Basic Stick Fighting for Combat (Special Forces/Ranger-Udt/Seal Hand-To-Hand Combat/Special Weapons/Special Tactics Series) Paperback – January 1, 1979

Like most of Michael Echanis's work, some of the techniques in here are not really practical it recommended outside of the Dojo unless you're very adept in Hwa-Rang-Do.A good portion though, has real world reality based potential!

good

This is a classic in the martial arts libraryHighly recommended to any serious student of martial arts. Michael died too soon under suspicious circumstances.Research the information about his demise

RATING: I give this trilogy of books 1.5 stars overall.1 star for validity, 4 stars for marketing and 5 stars for Echanis service in the U.S. Army as Green Beret, may you RIP.Now back to the review. I am reviewing all three titles in Echanis's series of books.Fist Echanis system of fighting was established and based on Korean Hwarang-Do, which he developed into a somewhat hybrid military hand-to-hand combative. All his methods and techniques are based on this system in all three books.I will start with "Knife Self-Defense for Combat". This book offers compendium of 35 plus knife defense techniques that entail multiple variations that supposedly provide unlimited possibilities for the combatant. The only possibilities I see are ways to get you killed. I have been studying bladecraft for sometime now and can say that I seriously question the validity of most all these techniques in this book. The majority of the methods are way too complicated to perform under duress and stress. The moves are too long with too many steps to remember and choreographed like it is Kata. Defensive knife moves need to be simple, short and sweet, but deadly effective. Unfortunately these moves are not. Maybe if you have 5-6 hours a day to practice and learn a handful of his moves they may work for you. But for me I would rather use my time more wisely.The second book is "Knife Fighting/Knife Throwing for Combat". Like the first volume that same echoes here. There are some points of interest to be found in this title, but can be found in better and more up to date works that are available. I have to make it know that a vast majority of the methods in this book are ridiculous. One major and contradiction to knife fighting is the topic of knife throwing, I just do not see the validity in this. If you are using a knife most likely you lost your firearm (malfunction/disarmed), so are you literally going to throw your last line of defense away? This method has no place in combat, maybe Hollywood.The final title is "Basic Stick Fighting for Combat" which was published after Echanis passed away. It is said he never completed all the text to support this book and if so I do not think it would have made a difference. Like the other titles the moves are just to complex and very limited in there employment. I do think if you are an avid stick fighter you may get some use from this title but for the true combatant they are just too choreographed for any fluid and effective use in combat.Overall this entire series is very poor and would not recommend using most of the moves for defense or combat. With that I do recommend the books for what not to do. They are also useful in the study of the historical evolution of modern combatives. A lot has changed in the art and science of combatives since the late seventies. Ultimately there is always something to be learned whether it is good or bad and knowing the difference may help to keep you alive to fight another day.

easy to understand and lot of good information

Great information on using your weapon as an extension of your hands. Easy to follow, well laid out flow with pictures

Echanis isn't kidding when he calls it basic. He opens with a brief history and overview of stick fighting, then divides the rest of the book into four sections by weapon, one each for the baton, short stick, snapping short stick, and cane. He gives one to two pages of text about each weapon, and the rest of each chapter is just photos of stances, drills, and moves, presented without any comment.If you're looking for a very simple outline-like primer, this is your book, but if you want a detailed resource, move on.

need to practice

Quality reading only in black and white

O.k. I just started to go through the book.Before I had experiences with Arnis ( Phillipino Stick Fighting) and some sorts of stick handling in Aikido and Ju-Jutsu.What you will learn here about is the Korean way of stick handling.You learn about:-baton- short stick/double short stick-snapping short stick- walking stickO:k. not all of the techniques look practical but most are especially the basic techniques are quiet easy and basic so can help you in a real situation.The walking stick techniques look more advanced, also I wouldn't call them none practical, I personally wouldn't use them in a real situation and would stick more to the basic techniques shown in the beginning of the book.But even the combinations do not lok to complicated.And also there are some arm looks and throws which I would not use in areal situation because they need a lot of practise most of the stuff is easy block and hit/stab.You also get some knowledge about history of the Hawarang Do and about teh target points.Also the main targets are throat, solar plexus and head and with the long sticks even the knees !So in total a great book which I got for approx. 9 € in total which is totally worth it.Besides if you are a Marvel Dardevil van ( the series not the movie) you will see a lot of the techniques in the series because the techniques shown are the Korean style which is different from Kali or Arnis also also fighting with two sticks.

A défaut de trouver un tel livre en français, je me suis tourné vers l'anglais et malgré cela il est intéressant.