Rating: 
Summary: Echanis - Temperer of the Special Forces Soldier
Review: 'Temper' - To impart strength or toughness to steel. I met Mike Echanis in 1976 at Fort Bragg. I came to hear of him from Mike Sanders (5th SFG) the medic who was covering my SF commo field training class in Pisgah National Forest, NC. To say the least, I was intrigued by the "stories" and decided to see for myself as to their validity. After completing all 3 'phases' of Special Forces training at that time, I decided to attend one of Mike's demonstrations.
After witnessing first hand and at very close proximity what this man could do, I was left "open-mouthed and slack-jawed." The highly stylized and improbable movie fiction genre of that time gave way to the very real notion that some of this "stuff" really exists. I watched as a jeep was driven over him; he lay on a bed of nails while a trainee broke a cinder block on his stomach with a sledge hammer; he put steel spokes through the skin of his neck and forearms and lifted buckets of sand - then removed them with no bleeding and very little physical evidence of trauma; he had a tug-of-war with a dozen men who could not budge him a single inch; he demonstrated the 1-inch punch; he demonstrated proficiency with the knife, stick, star, crossbow, blowgun, and other weapons; he even hypnotized a couple of the people in attendance.
I was hooked! I signed up and completed the Hwarang Do hand to hand combat instructor's class. My fondest recollection was of day 1. This class was open to everyone and not only Special Forces soldiers. There were many in attendance. Mike gave us a synopsis of what the class would entail and proceeded to 'personally' demonstrate to each and every participant that the techniques were very real. Green Berets, as well as the others, were tossed around like rag dolls. The pain he could inflict was surreal. He could hurt someone badly with a finger. On the second day there were only SF soldiers there to continue the class. He seemed to revell in this by stating that only the "real" soldiers had returned.
In his knife fighting technique book one receives excellent instructions on the tri-fold capability of this weapon (stab, slash, blunt strike), concealment, proximity and positioning VS an opponent, and utilization in a defensive posture. The first thing Mike taught me in fighting with a knife was to realize that I "was" in a knife fight. Expect to be cut. But through positioning and technique that knife will never leave your hand and the wounds you receive will not be fatal. For the soldier, the ability to fight on allows for the greatest chance of survival (individually and as a group/unit). I highly recommend all his books.
It isn't the same as being taught by Mike, but its all we have left from him. Realize that he was just a small part of a greater legacy. A legacy of tremendous warriors as well as healers. He was not a man of great stature, but a man of great heart and attitude. The spirit of Swamdosa lives on. It was so very long ago it seems, yet I can still see him in black fatigues and jungle cap driving his jeep (crossed knives under his seat). Mike you're not forgotten. The knife you gave me lies next to my beret. You tempered my soul for life. God bless Mike Echanis!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: IN MEMORY OF MARIO PONTILLO
Since the late 1970's, I have studied Mr. Lee's "Way of the Intercepting fist." Same binding as his defense book. Again, I have not read this one in over 20 years. Good fighting and throwing techniques.
This book belonged to Mario. Please don't hesitate to check out my book that I published while in the U.S. Navy in 2003:
"Under the Rose: Poetry of Tragedy, Essence, and Romance"
Rating: 
Summary: Why it went in the trash
Review: It has always been a mystery to me why this book has such a cult following. The tactics in the book are absurd, the text is full of psycho-babble, the photos are not very good, it is full of serious sounding, but in fact meaningless military jargon (e.g. the subtitle itself: Special Forces/Ranger-UDT/SEAL hand-to-hand combat/special weapons/special tactics series; gee, there is a meaningless mouthful. ), the book is poorly organized and last but not least, the book is full of things which will get you (in order of seriousness), killed, maimed, arrested and or sued if you ever tried them in the real world.
I presume much of the cult following comes from the fact that Echanis made a career out of self aggrandizement, which is common enough in the martial arts, and that the book buying public accepted his hype as reality. Echanis was no different than hundreds of other guys teaching hand to hand combat in that era. The only difference was Echanis at some point decided he was going to go on a major self-marketing drive, which he did in Soldier of Fortune and all the other macho-military magazines of the time.
I do not recommend this book. I have in the course of my 46 years owned several hundred martial arts books. Even if a book is of poor quality I will keep it just to fill space on the shelf. There is only one exception I ever made to this rule. There is one martial arts book that I picked up, walked over to the trash can and dropped it in. Guess which it was? This book. No fooling.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent work on knife combat
Review: Mike Echanis was one of the biggest propponents of knife training
for the U.S. Military because it gives soldiers an "edge"in
close quarter battle.The techniques in this book are ones you
can bet your life on in a life or death situation.
Mitch Jenkins
Rating:
Summary: Excellent work on knife combat
Review: Mike Echanis was one of the biggest propponents of knife training
for the U.S. Military because it gives soldiers an "edge"in
close quarter battle.The techniques in this book are ones you
can bet your life on in a life or death situation.
