Military Combative Masters of the 20th Century

MILITARY COMBATIVE MASTERS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Tank Todd James Webb

PREVIEW OF SELECTED PAGES ONLY

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Published by TODD GROUP All rights reserved. No content of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, in any way, in any form or by any means, without prior consent in writing from the publisher. This publication may not be circulated or distributed in form or presentation binding or cover other than its original published state. Copyright TODD GROUP 2005 All rights reserved ISBN 1-4116-6196-6 Publisher: TODD GROUP Author: Tank Todd and James Webb. P.O. Box 5579 Dunedin 9031 New Zealand Email: [email protected] Websites: www.toddgroup.com www.fighttimes.com

WARNING The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only and could be extremely dangerous if used or misused. For educational purposes only. The author and publisher expressly disclaim any liability from injury, damages or death the reader or user of this publication may incur. The author, publisher and distributor also expressly disclaim any liability from injury, damages or death to third parties from the use or misuse of this publication. The persons outlined in this publication are military qualified armed and unarmed combat instructors and the skills depicted are that of military armed and unarmed combat for military applications only. Tank Todd P.O. Box 5579 Dunedin 9031 New Zealand [email protected]

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the memory of my former instructors, the late Harry Baldock, the late Charles Nelson and the late Colonel Rex Applegate. Without training and qualifying under these legendary close combat evolutionary pioneers my career and this book would not have been possible. As a director of the International Close Combat Instructors’ Association and the last instructor qualified link with direct lineage to the previous experts I dedicate this work on some of the leaders of their times in military armed and unarmed combat to their memories. I was very proud to have been the person that introduced my former instructors to association members and my exponents and ensured they too were touched by the experience of meeting such legends. My co-author James Webb was responsible for this project after visiting my New Zealand HQ and evaluating my collection of close combat information. He encouraged me to jointly author this book with him and should be commended for his suggestion and the support and encouragement to see this project through to its conclusion. I have been privileged to be trained by some of the best in military close combat past and present and in turn have had the honour of training some of the elite of elite and it makes me very proud and humble to be the caretaker of the doctrine at this point in time and chosen by them to continue with their military close combat instructing work. I also dedicate this book to those that I have trained and that have lost their lives or have passed away, may their memories live on. This book is very special as a majority of the information came directly from the individuals themselves or from those that were trained and qualified by the included instructors. To be privy to so much information on so many expert instructors first hand is truly rare and unique.

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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................6 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ......................................................................................................................7 TANK TODD ........................................................................................................................................7 JAMES M. WEBB...............................................................................................................................14 HISTORY OF COMBATIVE DEVELOPMENTS ...........................................................................20 COMBATIVE WARFARE PHILOSOPHY.......................................................................................23 THE INTERNATIONAL CLOSE COMBAT INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION.........................35 ELITE FORCES OF THE WORLD...................................................................................................38 RANGER CREED.................................................................................................................................46 SPECIAL UNIT MOTTOS ..................................................................................................................47 MURPHY’S LAWS OF COMBAT .....................................................................................................48 COLONEL REX APPLEGATE’S SPEECH......................................................................................49 COLONEL REX APPLEGATE ..........................................................................................................52 CAPTAIN W.E (DAN). FAIRBAIRN .................................................................................................57 ERIC ANTHONY (BILL) SYKES ......................................................................................................60 CHARLES NELSON ............................................................................................................................65 BILL UNDERWOOD ...........................................................................................................................71 DERMOT PAT O’NEILL ....................................................................................................................74 A.J. DREXEL BIDDLE ........................................................................................................................78 BRIGADIER MIKE CALVERT .........................................................................................................80 JOHN STYERS .....................................................................................................................................82 HARRY BALDOCK .............................................................................................................................84 SHOCKER SHAW................................................................................................................................87 CAPTAIN BEN MÄNGELS ................................................................................................................94 LAWRENCE A JORDAN....................................................................................................................96 RON EVANS........................................................................................................................................104 MAJOR JOHN WHIPP AM, CSM ...................................................................................................106 4

