My trip to Arkansas USA to meet Close Combat legend Mr Charles Nelson.

I arrived at Little Rock airport after nearly 14 hours of travelling. I was

met by Bob Spiegel the successor and now main instructor of the Charles

Nelson Self-Defense System which he teaches from his headquarters in

New Jersey. After training with Mr Spiegel in NJ a few months earlier,

I had already had my introduction to the street proven system that

Charlie Nelson taught in New York City for 50 years.

I supplemented this with a detailed study of several video tapes of

Charlie in action and by reading and re-reading the famous Red Manual

and countless articles about Charlie that have appeared in various

magazines over the years. The purpose of this visit was to meet the

great man himself on his 88th birthday and of course to further my

knowledge of the system by training with Bob and from some hands on

advice from Charlie himself.

I arrived quite late in the evening so after a nice meal I made my way to

my hotel for a much needed good nights rest. We hit the gym early the

next morning for some Self-defense training Charlie Nelson style. We

began by practicing the basic offensive tools of the Nelson system

starting with the lower level of force options, the straight arm-bar, the

Japanese double arm-bar and the reverse arm-bar. Each of these, are

only ever applied via a distracting strike with speed and grace.

Then we looked at an attacking sequence which can be applied as a pre-

emptive offensive or in response to a huge variety of situations, as a

support system. In such a case, you would use the principle of the

mongoose fighting the cobra. This was used by Charlie as the symbol for

his school of self-defense. This makes use of an evasive side step that

takes you off of the attack line of an attempted grab or strike from your

opponent, as you chop down onto the radial nerve of his forearm with an

edge of hand blow, then continue the attack with a chop to the throat or

neck and/or a sharp low side kick to the knee followed by a swivel punch

to the heart or sternum.

This sequence drill is practiced on both left and right sides as a

continuous assault, giving you the option to use any or all of the above

strikes in any combination of attack. The chops, punches, sharp low kicks

and knee strikes are the main offensive tools of the Nelson system.

Understand that all the principles that make up an effective Combative

system are emphasised, such as awareness, avoidance, escape and pre-

emption from a natural non-aggressive looking stance. A couple of

examples of these natural positions are what’s known as the ‘Ed Sullivan’

stance. This where your arms are placed in folded position across your

chest without inter-locking, leaving your top arm free to strike or defend.

The second one is called the ‘Jack Benny’ stance, this is where you fold

one arm in a horizontal position across your body with the other arm held

in a vertical position, with the hand holding the chin as if deep in thought.

Both positions appear deceptively non-aggressive.

We followed this with another sequence that started with a swivel punch

to the heart then using the same arm you flow into an elbow strike

followed by a chop, again using the same arm. From here you can grab the

shoulder and back of the arm for leverage as you pull your opponent onto

a vicious axe foot kick using the inside edge of your boot or shoe to the

inside of the shin bone. Finally you can attack the back of the neck with a

chop or the thoracic spine with a hammer fist blow.

We went on to apply the said tools to a variety of situational scenarios

dealing with punching attacks and various grabs to the throat and clothing

from the front and back. We also covered knife defences and multiple

assailant situations, each allowing you to bring into play the fundamental

arm-bars, punches, chops and crippling low kicks that make up the

foundation of the system. We finished up with a workout in the weight

training gym.

Then it was back to the hotel to freshen up before setting off to meet

Charlie Nelson on his 88th birthday. For those of you who are unfamiliar

with Charlie here is a brief introduction. Charlie joined the U.S. Marine

Corp in 1934 at the age of 19. Already well versed in Western boxing,

Charlie was taught hand-to-hand combat, bayonet fighting and Jiu-Jitsu

from some of the most important figures within the field of WW2

Combatives.

His main instructors were Col. Drexel Biddle a bayonet instructor and

author of the classic Close Combat text DO OR DIE. Col. Biddle also

taught F.B.I agents as well as Marine Corp instructors including 1st Lt.

Samuel G Taxis, an instructor for the USMC boxing team and one of his

most outstanding pupils and yet another great h2h instructor John

Styers, who incidentally used to bunk with Charlie during his period of

basic training.

