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Defendu

Also known as	Fairbairn's Gutter Fighting, The Fairbairn Fighting System, The Fairbairn system, Modern Defendo
Focus	Hybrid
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Creator	William E. Fairbairn, Eric A. Sykes
Famous practitioners	Rex Applegate, Dermot M. "PAT" O'Neill, Devil's Brigade, Ian Fleming
Parenthood	Boxing, Cornish wrestling, Savate, Jujutsu, Judo, Pakua, Gatka
Olympic sport	No

Defendu is a modern martial art developed by William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes prior to World War II. It is a hand-to-hand combat system based on practical experience mixed with jujutsu and boxing that was developed to train the Shanghai Municipal Police, and was later taught in expanded form to Office of Strategic Services and Special Operations Executive members during World War II.^[1]

Development[link]

Based on his training in boxing, early Judo at the Kodokan in Tokyo, and fights he was involved in during his police work, Fairbairn began to develop his own system of hand to hand combat, calling it "Defendu". It was designed to be simple to learn and to provide effective results. Fairbairn published his book, Defendu, in 1926^[2] (re-printed as Scientific Self Defence in 1931), illustrating this method and it is here that the term "Defendu" first appeared.^{[citation needed]} This confused early readers of the book, who assumed that the techniques within had been based mainly in the Eastern martial arts that Fairbairn had learned. Thus, in an attempt to highlight the originality of Fairbairn's material, the term did not appear in the 1931 edition of the book.

Fairbairn was called upon by the British to help train Allied troops in World War II. Fairbairn and others expanded on this system to create the Close Quarters Combat system that was then taught to the troops. This system was built on Defendu, but modified for military applications, rather than police and riot control.

The original Defendu was oriented towards self-defence and restraint, while the Close Quarters Combat system concentrated on rapid disabling of an opponent, with potentially lethal force. The militarised version of Defendu is described in Rex Applegate's book Kill or Get Killed.

Fairbairn published several more books on the subject of self defence, all of which refer to Defendu only in relation to the earlier book.

World War II[link]

The start of the Second World War saw the Allied forces needing every advantage to give their soldiers and special forces a winning edge. They found one such edge in Fairbairn's system. Immediately, Fairbairn was commissioned in the British Commandos and ordered to teach a lethal version of his system at the Commando school in Scotland.

It was at this top secret Scottish location that Colonel Rex Applegate of the U.S. Army studied under Fairbairn. Through Col. Applegate and other instructors such as Col. Anthony Biddle, these highly effective skills were taught to U.S. troops including US Marines and Rangers, as well as OSS operatives and later to the FBI and CIA as the foundation of their basic training.

Once the British Commando School in Scotland was able to produce its own Fairbairn/Sykes qualified instructors, both men were transferred. Fairbairn to North America, and Sykes to SOE, where he trained special agents for behind the lines duties^{[clarification needed]}. Fairbairn's 'special assignment' in Oshawa, Canada, was to teach his system to Allied special forces at the most highly classified training operation of WWII, Camp X. Agents were trained in depth to dispose of their enemy quickly and quietly with brutal effectiveness. Following his instruction at Camp X, Fairbairn was rejoined by Col. Applegate to form the United States Camp B, now known as Camp David.

This introduction of 'The Fairbairn Fighting System' at Camp X in conjunction with input from many highly skilled instructors with various backgrounds and fighting skills was the beginning of the evolution of Defendu. As close quarters battle or unarmed combat training progressed throughout this period, it was added to and refined utilising western fighting principles, eventually becoming referred to in slang as Defendo by Allied soldiers.

Post war[link]

The large-scale demobilisation following allied victory in the Second World War marked the end of widespread instruction in Defendu within North America, although the methods were retained by peacetime forces.

Further reading[link]

• Defendu,W. E. Fairbairn
• The Close-Combat Files of Colonel Rex Applegate, Rex Applegate, Chuck Melson

References[link]

1. ^ Carl Cestari (2006). "What Is Defendu?". http://www.gutterfighting.org/WhatIsDefendu.html. Retrieved 2007-06-23. 
2. ^ "DEFENDU". http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1518. Retrieved 2007-06-23. ^{[dead link]}

External links[link]

• The Source, Peter Robins, American Combatives
• Shanghai Municipal Police, Robert Bickers
• Fairbairn's Gutter Fighting
• W E Fairbairn Gentleman & Warrior The Shanghai Years (2005), Peter Robins
• International Defendo Federation
• Modern Defendo
• Defendo Magyarország
• Defendu Association Poland
• W. E. FAIRBAIRN - THE LEGENDARY INSTRUCTOR, Phil Matthews