ROBBIE ROBINSON .........................................................................................................................110 LEONARD HOLIFIELD ...................................................................................................................113 MICHAEL ECHANIS ........................................................................................................................115 BLUE CURRAN..................................................................................................................................119 STEVE MATTOON............................................................................................................................122 MOTOSADA MORI ...........................................................................................................................125 JOHN JOYCE .....................................................................................................................................127 GREG WALKER ................................................................................................................................131 JIMMY PAGE.....................................................................................................................................133 ROBERT K. SPEAR...........................................................................................................................138 OTTO SKORZENY............................................................................................................................140 RANGI NICHOLLS ...........................................................................................................................142 GENE FABRIKANT...........................................................................................................................145 IMRICH “IMI” LICHENFELD........................................................................................................147 VASILII OSHCHEPKOV..................................................................................................................149 CHOI HONG HI .................................................................................................................................152 AUSTRALIAN ARMY TRAINING TEAM VIETNAM ................................................................155 JAMES WEBB’S PRINCIPLES OF LEADERSHIP ......................................................................158 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................................162

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INTRODUCTION

This book is one of a kind. It explores the masters who developed armed and unarmed close combat in the militaries of the world during the twentieth century. The techniques of these Masters will be used in the Twenty First Century as the basis for combatives utilized by modern soldiers. Ancient fighting arts are the basis for combatives but soldiers on the battlefield also require the most current combative skills. War is a brutal business and the techniques taught to soldiers must be violent, effective, easily learned and combat proven. Hand to hand combat conforms to no set of rules except those that make the soldier victorious. If a soldier is to be victorious on the battlefield then he must know all the dirty tricks of combat to win. The soldier must be trained and indoctrinated in all forms of combat from weapons to unarmed. Combatives must meet many requirements for a soldier. A soldier must be able to use all the weapons available to him and yet in a personal conflict be able to defend himself in an unarmed conflict. A soldier must be able to use offensive and defensive techniques. The instructors in hand to hand combat of the Twentieth Century have learned the hard way what is effective and what is not. The main thing learned is to have the mindset of a warrior. As you read this book on the Masters of unarmed combat you will learn what that mindset is and how they utilized it. The techniques taught are aggressive and very violent. The close quarters combat instructors discussed in this book are known for their expertise and this is what separates them from other military combative instructors that train and instruct on a casual basis. The men covered in this book chose to make full time military close combat a big part of their careers. This commitment would mean much personal sacrifice and see their days hard instructing and sacrificing for others. The family tree for combative instructors of the Twentieth Century are the elite of the elite. They have spent their lifetimes in the field of combatives and instructed tens of thousands of people. We have spent over thirty years compiling the information in this book. We knew from the beginning that this undertaking was not going to be easy but now that it is complete we know it is the most definitive work on military combative masters ever developed. This book is a dedication to the combative Masters of the Twentieth Century who shaped and formed modern military close combat. There has never been a work like this and we hope this book reflects the true essence of these Masters. Their dedication to perfection is phenomenal and exceptional and is an inspiration to all soldiers. We only hope this endeavour will teach the soldiers of the Twenty First Century principles to live and fight by. The people covered in this book are known in the profession as the ‘dirty tricks’ brigade and are some of the toughest of the tough, the dirtiest of the dirty. The authors have sought out these Masters of combatives and trained with or interviewed them or their descendents for this book. For those who have already passed away we researched their teachings and talked with their students, associates and family. We were impressed by the humbleness and gentleness of these masters, even though they have been in combat and served in some of the most elite units the world has ever seen. Not every instructor could be covered in this book but some of the most prominent from the past and present have been included. 6

