The Men Who Stare at Goats.

[arnisador]

I went to see this film tonight and really enjoyed it. I knew the book it was based on discussed the late Hwa Rang Do expert and Special Forces sergeant Michael Echanis in some detail. I remember getting his "secret" knife-fighting, knife-defense, and stick-fighting books in the 1970s.

The movie featured a brief scene on a character based on him (seen only in flashback). It was a comedy and so it was played for humor. Among other things, the character developed his own knife-fighting style that involved leaping at the opponent in an almost pro-wrestling style flying press, a knife in either hand.

There were several other martial arts related bits, including dim mak used by another character. Anyway, I found it a quite funny movie overall and definitely recommend it!

[silat1]

You need to check out www.worldkungfu.com for a more in line reference to the men who stare at goats movie.. It is based on some stuff that a martial artist did with the S.E.R.E. class after Michael Echanis was killed in 1978... Look through the website and then review on what you saw in the movie..

[arnisador]

Yeah, I understand that part of the deal in the book--which I haven't read--is that the author is originally told that Michael Echanis was the goat-starer but comes to learn later on that it was Guy Savelli. But I'm pretty sure the movie's "Ben Echmeyer" was based on Michael Echanis. The emphasis on his knife-fighting system and saying he was the only American master of an obscure Korean art (with a made-up name) just fits too well.