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Count Jacques Rogge
8th President of the International Olympic Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 July 2001
Preceded by	Juan Antonio Samaranch
Personal details
Born	(1942-05-02) 2 May 1942 (age 70) Ghent, Belgium
Nationality	Belgian
Spouse(s)	(Countess) Anne Rogge
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	University of Ghent
Profession	Orthopedic surgeon Sports administrator
Religion	Roman Catholic

Jacques Rogge, Count Rogge (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔɣə] ( listen); born 2 May 1942), is a Belgian sports bureaucrat. He is the eighth and current President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Life and career[link]

Born in Ghent, Rogge is by profession an orthopaedic surgeon and was educated at the University of Ghent. Rogge competed in yachting in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, and played on the Belgian national rugby union team. Rogge served as President of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992, and as President of the European Olympic Committees from 1989 to 2001. He became a member of the IOC in 1991 and joined its Executive Board in 1998. He was knighted in 1992, and in 2002 elevated to the noble rank of Count by King Albert II of the Belgians.^[1]

In his free time, Rogge is known to admire modern art and is an avid reader of historical and scientific literature.^[2] He is married to Anne; they have two grown-up children.^[3] His son Philippe is the current delegation leader of the Belgian Olympic Committee.

President of the IOC[link]

Rogge was elected as President of the IOC on 16 July 2001 at the 112th IOC Session in Moscow as the successor to Marqués de Samaranch, who had previously led the IOC since 1980.

Under his leadership, the IOC aims to create more possibilities for developing countries to bid for and be host of the Olympic Games. Rogge believes that this vision can be achieved in the not-too-distant future through government backing and new IOC policies that constrain the size, complexity and cost of hosting the Olympic Games.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rogge became the first ever IOC President to stay in the Olympic village, thereby enjoying closer contact with the athletes.^[4]

In October 2009 he was re-elected for a new term as President of the IOC. In 2013 he will not be eligible for a new term. In September 2013 at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires a new IOC President will be elected.

During the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Rogge delivered a commemoration of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, after his fatal accident while practising at the Whistler Sliding Center on February 12, 2010.

In 2011, a Forbes Magazine list of the 68 most powerful people in the world listed Rogge at #67.^[5]

On 27 July 2011, one year prior to London 2012, Rogge attended a ceremony at Trafalgar Square where, in accordance with tradition as President of the IOC, he invited athletes worldwide to compete in the forthcoming Olympic Games. Former Olympian HRH The Princess Royal unveiled medals up for grabs, after both Prime Minister David Cameron and the Mayor of London had given speeches.^[6]

In December 2011, Jacques Rogge was presented with the Légion d'honneur award from French President Nicolas Sarcozy. ^[7]

Controversies[link]

For the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Rogge pronounced in mid July 2008 that there would be no internet censorship by Government authorities: "for the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China". However, by 30 July 2008, IOC spokesman Kevan Gosper had to retract this optimistic statement, announcing that the internet would indeed be censored for journalists.^[8] Gosper, who said he had not heard about this, suggested that high IOC officials (probably including the Dutch Hein Verbruggen and IOC Director of the Olympic Games, Gilbert Felli, and most likely with Rogge's knowledge) had made a secret deal with Chinese officials to allow the censorship, without the knowledge of either the press or most members of the IOC.^[9] Rogge later denied that any such meeting had taken place, but failed to insist that China adhere to its prior assurances that the internet would not be censored.

Rogge commented that Usain Bolt's gestures of jubilation and excitement after winning the 100 meters in Beijing are "not the way we perceive being a champion," and also said "that he should show more respect for his competitors."^[10] In response to his comments, Yahoo! Sports columnist, Dan Wetzel, who covered the Games described him as "...a classic stiff-collared bureaucrat," and further contended that "[the IOC] has made billions off athletes such as Bolt for years, yet he has to find someone to pick on".^[11] In an interview with Irish Times' reporter Ian O'Riordan, Rogge clarified, "Maybe there was a little bit of a misunderstanding. [...] What he does before or after the race I have no problem with. I just thought that his gesticulation during the race was maybe a little disrespectful".^[10]

During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, there have been controversies surrounding Women's Ski jumping. Together with Boxing, ski jumping is the last remaining sport which still bars women from competing at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stated that the exclusion of women isn't discrimination; and, many other sports, including cricket (even the Twenty20-format) are precluded from competing. President Jacques Rogge has insisted that the decision "was made strictly on a technical basis, and absolutely not on gender grounds," but only following much criticism, including campaigning on the grounds of gender discrimination.

