Saturday was supposed to be a mundane day of chores and yard work. It turned into a day of lead & iron, and a long scout into the territory of Northern Ireland.
The Finns started it. I awoke at Zero Dark Thirty because Ceili was up and off to open the coffeehouse where she works on Saturdays. Among the first things I spotted in my morning recce of world events was an announcement of the 2022 Finnish Brutality, staged by Varusteleka.com, a Finnish purveyor of military surplus. The what now?
Finnish Brutality is a 2-gun action match that Varusteleka has been organizing together with InRange TV since 2018. The Brutality matches test the contestants’ physical fitness and marksmanship in the form of various stages.
Kettlebells and shooting. That’s my game.
There was no way I was going to watch a video of men mucking about in the mud, heaving KBs and shooting and then just go out and start the lawn mower.
Here’s a video from Forgotten Weapons of the 2021 Finnish Brutality: Winter War Edition. Ian McCollum runs the course with a Mosin-Nagant and a Tokarev.
This is the Kasarda Drill that The Brutality runs:
And there’s a Desert Brutality.
It was off to Zimmerman Butte, on a glorious morning. The Lower Pit had been taken over by the local dog sledding club’s annual dryland run event. Dozens upon dozens of sled dogs filled the air with a cacophony of barking and howling that lent a distinctly primal edge to my own doings.
After a fairly arduous Frontier Partisan Biathlon, I came out of the woods to sit down for a cup of Fika coffee with mi amigo Greg Walker. We talked of many things, including Mike Echanis, an Oregon-raised Basque badass, a soldier and martial artist who remains legendary four decades after his assassination in Nicaragua in 1978. Greg has been on the trail of the full Echanis story for many years. We talked of Central America, where Greg served in the U.S. Army Special Forces, and the extraordinarily ardent anti-Communism of Cuban exiles and their descendants. As one does.
I was much gratified to be assured that Greg had never heard the tale of the Giant of Kandahar — made me feel less negligent in my scouting for folklore…
Speaking of which: Liath Wolf visited the campfire. Apparently many of you have viewed his Scottish Folklore videos — generating enough traffic that his curiosity was piqued and he came over to check us out. I love making these connections. Wolf has a merch site. Lady Marilyn and I have determined that Ghillie Duh plunder is in order. Maybe a sweatshirt, I’m thinking…
After half a day channeling Simon Kenton and ditching the fields for the forest, I finally did return home to get the spring yard care underway. I’m sure our friend Liath Wolf would appreciate that my lawn is afflicted with faerie rings….
After all that, the only thing I was really good for on Saturday evening was rolling out documentaries on Northern Irish history. As one does.
This sidetrail branched out from my current research on 19th Century filibustering. The UK was alarmed at rumors that American filibusters were going to land in Ireland and spark revolution. It wasn’t for real, but it’s indicative of the tenor of the times. I’ve come to the conclusion that there was simply an epidemic of filibustering fever in the mid-19th Century, related to the revolutionary ferment of 1848, the intellectual and artistic trend toward Romanticism, and the political rise of popular nationalism. Ireland was part of all that.
Americans did actively support the Fenian movement in Ireland and the UK — mostly financially — and some Americans would continue to support Irish nationalism and Republicanism right up through The Troubles of the late 20th Century.
I went down a pretty deep rabbit hole, and dirtied my fluffy white tail. Check out the doco below on the Siege of Londonderry (Derry) in 1689. The Siege was a foundational event in the cultural conflict that persists in Northern Ireland to this day — and it was also a cultural foundation stone for the Scots-Irish tribe that formed the knife edge of American frontier expansion in the 18th Century.
One thing led to another, and I was caught up in the dark history of The Troubles, with a remarkable multi-part BBC documentary series that I will be working through all week…
Frontier Partisan warfare is ever a dirty business…
*
Matthew says
I’ve heard that the IRA was financed mostly by some of us Americans until 911. I guess some idiots finally woke up to the fact that terrorism is bad.
lane batot says
Do you think it might be genetic? I mean, perhaps you have some unknown Finnish ancestor? Sounds too coincidental–kettlebells and shooting guns–to not have some traceable connection! And yeah–had I been around there, I’d a been down with the sled dogs, for certain! And I personally don’t need a fraction of those interesting distractions to keep me from mowing my lawn!