ABOUT THE AUTHORS TANK TODD

Tank Phase Unarmed Combat

Colonel Rex Applegate and Tank Oregon training

Tank Phase Military Armed Hold Escapes

Charles Nelson and Tank School of Self Defense New York

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Tank is an instructor qualified descendent of several of the evolutionary pioneers of military close combat and current military expert chief instructors. He has a lineage and qualifications of no other living instructor on the planet. Tank has military close combat instructor qualifications in three countries and has instructed close combat in five countries. In the elite forces community Geoff Todd is better known as ‘Tank’. For over 25 years Tank has been the chief instructor to the Close Combat School, a department of the Todd Group, formally the Baldock Institute, established in 1927 by his former instructor, the late Harry Baldock. Tank stands 5 foot 7 inches and weighs 250 pounds. As a child Tank was a prize winner in a junior physical culture contest before his third birthday. As a schoolboy he played rugby league (combat football) and represented his province against Australia. He enjoyed the hard running and tackling of rugby league and played the position of front row forward. He was a big boy as a youngster and much older bullies soon found out he was no easy target. He believes that having to fight and learning how to fight dirtier than those he came up against ended his school education all too early but forged his combative career. Tank began working as a bouncer at age fourteen and continued to work the doors for over 20 years. After trying out boxing and looking at martial arts he found his mentality and needs were not that of a traditionalist or sports person. He was looking for something more immediate and battle proven. When introduced to the unarmed combat of the military, firstly on a television documentary and then by personally meeting former military close combat exponents and instructors such as Harry Baldock and former Green Beret Miles Singe, he knew military close combat was the system for him. Being of stocky stature and not afraid to mix it up, but always looking for the quickest and easiest way to end an encounter, close combat was just what he was looking for. Harry Baldock initially refused to teach Tank unarmed combat as he said it was too dangerous for outside war. He said he could, however, train in Jiu Jitsu and wrestling. Tank thought he would train in Jiu Jitsu and hoped eventually Harry would change his mind on the unarmed combat. Harry eventually agreed to teach Tank his unarmed combat and self defence systems as well as his kill wrestling. After training under Harry Baldock for many years, and learning all of his World War II British military unarmed combat, Harry advised Tank he should visit New York City and train under the legendary Charles Nelson a former World War II US Marine Corps hand-to-hand combat instructor. For over ten years Tank returned annually to New York City to visit Charles Nelson and undergo ongoing training. Through Charles Nelson he was introduced to the skills and systems of other military instructors and experts such as O'Neill, Biddle, Kelly and Styers. Tank is an instructor qualified life member of the Charles Nelson School of Self Defense and on Charlie’s retirement was the only life member of the school to be operating a fulltime training facility. Around the same time he was invited by the legendary evolutionary close combat pioneer Colonel Rex Applegate to visit him in Oregon and learn his Kill or Get Killed systems of close combat. Colonel Applegate assisted Tank in his military Special Operations instructor career by offering him his personal endorsement, guidance, instructional qualifying him, advice and every assistance with skills and programs. He also revealed to Tank teachings and practices of Fairbairn and Sykes, giving him first hand a rare and in-depth knowledge of their military close combat. Not content in his search for knowledge Tank researched the work of some of the former New Zealand and British unarmed combat chief-instructors from their understudies. These instructors included battle hardened experts like Shocker Shaw, Mad Mike Calvert and Jimmy Page, whose unarmed combat legacy might have died with them if it had not been for individuals like Tank searching out their former assistants and learning about their methods. Next he looked to the modern-day master-chief's for their expertise, experts such as James Webb, Lawrence Jordan and Capt Ben Mängels. He volunteered to undergo a Special Forces Combatives instructor qualification course conducted in South-East Asia, after 10

JAMES M. WEBB

James Webb - Armed and Dangerous

James a career soldier

Special Forces Combatives Sentry Neutralization Training

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Photo courtesy of Colonel Rex Applega

