Defendo is a martial art and self defense system created in 1945 for law enforcement by Bill Underwood, a British born Canadian. Underwood was originally the creator of Combato a "non-boxing or wrestling" unarmed combat system which he taught in Montreal, Quebec. Combato had its beginning in the Liverpool theatres with jiu jitsu demonstrations of traveling Japanese wrestlers, Yukio Tani and Taro Miyake. As a boy, Underwood idolized these experts, rapidly establishing himself as a prodigy. The name "Defendo" was created on August 15, 1945 in New York City by Pat Underwood, the daughter of Bill Underwood.