Quixotic Mainer says
Sounds like a fine day well spent! I have done the Kasarda drill with my CZ, it was really rewarding enough that I didn’t cringe every time I sat her down on the gravel!
Somewhat coincidentally, I just observed my first in person sighting of urban mushing last week. A group of 20 somethings all on either skateboards or roller skates, and being towed at not unimpressive speeds by a mix of huskies, pit mixes and one goldendoodle.
Ugly Hombre says
The Finns are tough devils- great thread! Word is they might join NATO imo that would be a super addition to the organization and a help to the free world. After all Finland is “the Happiest place on earth.! (Except for Russians) lol.
http://completemartialart.com/echanis.php
“Introduction:Michael Echanis was born on November 16, 1950 and grew up in Ontario, Oregon.
He was a United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted soldier. As an enlisted soldier, he served in the LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol).
The LRRP were special small four to six man teams used in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special op missions deep in enemy territory.
During Echanis’ tour in Vietnam he was badly wounded in the leg and was forced to return home and live as a civilian. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his sacrifice and the Bronze Star for his bravery in combat. In Vietnam, he had at least 26 confirmed kills while on active duty.
Echanis had previous training in Tae Kwon Do and Judo, and wanted to continue his study in military combatives and the martial arts. He actively sought out martial arts systems, which would help him pursue a career in the martial arts as an instructor.”
Echanis was a very interesting man- Intense. Hwa Rang Do is a lesser known Korean system along with Dul Hap Sool, Kuk Sool Won etc. thought to have some Chinese roots. Like a lot of martial arts the exact history is somewhat murkey. No matter- it works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwa_Rang_Do
“The Lee brothers continued their training with Suahm Dosa when they could until around 1950 when their family moved further south to Daegu. Being too far away to continue their training, they began to be involved with the local martial art communities in the area. There, they met a martial artist named Choi Yong-sool, a practitioner of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu and who is recognized as the father of modern Hapkido. They continued their training with Choi through the 1950s and became registered Hapkido instructors in Seoul in the early 1960s. It was also around 1960 when the Lee brothers became involved with a Kung Fu practitioner named Suh In-Hyuk, who was in the early development of a Korean martial art called Kuk Sool Won.”
Back in the 60’s 70’s there was a lot of interest in Asian martial arts by the brass and rank and file GI’s. Lemay for example started “Combat Judo” clubs on SAC bases and sent teams to the Kodokan to learn and start up training for SAC Air Crews, Air America flight crews also took part. Most every Air Base that I was at as a young GI had a martial arts gym, and leadership promoted the training to different degrees. The 60’s 70’s eras GI’s coming back to the states from the orient were a big factor helping popularize Asian martial arts in the U.S.-alas- that seems to have gone the way of the Do Do.
https://ix.sysoons.com/michael-echanis-97607.jpg
RIP Sir, Respect.
JimC says
Good stuff. thanks UH.
Reese Crawford says
The Kasarda drill is a fun little beast. So is Jeff Cooper’s scout rifle drill, but that involves so much sprinting. InRange has some videos on the Apache conflicts you might find interesting, as well as a series on what might have happened if the US military adopted lever action rifles after the civil war.
JimC says
Thanks for the lead on the videos. Gonna scout them out.
Ugly Hombre says
Very welcome! Found this surfing around-
(Michael) “Echanis, having opened fire on the enemy with his rifle as the vehicle came under attack, jumped from the truck as it left the road and skidded into a ditch turning onto its left side. Struck in his left foot by AK47 fire Mike continued to engage the NVA. Bullet fragmentation then struck him between the eyes after careening off the bridge of his sunglasses. With blood now pouring down into his eyes the young Ranger continued to fire on the advancing enemy troops. Another AK round hit him in his right foot, traveling up into and lodging in his calf. Still firing Echanis was struck a fourth time by enemy fire across one forearm. His mother, Pat Echanis, would later recall her son describing the scene as U.S. helicopters arrived to relieve the embattled Rangers. “Mike told me even as the helicopter was arriving the enemy was so close to him he could have reached out and touched them.”
https://www.sofmag.com/the-warrior-vietnam-vet-killed-fighting-rebel-forces-in-nicaragua/
A more in depth article- with on point information and photos by Frontier Partisans pard Greg Walker on Michael Echanis.