James Webb was born on 1 October 1952, at Fort Meade, Maryland. From day one, James knew that his career in life was to be a professional soldier. On graduating from High School, James followed in the footsteps of his father, a retired Army Sergeant Major, and joined the US Army. James spent the next 25 years as a professional soldier travelling the world and defending his country. In the Army, James had the opportunity to experience combat in Vietnam, Central America and Africa. He has also travelled the world conducting training and black operations. After retiring from the Army, James was hired by the US government to work on the POW/MIA issue, commanding investigative teams searching for the missing men and women from the Vietnam War. James is in his late forties, 6 feet 3 inches tall and 210 pounds. He is a blond haired, blue-eyed warrior. His reputation in the US military and around the world is famous. When you first meet James, you meet a man of quiet confidence and security in himself. He has a strange sense of humour, only developed from someone who has faced death and survived. Someone once said of James, “You’d have to empty a full magazine into him to stop him, but then his shadow would cut your throat”. He has a talent for telling the truth, regardless. Sometimes this did him no good in the bureaucratic Army. He is not afraid to look a man in the eye, and tell him he’s full of shit. While most High School students were thinking about dating and partying, James was getting good grades, and beginning his road to combatives. He first studied Judo and Goju Ryu Karate at the local YMCA and boxed for the Police Athletic League (PAL). For summer jobs James was a life guard at the largest hotel in his hometown, or a camp counsellor at a boy’s camp in Virginia. James’ father was a career military man and laid the groundwork for the discipline he would need later in his life. James’ talents were apparent and won him the recognition of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), which selected James to compete on their first collegiate judo team while he was still just a senior in High School. James won several judo trophies for VMI at Collegiate matches. While in Vietnam James participated in numerous battles and won the Bronze Star for Valour and the Purple Heart. This was his introduction to combat. James is also a Vietnamese linguist and was trained at the prestigious Defence Language Institute (DLI) at Monterey, California. In one encounter James was preparing to fire at a North Vietnamese PT-76 tank with a light anti-tank weapon (LAW) when he was bayoneted in the back by a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldier. James best friend turned around and emptied a clip from his M-16 into the NVA soldier. This same friend has his name engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Wall at Washington, DC. When asked about this action, James frowns with thought, and says he knew it wasn’t his time to go and anyway he would not go that easy. Perhaps James’ greatest achievement during the Vietnam War was the understanding he developed of the realities of life or death combat. After returning from Vietnam James earned his Black Belts in Tang Soo Do and Shaolin Kung Fu. Although he enjoyed studying traditional martial arts he had the desire to test his abilities and the techniques he learned in a more realistic environment. He then embarked in a career in full-contact kickboxing. He fought twenty two times and was the North Carolina Heavyweight Kick Boxing Champion. Even this did not satisfy him and he began to seek out teachers of real combatives, men who had faced death and survived. James sought out the toughest training the U.S. army had to offer. He is trained in Special Forces, Ranger, Airborne, Air Assault, SCUBA, HALO, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) Instructor, South Korean Ranger, Thai Airborne, South Korean Airborne, Interrogation 17

THE INTERNATIONAL CLOSE COMBAT INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION

www.closecombatinstructors.com

International Close Combat Instructors Association Convention Las Vegas Back left: James Webb Col. Rex Applegate, Ben Mängels Front left: Tank Todd, Lawrence Jordan, Steve Matoon, Major Johnny Whipp

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ELITE FORCES OF THE WORLD

The following is a breakdown on some of the world’s elite fighting forces. This synopsis is intended as an introduction so that the reader can learn what is available and where the combative instructors came from. The listing is in no particular order and only serves as a guide. Because of the secrecy surrounding most of these units a brief statement on their mission and what country they are from is provided. Even some of the units’ designations have been secret and some will surprise the reader. These units are comprised of the “shooters and the looters”, meaning operators - the ones who do the dirty deed. Often information is classified so we can only discuss these units in general terms.

BRITISH SPECIAL AIR SERVICE (SAS): Britain’s Special Air Service was founded during the Second World War by David Stirling. It is Britain’s primary special operations unit. They have developed a special counter-terrorist unit and have been involved in several major incidents. This unit is known as the Special Projects (SP) Team. The SAS rotates their men through the SP team on a six month period of duty. The present day SAS are divided into three regiments. The SAS primarily recruit from existing units in the British Army especially from the Parachute regiment and the Brigade of Guards. The SAS selection course is famous for its toughness and was developed by John Woodhouse in the 1950’s. Most elite units in the world base their selection courses on the SAS selection course. During the battle for the Falkland Islands the SAS was successful in their operations and were commanded by Colonels Jones and Pike. A sister unit that works with the SAS is the Special Boat Squadron (SBS). The SAS units are active today in numerous missions and countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Belize, Borneo, Sierra Leon, Ireland, Timor, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe. In 2000, the SAS conducted an operation in the African country of Sierra Leone where an SAS assault team rescued hostages being held by the Sierra Leone rebels known as “The West Side Boys”. There used to be SAS units in Britain, Rhodesia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The only remaining countries with SAS are Britain, Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand SAS was conceived in 1954 and the Australian SAS in 1957. They were active in the Vietnam War with incredible results.

