This photograph was taken in 1943, during World War II.

This photograph was taken in 1943, during World War II.

Standing calmly among his trainees is Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr. — a U.S. Army colonel, elite close-combat instructor, and one of the most formidable hand-to-hand fighting experts of his era.

Moments after this image was captured, the lesson truly began...

This photograph was taken in 1943, during World War II.

Standing calmly among his trainees is Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr. — U.S. Army colonel, OSS instructor, and one of the most feared hand-to-hand combat teachers of the war.

Moments after this image was captured, the lesson truly began.

Without warning, Biddle gave a quiet command.

“Attack me.”

The men laughed — they thought it was a joke. He was relaxed, hands loose, posture casual. No fighting stance. No tension.

Then they moved.

What followed lasted only seconds.

Using brutally efficient techniques — chin jabs, throat strikes, balance breaks, joint destruction — Biddle dropped his attackers one after another before most of them even understood what had happened. There was no showmanship. No wasted motion. Just speed, timing, and ruthless precision.

When it was over, several men were on the ground, stunned and gasping for air.

Biddle looked at the rest and said, calmly:

“That is why you never wait for a fight to look like a fight.”

His lesson wasn’t about strength.

It was about awareness, deception, and decisive action.

In real combat, he taught, the man who looks relaxed may already be ten moves ahead — and the fight is often over before it begins.

That philosophy shaped U.S. close-combat training for decades and influenced modern military and law-enforcement combatives to this day.