Buy new:
$9.99
FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$9.99
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 8. Order within 23 hrs 6 mins
In Stock
$$9.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$9.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$5.99
The cover has visible markings and wear. The pages show normal wear. The cover has visible markings and wear. The pages show normal wear. See less
$3.99 delivery May 13 - 14. Details
Or fastest delivery May 7 - 10. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$9.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$9.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by Prime 1 Books.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

W.E. Fairbairn
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

HANDS OFF!: SELF-DEFENCE FOR WOMEN Paperback – November 26, 2020

by Capt W E Fairbairn (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 109 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$9.99","priceAmount":9.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UDriqt0y7q0T%2BUBonZq3MzsltS6PSXWAcAhZUN0OFuTUyyzVIS8FNJ1q9afZk%2ByEOZ%2BmCTSNWYEe93UpiDfOymtb%2B0iJuqNYuYdWrZRo6XB9CCgAXYDA0oG%2FN5LazEGT0HPueiABe9uZC1s%2FHB68yg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$5.99","priceAmount":5.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"5","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UDriqt0y7q0T%2BUBonZq3MzsltS6PSXWAu1sObScdd9uVA4F%2BKBIZ4mVkaauMSjaW692ATwgAVL%2Bz1fwgwnO1y%2BA9zhgKkFwwWUZpUDky91yIBln%2FqrLDjh2bpBrHAqMHvn0eSsKTdup6ws%2BubC4rV7rHgVy%2FqV4DcJVXm8nvYiOnJoIQzsjDYoU1hVMg6NeW","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Originally published during the Second World War, Major Fairbairn’s Hands Off! shows the emancipated woman how to deal with any unpleasant situation which would immeasurably increase their efficiency in the War Effort. The methods of self-defence explained and illustrated were especially selected for use by women, taking into account their disadvantages of weight, build and strength. They are all practicable, and many were originally worked out in answer to the question what should I do if I were attacked like this? Amongst the twenty measures advocated are: Wrist Hold – Being Strangled – How to Apply the Chin Jab – Bear Hug – Waist, Coat, Hair and Belt Holds – Umbrella Drill – Car Hold Up – Give Me a Light. They are all as valid today as they were seventy years ago.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    52 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 26, 2020
  4. Dimensions
    5.24 x 0.12 x 7.99 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1783313536
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1783313532
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Frequently bought together

HANDS OFF!: SELF-DEFENCE FOR WOMEN
$9.99
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
GET TOUGH!: How To Win In Hand To Hand Fighting
$15.00
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
SCIENTIFIC SELF-DEFENCE
$13.00
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval and Military Press (November 26, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 52 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1783313536
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1783313532
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.32 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.24 x 0.12 x 7.99 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 109 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
W.E. Fairbairn

W.E. Fairbairn

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
109 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DebAxia
5.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
The sketches and black and white photos date this book, as well as the old fashioned phrasing --- *but the defense moves never go out of date*. One does not need years of training to fight back --- just practice of these common sense techniques. A nice addition to Defendu by the same author.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Micah C
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and reliable
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2020
Verified Purchase
Alot of the information in this book is very easy to pull off and scientifically correct. The chin jab will in fact knock out your opponent so do be careful! The only thing I found dumb was the matchbox to the throat as matchboxes aren't made of steel anymore, neither are the common. However a cellphone might be used in its place idk.

Good book overall. Hope it stays available for a long time.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Håkan Andersson
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Very good! Item as new! fast shipment. Thank you!
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
redolfi
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
ok
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

hypersergio
3.0 out of 5 stars not a bigger deal
Reviewed in Mexico on April 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
very simple, like a magazine, some pictures and explanations. very expensive for what it really is
Report
Dwayne Chuffer
5.0 out of 5 stars Concise, and then some
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
Very brief and to the point. Certainly not over complicated. Half the contents deals with smashing an umbrella into the assailant’s face - sound advice for the fairer sex in any age.
Report
Richard Law
5.0 out of 5 stars Ladies first
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
The author joined the Shanghai municipal police from the Royal Marines around 1907 and having become fascinated by oriental martial arts, trained with the best of their generation. He adapted techniques from what he learned and set them out in strict manual format: this book, which I think is his last, is directed specifically at women and contains all the techniques that later feminist authors think they discovered decades later.

Fairburn couldn't write, in the sense that stringing words together to make an entertaining read wasn't his style. Every one of his books is a manual, straight in, lesson one, technique one and through. What's different about this manual to his others is that he's reinvented the techniques specifically for women.

So the difference? Men have greater upper body strength, bigger feet and usually are better balanced. Women are way more flexible, more agile and usually quicker to react. In this book, Fairburn explores and exploits women's strengths, the better for them to deploy what they've got against a male opponent. First published in 1942, it's not hard to guess who he intended this book for. Hugh Verity (author of 'we landed by moonlight') flew clandestine Lysander aircraft to France in the war and reports collecting a woman who attacked him with an umbrella. He thinks she was Violette Szabo, SOE; the umbrella attack is in Fairburn's book.

The principles are quite simple; did anyone tell you at school what your weaknesses were and that you should concentrate on them to come up to par? Maybe, but as soon as you left school, someone should have told you to look to your strengths for your future. Fighting is the same; no point trying to use a technique that's useless to you. Do something effective instead. The techniques taught to men involve balance, taking an opponent off balance and using upper body strength to manipulate the opponent into vulnerability. That doesn't work for women, so Fairburn concentrates on impact techniques; women are to use their flexibility to get their own bodies out of the way of the parts of a man's body they want to hit: then get stuck in to hitting, with relish.

This edition was published by Paladin Press in 2004. Wartime editions are hens teeth. I got a four hundred year old 'breeches' bible with more ease. So this edition fills a gap in anyone's library. Whichever self defence technique you choose to learn, unarmed or using a weapon of convenience, your instructor, whether he acknowledges it or not, owes just about everything in his skills set to W E Fairburn.
4 people found this helpful
 Report
Kurt Saunders
5.0 out of 5 stars Learn what's inside for easy self defence
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
Applies to men and women. I would suggest kneeing into groin rather than stomach. Practice, practice, practice ! If attacked be ruthless. In todays world attackers kill for no reason.
Report
Trevor DC
5.0 out of 5 stars The best self defence or self protection manual for all women.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
Very good pedigree of author. Well presented. Faithful reproduction of earlier definitive manual to defend oneself when attacked. To protect your own life when threatened with violence in the gravest extremes. I still think it's arguably the best self defence protection manual for all women. To learn to confidently protect yourself. Old school well tried and tested techniques.
2 people found this helpful
 Report