US DELTA FORCE: Delta was activated in November 1977 and was developed by Colonel Charlie “Chuck” Beckwith. Colonel Beckwith spent time as an exchange officer with the British SAS and he designed Delta Force after the format used by the SAS. Colonel Beckwith has passed away but his legacy, Delta Force, is setting the standards the world over. The headquarters for Delta is located at a compound at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The selection course for Delta students is conducted in the state of Virginia and is one month in duration. The drop out rate is almost 75 per cent. The standard for Delta snipers is very high where they have to hit 100 out of 100 targets at 600 meters. Before Delta was officially designated the counter-terrorist unit for the U.S. government, a unit known as Blue Light filled that role but was replaced by Delta. Delta has conducted training and operations throughout the world. Their most famous escapade was in Iran at operation Desert Claw. It was a combination of numerous mistakes that cancelled that mission in failure. Since then Delta has reorganized its force and command structure. Delta was featured in many movies including a Chuck Norris series. 38

COLONEL REX APPLEGATE

Colonel Rex Applegate

Captain Rex Applegate US Army Military Intelligence Training Centre Camp Ritchie Maryland 1942

Colonel Rex Applegate, fourth from left, back row. W.E. Fairbairn, second from right, front row.

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CAPTAIN W.E (DAN). FAIRBAIRN

Photo courtesy of Colonel Rex Applegate

William Ewart Fairbairn was born on 28 February 1885, at Hertfordshire, England. At age 15 Fairbairn was an apprenticed leather worker in London, England when he saw a Royal Marines recruiting poster. His needlework later earned him extra money altering uniforms and he was a pioneer in developing the earliest of bullet-proof vests. Because Fairbairn was underage the local recruiter forged Fairbairn’s paperwork and he joined the Royal Marine Light Infantry where he began his training in close combat from 1901 to 1907. In 1903 Fairbairn volunteered for service in Korea with the British Legation Guard, where he studied the different martial arts practiced there. His initial training in combatives was largely formed during this service period including bayonet-fighting competitions against the Japanese. From Korea he returned to England, bought his discharge, then made his way to China and joined the Shanghai Municipal Police as a constable. From 1907 to 1940, Captain W.E. Fairbairn was assigned to the International Police Force in Shanghai, China. He was quickly introduced to the Chinese underworld when, in 1908 a gang tried to kill him and left him for dead. He vowed this would never happen again and developed skills and tactics to defeat enemy fighting arts. It was at this time that he became a student of Professor Okada in Jiu Jitsu. Shanghai was known as the toughest Police assignment in the world. The city was overrun with gangsters and killers. They were involved in strong-arm tactics, extortion, slavery, prostitution, kidnapping murder and smuggling. To contend with these gangsters, Fairbairn was promoted to 57

ERIC ANTHONY (BILL) SYKES

Photo courtesy of Colonel Rex Applegate

Eric Anthony (Bill) Sykes was born February 5, 1883, in Barton on Irwell, and was the eldest son of Lawrence Schwabe and Octavia Ermen. As an adult he changed his surname from Schwabe to Sykes. Sykes served as a sniper in WWI gaining the rank of Lieutenant. Sykes met Fairbairn in Shanghai while he was working there as an arms and ammunition agent for Remington. He was a military crack-shot and was well known as a big-game hunter, making him an ideal candidate for the Shanghai Municipal Police. Fairbairn immediately recruited Sykes as a member of the SMP Reserve at the rank of Sergeant in charge of the Sniper’s Unit. From the 1920’s to the 1930’s, Sykes worked with Fairbairn in Shanghai, China, as part of his Shanghai Riot Squad and they became a formidable partnership as instructors, program and skills developers, authors and weapon and 60

CHARLES NELSON

Charles Nelson

Charles Nelson July 1940

Charlie Nelson was born March 1st, 1915, in Bay Ridge Brooklyn and when his parents separated he was only three years of age. He was sent to an orphanage run by catholic nuns until age seven, at which time he was sent to another orphanage run by catholic brothers. In the two years he was under the custody of the Christian Brothers he learnt to box, something that he had a natural talent for and found he needed during his tough upbringing. Charlie next went to live with his father and stepmother, and her three children from a previous marriage in Brooklyn but felt unwanted and in the way so he went and found his mother, who had three children to her second husband, where he stayed for three months before going to stay with his sister and her family in the country. From his sister’s he went back to another institution until he was eleven and was then sent to live on a farm where he was made to work very hard with no reward. Charlie ran away and met a farmer on the road who took him back to his farm for two days until a state trooper came and returned him to the institution. He remained in the institution until he was fourteen at which time he was placed on a farm near Lake Placid where he attended school and was made to work day and night on the farm for nothing. 65