Mitch Jenkins
Rating:
Summary: Too complicated and sophisticated for real combat
Review: The techniques found in this book can be summed up as being too complicated and too sophisticated for real combat. There is a lot of information in here, but it does not follow the rule of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple....) and if Murphy's Law takes effect during combat (as it usually does) then these techniques will just fall apart. The philosophy of the author seems to be that with enough training even the most complicated of stuff will be possible. The experience of people who have actually had to fight for their lives with nothing but a blade do not bear him out. Even if he is correct, anything less than a real instructor coaching you will not be of any help. Certainly you will not become able to use these techniques in combat just by reading this book and trying to figure it out by yourself. The motions are difficult to follow and some stuff seems to be either left out or assumed that the reader already is familiar with it. I can not reccomend this to anyone who has no access to further, live instruction on the techniques shown.
Rating:
Summary: Knife fighting, knife throwing for combat
Review: This book is by far the best in the three part series. The pictorials clearly illustrate how to approach each combat situation. There is a caveat--my understanding of the progression of movements is based upon my study of the art upon which it is based.
Rating:
Summary: American Warrior.......(IF YOU CAN GET THIS BOOK ,GRAB IT)
Review: This book {manual) was originally published in the mid to late '70s by O'hara. At that time I was stationed at Ft.Bragg, NC and had the honor of witnessing several demonstrations, as well as participating in several training courses. These were presented by Mike Echanis and Mike Sanders. The skills presented in this manual are the most effective that I believe have ever been presented to US military Specops community, before or since. The techniques are taken directly from Korean Hwa Rang Do; very close in nature to the Japanese ninjitsu. I can personally attest to the fact, that with sufficient training, the techniques in knife fighting, knife throwing, shuriken throwing and improvised projectiles, e.g. stones, is OVERWHELMING in it's effectiveness. This, by nature, is the most deadly fighting system from a military / CQB standpoint ever utilized. For my 21 years of military service, I constantly taught, utilized and perfected as many of the techniques as possible. This training that our group received was commissioned by the DoD for the the JFKSWC at Ft. Bragg and at other sites. This manual, as well as the other two (2) volumes written , in addition to our training course's dealt heavily with the mental aspects of self hypnosis and mind control; these are the corner stones of this system. For military Specops personnel, ALL 3 volumes should be studied and practised on a team/unit level on the training schedule. NOTE: Echanis and Sanders were KIA in 1979 while in Nicaragua as advisors, when their aircraft lost all structural integrity (a tango [terrorist] had planted an altimeter activated bomb on the plane). Echanis had been in the USSF in Viet Nam, being wounded in the calf. He was then seperated from the military, to return as a contract Instructor in CQB to all branches of service. He was, and still is, the only non-Korean to achieve the rank of Master in Kwa Ra Do, given by Joo Bang Lee, Grand Master. Mike Echanis was a true warrior. May he rest peacefully.
Rating:
Summary: American Warrior.......(IF YOU CAN GET THIS BOOK ,GRAB IT)
Review: This book {manual) was originally published in the mid to late '70s by O'hara. At that time I was stationed at Ft.Bragg, NC and had the honor of witnessing several demonstrations, as well as participating in several training courses. These were presented by Mike Echanis and Mike Sanders. The skills presented in this manual are the most effective that I believe have ever been presented to US military Specops community, before or since. The techniques are taken directly from Korean Hwa Rang Do; very close in nature to the Japanese ninjitsu. I can personally attest to the fact, that with sufficient training, the techniques in knife fighting, knife throwing, shuriken throwing and improvised projectiles, e.g. stones, is OVERWHELMING in it's effectiveness. This, by nature, is the most deadly fighting system from a military / CQB standpoint ever utilized. For my 21 years of military service, I constantly taught, utilized and perfected as many of the techniques as possible. This training that our group received was commissioned by the DoD for the the JFKSWC at Ft. Bragg and at other sites. This manual, as well as the other two (2) volumes written , in addition to our training course's dealt heavily with the mental aspects of self hypnosis and mind control; these are the corner stones of this system. For military Specops personnel, ALL 3 volumes should be studied and practised on a team/unit level on the training schedule. NOTE: Echanis and Sanders were KIA in 1979 while in Nicaragua as advisors, when their aircraft lost all structural integrity (a tango [terrorist] had planted an altimeter activated bomb on the plane). Echanis had been in the USSF in Viet Nam, being wounded in the calf. He was then seperated from the military, to return as a contract Instructor in CQB to all branches of service. He was, and still is, the only non-Korean to achieve the rank of Master in Kwa Ra Do, given by Joo Bang Lee, Grand Master. Mike Echanis was a true warrior. May he rest peacefully.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: This is a very interesting look at the science of knife combat as adapted for the military by a former special operations soldier and Hwarang Do expert. Very clear and concise. Most of the techniques deal with using the knife from the "reverse" or "icepick" grip.
Fortunately it's now back in print so people don't have to pay stupid prices for a copy anymore. It's only about $16.00 from Ohara publications as advertised in the latest issue of "Blackbelt" magazine.
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