We recently got a new cable setup in the house, and I’ve been busy training to learn all the new channels. So, like every other modern man, I’ve simply resorted to flipping through the channel guide to find something to watch.
Then I came to earth when I came across the classic 1980s detective series Magnum PI.
During this episode, Magnum was fighting some gangsters and one of his opponents pulled out nunchucks and quickly knocked out Magnum’s friend.
Being the smart guy that he is, Magnum didn’t rush it. Instead, he picked up an ashtray and used the can to block the many blows from the weapon before finally knocking the attacker unconscious with it.
For eight seasons, Tom Selleck stars as private investigator Thomas Magnum, a Naval Academy graduate, former Seal and Vietnam veteran. Magnum lived on Tom Clancy’s beautiful estate as author Robin Masters.
In exchange for rent-free living on the estate and the use of Robins’ red Ferrari 308 GTB, Magnum handled security with Englishman Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, a former Master Sergeant in the British Army.
If working on the estate with all the great benefits wasn’t enough to keep Magnum busy, he did a lot of other investigative work and had to deal with drug dealers, hitmen, terrorists, spies, and even the more mundane tasks like divorce cases. I can’t think of a private investigator or Navy man I’ve ever met who isn’t a fan of the show.
It’s important to note that while Magnum may have had fantastical adventures every week, the hand-to-hand combat skills he used in almost every episode were real-world self-defense. And looking back on the show, Magnum clearly showcased his military martial arts background. After all, Magnum was up against attackers wielding everything from martial arts weapons to bottles, bats, and of course, firearms.
Magnum learned his martial arts when the military was still using the World War II fighting supplies developed by Charles Nelson and BJ Cosneck for the Navy and Marines. These men taught martial arts for the battlefield and street fighting, not for sports.
But Magnum wasn’t the only one showing progress in close combat. Higgins, a veteran of more than twenty years of military service, was familiar with numerous martial arts, though he clearly trusted the self-defense methods taught by Colonel William E. Fairbairn. Magnum’s friends Rick and TC also demonstrated what they learned in the Marines in countless fights alongside Magnum.
Magnum was a member of SEAL Team One operating out of Da Nang, Vietnam and served under the CIA Station Chief during the war (Magnum and his friends can often be seen wearing Da Nang baseball caps). Magnum did not learn hand-to-hand combat in a nice, clean martial arts school, but on the streets of Da Nang and in the jungles of North Vietnam. Magnum never wasted time taking poses or trying to do specific moves. Instead, when he saw a threat and attacked. If he had the advantage of firearms or other weapons, he used them.
During his wartime service, Magnum and his friends escaped from an enemy prison camp and had to disarm their pursuers with their bare hands. In one case, while searching for a kidnapped friend, Magnum has to fight an accomplished martial artist from Japan. Although his opponents throw a lot of powerful kicks, Magnum keeps attacking until the other man goes down.
Although Magnum was a fictional character, there are many lessons to be learned from him. He and his friends were proud patriots who never regretted their service in Vietnam and understood the real dangers of the cold war and terrorism. They weren’t accommodating either. Magnum and all of his friends used sports to maintain functional strength. Higgins even joined the boys on a rescue mission in Cambodia and was still fit to perform.
Many martial arts are taught to enthusiastic students in Hawaii, but the style used by its most famous fictional resident remains the best. On an island where the environment is as diverse as Hawaii, you have to be able to adapt to all possible self defense situations. You cannot afford to be limited in your ability to protect yourself. The clever writers of the TV show obviously picked up on this and kept Magnum using the combative military of his instead of joining the karate and ninja craze of the time.