See also[link]

• Philip Craven, current President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

Notes[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jacques Rogge

Civic offices
Preceded by Raoul Mollet	President of the Belgian Olympic Committee (BOIC) 1989–1992	Succeeded by Adrien Vanden Eede
Preceded by Juan Antonio Samaranch	President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 2001–present	Incumbent

Mireille Mathieu
Hamburg 1971
Background information
Also known as	Mimi Sparrow from Avignon
Born	(1946-07-22) 22 July 1946 (age 65) Avignon, Vaucluse, France
Genres	Chanson, Pop standards
Occupations	Singer, Publisher, Author
Years active	1962[1]–present
Labels	Ariola Records Metronome Records Atlantic Records Capitol Warner Music France Columbia Records Philips Records Barclay Records
Website	mireillemathieu.com

Mireille Mathieu (French pronunciation: [miˈʁɛj maˈtjø]) (born 22 July 1946) is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.

Biography[link]

Childhood to early teens[link]

Mireille Mathieu was born and raised in Avignon, Vaucluse département, France, the eldest daughter of a family of fourteen children. The youngest brother born after she had moved to Paris. Her father Roger (French pronunciation: [ʁɔ.ʒe]) was from Avignon, and her mother Marcelle-Sophie Poirier came to Avignon from Dunkirk in 1944, as a refugee from World War II. Roger, with his father Arcade, ran a stonemason shop outside the Saint-Véran Cemetery in Avignon, which is still in business today.^[2] The family lived in poverty, and were dependent on government housing.^[3]

Roger had once dreamed of becoming a singer, but his father Arcade disapproved, inspiring him to have one of his children learn to sing with him in church. Mireille's first paid performance before an audience, at age four, was rewarded with a lollipop. Another defining moment was seeing Édith Piaf sing on television.^[3]

Mireille performed poorly in elementary school due to dyslexia, requiring an extra year to graduate. Born left handed, her teachers used a ruler to strike her hand each time she was caught writing with it.^[3] She became right handed, although her left hand remains quite animated while singing. She has a fantastic memory, and never uses a prompter on stage.^[4] Abandoning higher education, she began work in a local factory in Montfavet at age fourteen (1960), where she helped with the family income and paid for singing lessons. Very popular at work, she often sang songs at lunch, or while working. Like her parents, she is a short woman at five-feet in height. Her sister Monique (French pronunciation: [mo.nikə]) began work at the same factory a few months later, both given bicycles on credit to commute with, making for very long days. The factory went out of business, so Mireille and her two oldest sisters became youth counselors for the summer before her rise to fame. A summer where she had her fortune told by Tarot cards by an old Gypsy woman, saying she would soon mingle with Kings and Queens.^[3]

Mireille is Roman Catholic, and her patron Saint is Saint Rita. Saint Rita is the Saint for the Impossible. Mireille's paternal grandmother Germaine assured her that Saint Rita was the one to pray to for hopeless cases. Beyond religion, like many artists, she is unabashed about superstition and luck. She has a terrible stage fright, and can be seen making the sign of the cross before moving out on stage.^[3][4]

First public appearances[link]

Mathieu began her career by participating in singing contests. Her private singing lessons were from Madame Laure Collière, who was also a piano teacher in Avignon.^[5] Self described as very stubborn in her autobiography, she wrote about singing love songs that the audience thought were inappropriate for a young girl.^[3] Thus, losing to Michèle Torr in 1962 during Avignon's first On Chante dans mon Quartier contest, and losing again in 1963. In 1964, though, she won the event with the Édith Piaf song "La Vie en rose." Her win got her a pre-audition on the televised talent show Jeu de la Chance in Paris, on which amateur singers competed for audience votes. Her participation and train fare, arranged by Raoul Colombe, the deputy mayor of Avignon. Accompanied by a pianist and dressed in black, like Piaf, she sang two Piaf songs to the audition judges and left dispirited. Non-French cannot hear it, but Parisians at the studio made fun of her Provençal accent, and her dyslexia scrambled words. For example, her sister and current manager, Monique is called "Matite" because Mireille couldn't pronounce "petite" as a child.^[3]

During a 1965 summer gala, added to the Enrico Macias concert by Raoul Colombe (her first manager), she met her future manager Johnny Stark.^[3][6] Mireille and her father both thought he was an American based on his mannerisms, and they nicknamed him l'Américain. Stark had worked with singers such as Yves Montand, and the relationship between him and Mathieu is often described as resembling that between Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley.^[7] Stark is credited with making her a star and the successor to Piaf.^[8] By 1968, under his careful management, she was France's most popular singer.^[6]