Charlie also trained with Sgt. Kelly who had been attached to the

Shanghai Municipal Police S.M.P in China during the 1930’s. Sgt Kelly had

worked extensively with Dermot ‘Pat’ O’Niell of the S.M.P who was

considered a right hand man to W.E. Fairbain who developed the famous

‘Defendu’ system and is considered by many to be the father of Close

Combat. Through Sgt Kelly, Charlie learned both Defendu and Mongolian

wrestling techniques that were designed to maim and cripple.

Charlie had a natural talent for hand-to-hand combat and went on to

become an unarmed combat and bayonet instructor to the Marine Corps.

After leaving the Corp, Charlie worked at a variety of jobs until he

started teaching self-defense, eventually settling at his school on 72nd

Street where he taught for nearly 5 decades.

Charlie devoted his life to full time teaching and to the development of

what he modestly terms ‘Self-defense’ his student’s preferred to refer

to it as the ‘Nelson system’ an authentic and effective method of

personal defense. Charlie’s method went through a progressive

refinement over the years and was tailored to a point of maximum

efficiency with no wasted movement.

Charlie had fought and trained with men from every conceivable style of

fighting including pro boxers, wrestlers, judoka, karateka as well as

bouncers, street fighters and agents of law enforcement and Special

Forces. People would frequently come to Charlie’s school to challenge him

and he had many confrontational experiences most of which ended up with

his would-be assailant quickly floored by his effective Close Combat

method or as in some with the use of Charlie’s equaliser, a short 5’’ length

of lead pipe that he would keep in his back pocket. He told me one story

of how he had this guy running as fast as he could after Charlie gave him

a vicious chop to his radial nerve after he pulled a knife on him during an

attempted mugging. In this incident the chop was all he needed as the

guy dropped the knife and fled before a follow up was called for. Charlie

had many, many experiences and was probably one of the first Self-

defense instructors in New York, if not the entire country, opening his

first school in 1949. (Back to review of visit.)

We arrived at Charlie’s, where we were met by his family including Mrs

Nelson, Charlie’s son, his lovely daughter Carol and her very funny

husband Buddy whose great sense of humour had me laughing hard all

weekend. Charlie was in good spirits I introduced myself and struck an

instant rapport with this great gentleman.

He told me stories about his time in the U.S Marine Corp and about his

experience in Guadalcanal and how they had to spend weeks at a time in

their fox holes to avoid and counter the imminent threat of Japanese

attack that was ever present. He then went on to talk about his

instructors in the Corp and about some of his experiences teaching in

New York City.

Charlie then proceeded to give me a hands-on lesson in how to perform an

arm-bar and a Japanese double wrist lock, as well as how to lock the

thumb from an over-zealous handshake and various defences against

grabs. Even though Charlie is now bound to a wheelchair he is still sharp

of mind and can move with speed when he wants to.

After a few hours we left Charlie to rest and went off for a bite to eat in

a traditional Arkansas, which was right out in the middle of nowhere

complete with an ‘out-house’ toilet. This place served the biggest

cheeseburgers that I have ever seen in my life. They are so big that they

have named them ‘Hub Caps’. The next day I worked with Bob Spiegel

putting together some sequence photographs illustrating the Nelson

system for Charlie’s website and for this article. These included among

others various knife defences from a car, dealing with attacks from

behind and from the passenger side as well as an approach from the

driver’s side window and all this before breakfast.

We then went back to see Charlie for the last time of our visit he told us

that he had enjoyed his birthday the day before and was in good spirits.

May he enjoy many more! Bob and his student Jim left for the airport

that day for their return to New Jersey. Bob is a great instructor and a

worthy successor to continue the Nelson system. He comes across as a

real gentleman, but at the same time he has this strong tough-guy

persona that he earned the hard way through twenty plus years of hard

training in the martial arts frequently mixing it up both on the street and

on the mat. I look forward to my next visit to New Jersey as I continue

my education in the Nelson Self-defense system.

