Teaching Material of Skills for Capturing the Enemy (1979)

Teaching Material of Skills for Capturing the Enemy (1979)

Teaching Material of Skills for Capturing the Enemy (Qindi jishu jiaocai 擒敌技术教材), published by Office of Armed Civil Police Forces at the Ministry of Public Security (Gonganbu wuzhuang minjingju 公安部武装民警局), 1979, Qunzhong chubanshe.

This concise booklet—published in 1979 after the fall of the Gang of Four—contains various exercises and training skills for police officers, providing them with the necessary combat techniques to fight agains criminals and bad elements in society.

The introduction tells that due to the illegitimate intervention of Lin Biao and the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution training for fighting techniques had been abolished and that only Hua Guofeng had been able—after taking power—to restore this training. It is on this occasion that this booklet has been printed. It contains a large number of illustrations showing both training exercises and fighting techniques. In the latter case, the enemy is always depicted with long hair and a mean facial expression, making it easy to recognize the good guy and the bad guy. Apart from that, this booklet is—with exception of the reference to Lin Biao and the Gang of Four—devoid of any political message. This being said, enjoy the fighting scenes!

 Marc Matten