CHARLES NELSON

"HARD AS NAILS"

© Marc Wickert
  www.knucklepit.com

On December 17, 2003, the close-quarter combat world lost the man regarded
as the last American pioneer of military hand-to-hand combat.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Charles Nelson was born March 1, 1915, and was placed in an orphanage at age three. Nuns originally cared for the young lad, before he was taken under the wing of Christian Brothers, who began instructing Charles in the art of boxing at eight years.

When Nelson turned 14, he was placed in the custody of farmers at up state New York, where he worked long, hard days for his keep. Nelson fled one of the farms in the hope of moving back with his father and stepmother, but they had three children from that marriage, and there was no room for Charles. He then contacted his mother and stepfather, only to discover they also had children of their own, and no room for him.

Nelson later spent some time with his sister before going back to the farms and running away from several of them. At age 19 he travelled down to New York City and joined the marines.

New Zealand's Tank Todd (see knucklepit.com for article) was a close friend of  Nelson's and is one of the elite life-members of Charles Nelson's School of Self-Defense.

"In 1934 Charles did his basic training at Paris Island, which was the marine corp. boot camp, before continuing to Quantico, Virginia, to further
his combat skills. He was recognized early on for his natural fighting ability. They only had one outfit there, which was the hand-to-hand combat
wing of the marines, and Charles was selected to become an instructor," says Tank Todd.

During Nelson's time at Quantico he studied under the guidance of close combat expert Col. A.J.D. Biddle. A man renowned for instructing the marines and the FBI in close-combat techniques, Biddle had learnt first-hand whilst
serving in China and Japan, and had trained under the British commando schools in unarmed combat.

Whilst Colonel Biddle was in China, he learnt the techniques of Captain William E Fairbairn: a system known as defendu. Fairbairn was the leading man in the British unarmed-combat scene.

"There was another instructor with them called Sergeant Kelly. He had been attached to the international police force in Shanghai, China, and was an assistant to Captain Fairbairn - the Godfather of modern-day, military close
combat. In addition, Sgt. Kelly trained under Fairbairn's deputy - a guy called Pat O'Neill.

"Pat O'Neill was a tough Irishman and he had a fearsome reputation for hand-to-hand unarmed combat: He had learnt Fairbairn's system, but he had his own system as well. O'Neill would study wherever he could, and he evaluated the practicality of it all. He had trained in Mongolian wrestling. O'Neill went on to train the Canadian and American Special Forces and the British SAS."

Although Charles Nelson didn't actually meet up with Pat O'Neill, he learnt the entire systems of O'Neill and Fairbairn from Sgt Kelly. And Charles had the utmost respect for Pat O'Neill. Later in life, some of Nelson's students
arranged for Charles to visit Pat, but the meeting didn't eventuate.

"Another influence on Charlie was John Styers - a famous knife and bayonet-fighting instructor - who wrote the book Cold Steel. Styers was a
barracks room-mate of Charlie's and they trained together extensively, with both men ending up marine corp. instructors in hand-to-hand combat.

"Charlie had also performed guard duty at the naval prison whilst in the marines, and to avoid further guard work, he joined the marine corp. boxing team. He trained full-time in boxing, and on Fridays they would fight against other military units."

After four years service, which was still during the pre-World War II period, Charles left the marines. But there was little work available for
civilians, so Nelson re-enlisted in the marines after a six-month break. He was quickly snapped up by the military, and when the War approached, Charles was stationed at Camp Lejune, where he trained the recruits in hand-to-hand combat and bayonet fighting for WWII.

Tank Todd says Nelson met and married wife Alice, who had also been an orphan. Alice was split from her brothers and sisters when her parents died while she was three, and she spent her childhood looking after a blind farmer who had one blind child and one diabetic child. As well as caring for the family, Alice was assigned farm duties, and she was taken out of school
at age 12 to work more hours on the farm.

The US government had an individual insurance of $10,000 in place for any servicemen killed in the line of duty, and because Charles wanted to provide a better life for Alice, he nominated her as the beneficiary if anything happened to him, so she could leave the farm.

"Charlie actually landed with the 1st Marine Division on the Guadal Canal in 1942. Some of the recruits he landed with in combat he'd only been training for seven months. The American troops saw some of their bloodiest combat
there. The Guadal Canal was pretty fierce and Charles got to try out a lot of his stuff against the Japanese."

It was at the Guadal Canal that Charles saw Sgt. Kelly for the last time. Kelly's men were leaving the canal as Nelson's men were arriving, and the
two men waved to each other from a distance of 100 yards.

"During Charlie's time there he got an eye infection, malaria, dysentery, ulcers, and a stem of a plant pierced through his foot. He got tagged for a medical discharge, although Charlie didn't want to go. He wanted to be there until the end, but they made him leave. For his medical evacuation he went to New Zealand for treatment, before returning to San Francisco and then New York."

Tank Todd says Charles demonstrated some of his techniques to police departments, but they believed his teachings would be viewed as being too brutal and offence by the public. However, many police officers did come to Nelson in their own time to train with him.

Although Charles was only 5'7" and 9 ½ stone, he was a master of leverage and of reading people's intentions in all situations. Nelson was also a man who didn't take kindly to fools.

"He was not scared to say what he thought. Years ago, I remember Charlie told me he was offered a lot of publicity, fame and fortune. But they said he had to tone down what he was saying about big-name martial artists. And
Charlie just turned around and told them he didn't want their publicity."

Tank Todd's instructor Harry Baldock first referred Tank to Charles Nelson in 1979, and Todd studied under Nelson since 1984: travelling each year to America for one to two-month blocks, training with Charles. And Tank is one
of only 11 lifetime members of Charles Nelson's School of Self-Defense.

The list of elite life-members includes:
Herb Kantrowitz
Paul Gerasimczyk
John McWilliams
Tank Todd
Bodden Sween
Bob Berger
Phil Ellis
Marti Erdhiem
Allen Tino
Mike Scotland
Barry Leventhal