Drawpoint DVD Special - Just 30 This Week Only!
 

Drawpoint I: Reverse Grip Knife
High-speed reverse grip knife skills are yours with
the Drawpoint series, starting with point-oriented methods.
 

Drawpoint II: Cover & Slash
Integration of edge and point in forward and reverse grips
plus translation to firearm, flashlight, and unarmed skills.
 

Drawpoint III: Pallasoot
Advanced hooking and passing techniques round out
the Drawpoint method for fast close-quarters self defense.
 

Michael Echanis LIVES On Video

Some of you may not know of him today, but growing up in the 70's Michael Echanis was a legendary figure among the Special Forces community and quite a stand out in the martial arts world.

He was wounded in Vietnam and told he would never walk again without aid. However he proved the doctors wrong and became a master of the martial arts, specializing in Hwa Rang Do.

In this previously thought lost video footage from 1976 we see him instructing Special Forces operatives at Fort Bragg, NC in a wide variety of techniques from this Korean art.

Echanis: American Warrior - The Legend In Action!

The video opens with one hell of of a show as Echanis goes through a series of demonstrations of the inner power of the art. They break concrete slabs on his chest, they pierce his neck with a wire so he can lift a bucket of water from it by a rope...they even run him over with a jeep!

Then it's on to the real techniques. You will note immediately how well he kicks despite having being wounded in not just one but both feet. There is tremendous speed, power, flexibility, and dynamic range of motion displayed here that would be enviable today.

Then we see scores of techniques covering throwing and joint manipulation. If you have read his books or know old school Hapkido / stand-up JuJutsu / Aikijutsu, etc. you should recognize everything he's doing.

Finally there is a section covering some weapon techniques. It's not a lot but you'll see them doing the solo forms of the moves from the knife "Black Book" as a sequential Kata which is very cool. Then there is a long section where he just talks about different weapons used in training (including things like shuriken and crossbows).

Echanis wrote three books which are still in print and are all excellent resources. Though we never used the footage because of technical issues we filmed a segment for Modern Knives some years ago covering a series of techniques drawn from the Echanis' knife fighting book done as extensions to Drawpoint.

So, you'd start with the Drawpoint Cover & Slash exercise, for example, and out of the flow you'd go into a finishing technique such as the spinning strikes and takedowns so characteristic of Hwa Rang Do. It was a fun and functional blend; something you may enjoy exploring on your own!

One can only imagine how both military combatives and the civilian martial arts world would have evolved differently had Echanis not been assassinated in 1978 and instead a Hwa Rang Do based program been instituted based on his instruction. Hwa Rang Do would have likely become a huge empire with schools all over and we'd see whole battalions of soldiers doing the chi power stunts in demonstrations just like with the Korean military still today.

If you'd like to read more about Echanis life and his fight through injury please read Greg Walker's excellent two part series from the Special Operations newsletter "The Sentinel" on Echanis: the Wounded Warrior (Part One and Part Two) Mr. Walker, a Green Beret himself, was also instrumental in getting this footage and making it available from what I understand and for that we all owe him a big salute of gratitude!

All my very best to you,

Pete Kautz

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