defences to knife, sword, pistol and rifle defence.

What makes it worth remembering is the quote right at the front of the manual, laying out exactly why this training existed:

"The object of this training is to develop the soldier in the art of unarmed self-defense, and to improve his skill in the use of his basic weapons, through speeded reflexes. Confidence in his own ability unarmed, like confidence in his weapons, makes a man a better soldier."

The full manual is freely available to read on the Internet Archive if you want to go down a rabbit hole this weekend!

Address

Scout Hut, Green Lane
York
YO305QX

Opening Hours

8pm - 9:30pm

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