BILL UNDERWOOD

Photos courtesy of Robbie Cressman Chief Instructor/Bill Underwood’s Official Historian Underwood Systems www.underwoodsystems.com

Bill Underwood was born in 1895 in Rochdale England and spent his early childhood in Liverpool until emigrating to Canada in 1909 at age fourteen. Bill Underwood developed a combative system known as Combato in the early 1900s, during WWI, and changed the name to “Defendo” in 1945. He taught Canadian and Allied military units, including the special training school at camp X. It is reported that Bill was featured on the Johnny Carson television show when he was 85 years old. On this episode he was asked by Johnny to demonstrate some of his fighting techniques. Also on the show was Lou Ferrigno (of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ TV-show fame and famous bodybuilder). Bill asked Lou to be his assistant and incapacitated the Hulk. As a youngster Bill worked at a theatre selling tickets and doing odd jobs. Bill was enthralled to meet such famous people as Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin, and also Japanese Jiu Jitsu experts Tara Maki and Yukio Tani who worked as a part of the theatre’s show taking on all comers and defeating them. Bill would at times play fight with them backstage and so began his introduction to combat arts. He was only 5 foot 2 and became known as “The Little Giant Killer”. 71

DERMOT PAT O’NEILL

Photos courtesy of Steve Brown Middle row l-r: Nicholas Solntseff, Eric A. Sykes, W. E. Fairbairn, Dermot M. O’Neill

Dermot Michael “Pat” O’Neill was born in New Market County Cork Ireland in 1905. His father was a district inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary. Pat O’Neill began his lifetime adventure as a teenager when he signed on as a cabin boy on a steam ship, and several years later he jumped ship 74

IMRICH “IMI” LICHENFELD

Imi was born in Budapest 1910. During his childhood he began training in many physical pursuits. These included boxing and wrestling as well as gymnastics. He achieved much success in wrestling, both as a youth and adult, winning division championships. His success did not stop at wrestling. From 1928 he won the championships of Slovaida, in boxing and gymnastics. In the late 20’s to the late 30’s he competed in wrestling contests, winning countless events, and was regarded as a top European wrestler. In the 1930’s he lived in the Jewish section of Bartislava. During this period he found himself up against the ruthless Nazi rule. It was during this time, on many occasions, that he employed his boxing and wrestling skills to overcome Nazi attacks. His expertise and reputation as a fighter and leader became such that he headed a resistance group in his city during that period. He fled when Nazis’ invaded the area in 1940 and at the age of 30, he became a passenger on the last immigration boat bound for Israel: the Pentcho. The voyage was expected to take two years. The vessel, a riverboat of some considerable years, ran aground in Greek waters. Accompanied by several fellow immigrants Imi boarded a lifeboat rowing for two days in dangerously rough conditions they were rescued by a British warship. Imi suffered severe health problems from his ordeal at sea, braving the elements against the most horrific conditions. He was transported to Alexandria, Egypt, where he was hospitalised and underwent several operations, and at one stage was not expected to live. He recovered and on his return to health volunteered to serve in the Czech military unit of the British Armed Forces. During this time he further studied and refined his self defence skills. The unit he served with saw action in WWII in Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Egypt. 147

VASILII OSHCHEPKOV

Photo courtesy of Mr Bruzat

Sambo was the fighting system of the Soviet Special Forces Spetsnaz. It’s founder, Vasilii Oschepkov was born in 1892 to Maria Oschepkova, a woman prisoner at the time. The prison was situated on Sakhalin Island; Vasilli’s future did not look promising, until age 11 when, as an orphan, he was fortunate to come under the care of the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Christian Church, Archbishop Nicholai. Nicholai established schools in Japan including a spiritual seminary in Kyoto. This was after 1905 and Russia’s defeat in the Russia-Japan war when Sakhalin become a Japanese territory. From age 14 Vasilli received his education at the seminary. The Arch Bishop believed in a wide range of training and it was there that Vasilli was introduced to the study of the Judo of Jigaro Kano. Vasilli quickly became engrossed with the study of Judo. Annually Jigaro Kano would conduct a selection process to select the best potential students to study at the Kodokan. Vasilli attended the selection process and was admitted into the Kodokan October 29, 1911. At this time the training was extremely tough and without mercy, for Vasilli it was 149

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