[edit] Breakthrough: Télé-Dimanche and Olympia

On Sunday 21 November 1965, Mathieu performed live on Jeu de la Chance, a talent segment of the popular French program "Télé-Dimanche." Both the studio audience and telephone voters gave her a slight lead over five-time winner Georgette Lemaire, so the producers called it a tie. Johnny Stark officially became her manager that night, and with his longtime assistant Nadine Joubert, helped prepare Mireille to win the contest the following week.^[3] In a later interview, she underscored the importance of the event: "For me, Paris was the end of the world. I never took a train or saw a camera before. I did not know what the outcome of the adventure would be."^[9]

Johnny Stark and Mireille Mathieu

In the middle of her seven consecutive performances on Télé-Dimanche^[10] she performed a concert at the Paris Olympia, which propelled her to stardom. She signed with Bruno Coquatrix, the owner of the Olympia, on 20 December, and performed the only three Piaf songs she had memorized, two days later.^[3][10] She was hailed in the press, in France and abroad, as the "Sparrow from Avignon," in reference to Piaf's nickname "Sparrow of the Streets."^[5] The Olympia performance convinced a skeptical Paul Mauriat to work with Mireille, and song writer André Pascal joined forces to develop her into a successful act. Pascal wrote Mon crédo, Viens dans ma rue, La première étoile and many other hit songs for her.^[3] Her first album En Direct de L'Olympia – on the Barclay label – was released in 1966. Highly acclaimed, along with the singles and EP's from it, the album made her a star outside of France.^[3]

A regular early contributor of material was Francis Lai, who wrote two songs: C'est ton nom, and Un homme et une femme for her first album, and often accompanied her with his accordion on television. Her first record was recorded in the EMI studios, with Paul Mauriat's band.^[3] Mathieu's success led her record company, Barclay, to claim that they controlled 40% of the French pop disk market.^[11]

Mireille spent all of 1966 and 1967 touring. It was during a car ride to another concert that Stark advised Mireille that she was finally debt free, and worth more than a million francs. She had always prayed that she could get her family out of poverty, but the touring and singing were much more important at the time. In her autobiography, she said her first major purchases were a vehicle for her father's business, and a large home for her parents and siblings. Most important, a telephone, so her parents no longer had to go to the pharmacy to talk to her in Paris. Her one regret was that she was unable to see her grandmother Germaine in the hospital before she died during these tours.^[3]

Following her performance at the London Palladium, her French cover of Engelbert Humperdinck's "The Last Waltz" (La dernière valse) generated much publicity in Great Britain and was a hit even though the original had been number one only a few months previously. She also toured Canada and the United States where she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Danny Kaye Show. While on a visit to Hollywood, she met Elvis Presley, and in Las Vegas sang with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.^[3]

Career[link]

Although the popularity of her genre suffered, given the domination of Rock and Roll and the global lack of interest in non-English popular music during her most profitable years, she remained a popular artist in France and other countries. Many thousands of fans have met her before and after performances for autographs and well wishes over the years, and the common refrain is how well she treats her fans. She easily interacts with the public. While the Mathieu sisters are quite wealthy, they have made their song writers extremely wealthy. Most of the record profits go to the authors, while Mireille had to tour and perform concerts live and on television.^[12]

While on tour in February 1968, Mireille was in a car accident in which she fractured one of her vertebrae; the injury sidelined her for three months.^[13][14] She writes in her book, that they received a note which said "we will get you next time" but it was not proved to be anything but an accident.^[3][15] While she showed no signs of the accident throughout most of her career, she now has to be helped down the stairs, and moves with great difficulty. When she is singing she forgets her pain, but after the song she moves much like her ninety year old mother.

In 1971, Barclay was unable to meet the demands for records. Johnny Stark then made a contract for Philips Records to print all the Singles, and EP's, resulting in a US $1 Million lawsuit from Barclay for breach of contract. Barclay's contract was to run until 1972.^[16]

In 1972, Mireille toured Canada and produced a live album. Johnny Stark suffered his first heart attack while making arrangements for this concert.^[17]

In 1985, Mireille joined in a huge project by Placido Domingo, called The Tales of Cri-Cri. This television special used puppets along with fifty-years of traditional Mexican songs, producing popular versions in Spanish, French, and English. Mireille's father Roger died this same year.^[18]

In 1986, she performed a concert in Beijing, China. In her autobiography she states that she was the first Western performer to give a concert, but this was in error, as at least two other Western performances preceded hers. ^[19]

In 1988, Mathieu published her autobiography with co-author Jacqueline Cartier. The title is Oui Je Crois which is taken from the lyrics of Mon crédo, her first recording. The book was seen as a final chapter in her career. The French public had pretty much disowned her, as a conservative relic. A pre-revolution (1968) Gaullist figurehead.^[12]

In 1989, President François Mitterrand invited Mathieu to sing a tribute to General Charles de Gaulle.^[12] Johnny Stark died the same year after his second heart attack. Divorced and estranged from his family, Johnny was entombed in the mausoleum Mathieu in Avignon.