My final day was spent with Charlie’s daughter Carol and her husband

Buddy who are truly nice people. They took me out and showed me all of

the sights of Arkansas, everything from the landmarks of Little Rock to

the shacks and the honky-tonk bars of the good ol’ boys. They fed me

well and showed me great hospitality for which I am truly grateful. The

final highlight of my day was when Buddy took me out for some shooting

practice of his home defense firearms including a West German Sig

Seuer P230 handgun and a Browning shot gun this was a most interesting

experience for me as this was my first time handling a firearm.

I have always found the handgun aspects of Combatives of great interest

and is a subject I plan to pursue in the future. All in all this was a great

trip and I would like to thank everyone who made it possible.

Here are some examples of the basic arm-bars from the Nelson system each restraint is always preceded by a strike or some kind of distraction.

The straight arm-bar.

The reverse arm-bar.

This sequence shows how to apply the Japanese double arm-bar.

Here we see how the attacking sequence can be applied to a variety of situations. Side step off the attack line as you chop the attacking limb. Follow up with a chop to the neck

and a swivel punch to the heart.

The same principle can be applied to a weapon attack. Using the concept of the mongoose and the cobra, step off the attack line and grasp the arm or in this case the weapon. Side kick to the knee, chop the throat then follow up with a swivel punch to the heart or a knuckle punch to the throat.

Here the example is against an over head knife attack. Side step and chop the arm follow up with a chop to the throat. Swivel punch to the heart then kick to the knee.

Side step and chop against a straight punch followed by a throat chop this time pulling your opponent onto the attack leaving you with the option to follow up if needed. Here the same tools applied against a two hands choke attempt. Trap one arm and swivel punch to the heart. Follow up by chopping the arm as you turn your opponent into a quick takedown or into a wall or similar obstacle.

This sequence of photos shows Charlie in action from his wheel chair working various attack and defence scenarios. Even at 88 years old Charlie is sharp of mind and still has an excellent grasp of the system that he developed. Control the wrist as you roll the arm striking the ulna nerve into the straight arm-bar. Using a thumb control to take care of an over zealous hand shake. Defending against a side strangle, hold, check and trap the choking arm then chop the throat.

Here Charlie is explaining how to trap the hand and chop to the throat. Here we’re working from a knife to the throat threat. Talent runs in the Nelson family here we see Mrs Nelson performing the Japanese double arm-bar.

Here Bob Spiegel demonstrates a knife defence from a rear hold up threat. Turn off the attack line and wrap the arm then put in an open hand strike to the ear follow up as necessary. Here we see Bob defending against a rear choke, turn your hips as you strike the groin follow up with an elbow strike to the face.

Against a mid-level slashing attack, turn off the attack line. Grab the wrist and strike the throat. Follow up with an axe foot kick to the inside of the shin bone.

Here we see the Nelson system applied to various knife threat scenarios in a car. Bear in mind that a keen sense of awareness will, in most cases allow you to avoid such situations from happening in the first place. An assailant threatens you with a knife against your neck through the open driver’s side window. Start by raising your hands near the knife holding hand in a subservient and compliant fashion. From here quickly slam his knife holding hand into the steering wheel seizing the arm just beyond the wrist then punch hard into the exposed wrist to make him drop the knife. Regardless of him dropping the weapon you the switch hands and chop him hard under the nose.

This is a passenger side threat scenario. Again slam the knife hand into the steering wheel.

Seize the wrist and chop the radial nerve in the forearm. From here maintain your grip and slam your elbow into your assailants face.

Finally we deal with a knife to the throat threat from behind. This is possibly the most difficult to deal with but all of them are equally dangerous. This is a likely scenario for a taxi driver. Snatch his knife hand away from your throat and jerk him violently forward. Finish with multiple elbow smashes into the face of your assailant until he’s completely out of the game.

Here is a sequence of Charlie in action that appeared in a martial arts magazine some years ago. Here Charlie demonstrates that the best defence is a good offence. Charlie is approached by an aggressor and responds pre-emptively with a chop to the bridge of the nose followed by a swivel punch to the heart and a knee strike to the groin. The strikes should flow in to one continuous attacking motion.

This the Mongoose and the Cobra sign used to advertise Charlie’s school of Self-defense.