Mireille writes in her autobiography that she and Johnny Stark understood each other. She wanted to be a singer, and he was tired of people who just wanted to be famous. They were both hard workers, and he kept her schedule filled with lucrative contracts. She also writes that she was forbidden to read the press, and having peeked at some of it, was content to follow that rule. Stark, of course, had a heavy hand in manipulating the press. Mireille writes that her mother was often surprised to read on the front page that she was engaged to a movie star, Prince, or Duke.^[3] Upon Starks death, everyone said that no one could replace him, and it proved true, but by then the entertainment press had also matured.

Stark left behind a legal "bloody mess" that took Mireille's lawyers years to close out and process the taxes. "I had a great depression, but I got out without needing analysis."^[17]

Many photographs and films from the early years show the life around Johnny Stark's villa in Roquefort-la-Bédoule (south of France). The villa, also named "la Bédoule", allowed everyone to escape from Paris and relax. The home supported Johnny's telephone addiction with 28 telephones, with each car also having a phone. Mireille lived here with her aunt Irene, and brothers and sisters would often visit. The pool was designed to be shallow all around, and deep in the center, as Mireille has a fear of drowning, and never learned to swim. The property was sold after Johnny's divorce.

The most controversial event of Mathieu's career occurred when she took over Stark's office on Avenue de Wagram, and ended her business relationship with Nadine Joubert. She lost confidence in Nadine who tried to modernize her act, and the L'Américain album failed miserably, along with the strain of Starks legal affairs setting her back financially. Her sister Monique stepped in to become her business manager, and the two women have since remained profitable in the industry.^[12][17]

In December 1990, She gave a series of concerts at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

In 1993, she released two albums devoted to her idol, Édith Piaf, essentially retracing her roots. One album was in French, the other in German. Her unique vibrato since childhood has mostly faded by this stage, and her use of both alveolar and uvular trills, popular with many Parisian singers, becomes dominant.

In January 1996, Vous lui Direz was released. She did not perform live in France to promote the album, preferring rather to go to Los Angeles, where she gave a tribute to Judy Garland. She was dressed by Christian Lacroix.^[12]

In 1999, she released a German album Alles nur ein Spiel, with Francis Lai on accordion.

In 2002, she released her thirty-seventh French album: De tes mains, followed by a series of concerts at the Paris Olympia in November.

Dmitry Medvedev and Mireille Mathieu

Mathieu celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her career at the Paris Olympia in November 2005, and released her thirty-eighth French album: Mireille Mathieu 2005. The album reached number fourteen on the charts in France, and remained in the top 100 for several months.^{[citation needed]} The performance, and interview, were recorded and released in wide-screen DVD format in 2006; however, the DVD was in European video format only. A publishing label Abilene Disc was created to produce the DVD and CD, along with a new website. Mathieu joined with Jean Claudric and his Orchestra for this concert, and has worked with him ever since. Even their latest concert to Siberia in 2012 has kept them paired and the music has always been rated excellent in reviews.^[12]

Putin, Gaddafi, Mathieu in Moscow

In 2007, she gave her support to Nicolas Sarkozy who was the mayor of Neuilly sur Seine (Neuilly), where she has resided since coming to Paris in 1965. Sarkozy was elected President of France, and Prince of Andorra.

On 1 November 2008, she was a guest of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and performed a concert in his honor. The two visited the tent of visiting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.^[20]

On 4 November 2010 she was awarded the Russian Medal of Friendship by President Dmitry Medvedev at a State Dinner. She was in Russia and the Baltic States throughout November, returning to Paris after a concert in Warsaw, Poland on 28 November.

On 26 January 2011, Mireille was promoted from Chevalier (9 December 1999) to Officier of the Légion d'honneur.^[21]

On 10 November 2011, Mathieu cancelled her concert in Israel for the second time in 2011. The promoter again failed to meet the required ticket sales.

Mireille with Jean Claudric and his Orchestra were in Siberia, Russia from 21 to 26 March 2012, visiting three cities: Perm (21 March), Tyumen (24 March), and Yekaterinburg (26 March). Yekaterinburg is where the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed.

Discography[link]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mireille Mathieu

• List of Mireille Mathieu songs
• List of personalities from Avignon

References[link]